Guide: Improving Dock Efficiency and Resolving Long Wait Times

Excessive detention times also hurt shippers and customers:

• Delayed Delivery. Goods sitting in a trailer for hours waiting to be unloaded lead to additional delays and scheduling conflicts down the line, upping the rate of returns, freight rejections and irritated customers.
• Increased Crash Risk. Delayed drivers tend to drive more recklessly, increasing the risk of accidents. A 2018 DOT report discovered just 15 minutes of added detention time increased drivers’ expected crash rate by more than 6%.
• Constrained Capacity. Delays at shipping and receiving facilities limits the number of available trucks (and drivers) ready to take on new loads.
• Environmental impact. Long queues and lengthy idle times contribute needlessly to burnt fuel emissions; for every gallon of diesel burned, 22.46 lbs of carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere.

6 Reasons Your Dock Management Is Suffering

The relationship between efficient dock management and minimizing detention times is interdependent. Say a truck arrives early and without prior warning but gets stuck in line at peak hours, or an expedited load requiring special equipment is approved for “skipping the line” but nobody relays the updated info to the dock workers themselves; a single breakdown in communication or established processes on either front can quickly spin things out of control.

Technically speaking, any wrinkle in the supply chain can cause lengthy wait times and wreak havoc on your dock’s scheduling efforts. Here are the common culprits you’ll want to be wary of:

Smooth supply chains rely on set dock management practices that keep workers safe and trucks moving in and out efficiently. Here’s how to ensure your current tech, loading strategies and safety processes are working in your favor.

Audit Your Current Resource Management

Take the time to carefully inspect your dock operations and scheduling methods for potential areas of improvement, and pay close attention to any hangups that could be resolved with additional training. Consider these questions as you examine the current standard operating procedures (SOPs) for your warehouse or distribution center:

• What is the current average wait time for trucks at our docks?
• What criteria will we use to prioritize critical shipments, and how will we communicate this to drivers and staff?
• Do we have a set policy for late arrivals/no shows?
• Which channels will we use to communicate real-time updates on dock availability and scheduling changes?
• Who handles scheduling conflicts and disputes?
• Can our dock area layout be improved?
• How will we measure our efforts to improve dock efficiency?
• How will we ensure compliance with SOPs and safety regulations?
• How will we gather feedback from carriers and drivers to gauge further areas of improvement?

The goal here is to understand how well you’re currently managing your available resources. As you develop new processes to maximize space, streamline dock usage and direct yard traffic, pay attention to how these changes might impact your staff’s working hours and performance. New SOPs can hardly prove effective if they stretch your available resources too thin.

This exercise also highlights areas in which your operation lacks visibility. Without data on your docks’ peak periods, the location and condition of your equipment or your staff’s total working hours, improvements can hardly be implemented and measured.

Specify Key Areas in Need of SOPs

Every warehouse and distribution center will have its own unique challenges. No matter the variables, a rock-solid foundation of SOPs is the key to protecting employee safety and aiding efficient loading/unloading. Consistency is the name of the game here, and applies to each of the following ares:

• Booking Procedures. Standardize how and when dock slots can be booked, implement an online scheduling system to streamline the booking process and establish optimal lead times for booking and canceling dock slots.
• Communication Protocols. Define how critical info will be shared between drivers, dock staff, and warehouse managers. Use standardized forms or digital tools to communicate clearly and efficiently.
• Check-In/Check-Out Processes. Set up a consistent check-in/check-out procedure for drivers. Use digital tools (e.g., tablets, mobile apps) to accurately record arrival and departure times.
• Loading/Unloading Procedures. Standardize the steps for loading and unloading goods, and define the roles and responsibilities for dock staff to ensure goods are properly handled, logged and stored.
• Contingency Plans. Train employees on contingency processes for handling unexpected delays, no-shows and other disruptions. Include protocols for reassigning dock slots and communicating these changes to relevant parties.

Note that while creative problem-solving is a valuable and often necessary skill in logistics, the more your dock workers can avoid improvising when tricky situations arise, the safer and more reliable your dock management will be.

Dock management often feels like a scramble to accommodate schedules constantly in conflict with one another. SOPs are necessary for controlling the chaos of the loading dock, both for the sake of safety and efficiency.

Docks, forklifts and conveyors are frequent hotspots for injury. Sadly, OSHA reports 100 deaths and some 95,000 injuries stem from forklift accidents alone each year. Other common hazards include vehicle collisions, manually lifting heavy objects, slips and falls and falling objects. The National Safety Council’s (NSC) published list of mitigating procedures includes the following:

• Improve lighting and installing reflective markings on loading docks.
• Ensure truck trailers are level and secure before unloading.
• Require truck drivers to wait in designated areas while the truck is unloaded so drivers don’t accidentally get hurt during the unloading process.
• Make sure dock plates and levelers are stable and secure.
• Require loading dock workers to wear bright, reflective clothing.
• Inspect all loading dock equipment before use.
• Provide regular safety training to loading dock workers.
• Post clear and visible speed limits at loading docks.
• Install guardrails and safety gates near loading docks to protect workers from moving trucks or forklifts.

For more on mitigating potential dock hazards, be sure to consult OSHA’s Pocket Guide on Warehousing Safety.

Use Dock Scheduling Tools to Your Advantage

It takes extreme coordination to ensure a trailer has everything in place to load/unload its goods upon arrival, particularly when delayed (though early arrivals can be just as disorienting during busy periods).

With disruptions constantly messing with freight ETAs, a traditional whiteboard calendar probably isn’t going to cut it. Manually shifting reservations (especially without real-time information) is prone to human error. The result is often double-booked appointments, unprepared dock resources and less-than-thrilled drivers stuck waiting in line.

When it comes to getting more out of your dock space, automated scheduling tools are quickly becoming the industry standard. Dock scheduling tools are designed to streamline communication and scheduling to keep all parties on the same page as disruptions arise — and to identify optimal methods of getting freshly loaded trucks back on the road.

Adjust Your Scheduling Strategy

Missed appointments and busy shipping seasons can quickly throw off your docks’ best-laid plans. There are three common approaches to mitigating these inevitable shipping delays:

1. Add buffer time between appointments to account for delays and soften the effect of late arrivals. In slower seasons this can lead to excessive downtime and raise dock inefficiency, but it also lessens driver detention times and gives dock workers time to prepare the necessary equipment for loading/unloading the next scheduled shipment.
2. Implement first come, first served (FCFS) dock service. FCFS* scheduling (also termed “open” scheduling) skips the hassle of setting appointments by simply directing trucks to docks in order of arrival. In theory, open scheduling relieves pressure on truckers to drive recklessly or breach HoS to hit narrow windows (since you can’t miss a delivery window if there is no delivery window). It also prevenets against late drivers or missed appointments from throwing off the whole day’s plans — but that doesn’t mean it can’t still cause yard congestion and extend driver wait times.
   Cargo in need of specific loading equipment or handling instructions can catch dockworkers off-guard and quickly erase the advantages of open scheduling. FCFS also fails to account for shipment size, destination or delivery deadline — that means missing out on chances to consolidate loads, better utilize truck space and expedite high-priority deliveries.
3. Adopt “triage” scheduling, which allows for time-sensitive or otherwise critical shipments to skip the line and get processed before other shipments based on the nature of the cargo. Triage dock scheduling relies on tight coordination, but when successful it provides flexibility and more consistent service for big-ticket shipping partners.
   As you can imagine, ranking shipments by priority isn’t very popular among drivers and carriers regularly deemed “non-priority” — plus, the added complexity of directing priority traffic to open docks can quickly devolve into a congested mess without an integrated yard management system (YMS). A YMS works alongside warehouse and transportation management systems for better tracking, staging and streamlining the flow of yard traffic.

*FCFS is sometimes also referred to as FIFO (first in, first out).

Loading Methodology: Drop Trailers vs Live Loads

Live loads and drop trailers (also termed “drop and hook” or “drop and pick”) are both valid approaches to transferring freight and getting drivers back on the road.

Live load trucking calls for drivers to arrive at a loading bay within a designated window and simply wait as their truck’s freight is loaded or unloaded. It’s important that carriers establish clear parameters for detention fees and wait times during negotiations so this waiting doesn’t go uncompensated.

Drop and hook loads are “dropped” at their destination without waiting on dock workers to move the freight, allowing drivers to quickly hook up to a separate, pre-loaded trailer and hit the road. This method does away with precise arrival windows, plus dock staff won’t be pressed to load or unload your trailer the moment you arrive.

Some shippers and brokers may avoid carriers who can’t complete drop and hook loads. However, drop and hook loads also require “trailer interchange insurance” to protect the left-behind trailer’s contents — plus, they can get stuck waiting in line for trailers to move out of the way just as easily as live loads.

Track KPIs for Signs of Improved Efficiency

Once your previous processes are fully audited and any new tech, strategies and SOPs are in place, it’s time to track how these changes impact the following key metrics:

• Throughput rate: The speed at which goods are processed through a dock over a set period (expressed by the total units moved divided by the total time period)
• Dwell time (or turnaround time): The total time a shipment spends at a dock, including any processing and idling.
• Wait time: Time a shipment spends waiting to be processed upon arrival.
• Dock utilization: The amount of time a dock is actively used for loading or unloading operations compared to the total available time, expressed by percentage.
• Load/unload time: How long it takes to load or unload a shipment once it’s securely docked.
• Cost per shipment: The total cost associated with processing a single shipment, including labor, equipment and any other operational expenses.
• Inventory turnover: A measure of how quickly inventory is used or sold over a specific period.

Insights provided by the combination of these metrics serves as a strong indicator of any successes (or flaws) in your new dock management approach.

Efficient Dock Management Is a Logistical Necessity

Demand for faster shipping speeds doesn’t appear to be slowing anytime soon. Today’s need for an extraordinarily well-maintained supply chain calls for an equally well-managed distribution center. The strategies, processes, training and tech discussed above all contribute to more efficient dock management, faster shipping and satisfied customers pleased to see their orders arrive on time and in full.

Looking for more best practices from the supply chain experts? Connect with a First Call specialist for details on how we can move loads and manage shipments more efficiently for your business.