Archived What time are your trucks unloaded by?

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bananaman

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Lately at my store, there has been a feverish, nearly maniacal, push to get our trucks unloaded by 7:00 AM no matter what. I'm wondering, is this a practice set by corporate or does this sound more like a store level decision? What time are everyone else's trucks unloaded by? Our set-up is:

We begin out shift at 5:25 AM
Our truck size usually averages around 2,200 to 2,500 pieces
It is not a push all

Two throwing the truck
One scanner
One person on back stock furniture, chemicals, and paper
One person on push furniture, chemicals, paper, and electronics cage
One person back stock electronics, HBA, and stationary
One person push electronics, HBA, and stationary
One person back stock market, toys, seasonal, and mini-seasonal, and transitional
One person back stock sporting goods, appliances, hard lines, and infants
One person push market, market bulk, toys
One person push seasonal, mini-seasonal, and hardlines
One person push sporting goods, appliances, and infants
Two people soft-lines
One pallet-puller
One soft-lines rack puller

Our team lead is always in the truck, helping push the boxes down the line.

Sometimes our Logistics ETL will go into the truck and throw it.

At around 6:15, our ETL will pull one of the people from the back stock side of the line and one of the people from the push side of the line to go push on the floor.

We have been getting our trucks done at around 7:05, no later than 7:15, and now our team lead is in danger of losing their job and our Logistics ETL has been acting like a real jerk.

What's it like at your store?
 
An hour unload is a pretty standard goal. The quicker the truck gets unloaded, the more product gets pushed before the store opens.

Our store has 3 TMs come in at 5:30 but they are mostly getting setup until the rest of the team comes in at 6. We usually have 5-8 TMs on the line, 2 throwers, a scanner, a pallet puller, and the TL acts as pacer. Our unloads run from 6 until 7:15-7:30.

If you have 9-11 TMs on the line and your unload is consistently taking over an hour and a half, that is definitely a problem to be addressed.
 
Lately at my store, there has been a feverish, nearly maniacal, push to get our trucks unloaded by 7:00 AM no matter what. I'm wondering, is this a practice set by corporate or does this sound more like a store level decision? What time are everyone else's trucks unloaded by?

Since I started as a TM, the "goal" for truck unload has always, always, been 1HR on a sliding scale


< 2000 45 mins or less, we on occasion do get oddballs that are WAY LESS, mostly Q4 when we got to 6/week
2000-2400 1HR
2400+ 1.25HR
2500+ 1.5HR, but that better be near 2800 or 3000 for it to be into 1.5HRS... 2600 or so I think is the max I can remember off the top of my heard.

I was taught when I took over trucks and then took over Flow that 5-8mins PER PANEL, a truck should have 6 panels and a squichy 5ft one v. the 8ft regular (6x8=48+5=53ft! :) ) .. which results in a ~54 Min unload using 8 mins.

What I call the "Core Team" comes in and they clean up/re-setup the line etc. and start unloading so they have the squichy "first panel" and possibly a whole full panel done before the rest of the team shows.

Now.. REAL LIFE comes into play... pallets... pallets with paper towels on the bottom and MP water on top, that fall over, paper towel pallets stacked two high which won't clear the dock etc... All slow things down, as well as spills by the team.



Our set-up is:

We begin out shift at 5:25 AM

You ALL start at 525? or a small group ie: TL, 1-2 TM(s) come in, ie: "my core team" then the rest come in at 0600?


It is not a push all

Don't ever get conned into that mess.. Especially right now.... regardless of volume of store.. SCAN THAT TRUCK!


One person on push furniture, chemicals, paper, and electronics cage

By "on push" you mean front of the line to sort push freight by custom block? Terminology here is different so I want to be sure I read this right...


Lets see:

1 Scanner
2 throwers
1 Bulk/Seasonal/Mini/Playground/Furniture/BS Plastics/Paper
1 Sorts out Paper/Plastics to flats, repacks for SL and ELEC caged repacks, and the ELECT pallet
1 BS for all the remaining blocks
4 sort to custom blocks/ with one of the 4 also sorting the combo repacks'

Thats just the line.



Two people soft-lines

You have only two SL girls to sort and push SL? :eek:


One pallet-puller

We did this, but this only works IF IF the person doing this is like well some super hero that can be in 6 places at once... We stopped due to promotions.. and now each area is responsible for pulling their flat/pallet as needed. We still will have one person who pulls full flats/pallets out if they don't come for them quick enough..but they just get yanked out of the line and stuck out of the way for the TM to come fetch.

I don't want my custom block sorters off the line.


Of late it seems we get panels that are segmented meaning they contain mostly one area like dry grocery then we get a chem one, then the next 2 will be a mish mosh of stuff.. so a few times the towering pallets/flats need to be moved before the person comes to get them.

One soft-lines rack puller

You sort SL back with the truck unload?

Our team lead is always in the truck, helping push the boxes down the line.

Only do this when the pace is not meeting my expectations and the 1hr unload time.

It has been laid out that unless there is people on VAC, CO, NCNS or something, I should not be in there unless there is a problem... and quite honestly if I am in there WE GOT A PROBLEM.

This applies to both in the truck and on the line, either side.

Sometimes our Logistics ETL will go into the truck and throw it.

Pretty much same for us, if there is CO, VAC, NCNS, and right now all the fresh rookie meat STLIT's we get... hell the latest one looks like mommy just kicked him out of the basement. Time to get dirty rookie! :) BAWAHHAHHAAA


At around 6:15, our ETL will pull one of the people from the back stock side of the line and one of the people from the push side of the line to go push on the floor.

Are you not pushing in areas as the truck unloads??

Meh.....meh.. I would do this but only if the people left were like a handful of TM's who I just can't spare to be there from where they are during the unload and its the last panel.. as most times the last panel tends to be loaded with pallets of stuff that the bulk person can deal with after the casepacks are removed from them....

We have been getting our trucks done at around 7:05, no later than 7:15, and now our team lead is in danger of losing their job and our Logistics ETL has been acting like a real jerk.

Well IF:

You START UNLOAD at 525 with the FULL Team, and thus you are a 530 start (which is first, for me, not that its not happening, just all the stores I am familiar with are either overnight (store close approx 2200) or 02, 04, or 06, and one 0730 ULV)

So if you really start at 525, then at 705 YOUR 30 MINS LATE. And if that is the case then I see why that TL is on thin ice... by 645 at the latest you should be done, and the sorters and throwers in the wave.

NOW... IF you really start at 0600,

then I am not sure what the issue is... as a 705 unload from a 0600 start is right about on goal. See above.

So long as we are done by 1HR ie: 0700, I got no issue, ETL has no issue, STL has no issue.... Consistently over an hour ie: 15+ mins/day or more then we get got problems...my predecessor had this problem hence predecessor.

If the trucks are consistently in this level and you are at 0700, 0705 nobody cares.. OVER 15min or more all the time.. ISSUE and depending on your answer to my start time Q... your TL got a problem! a BIG ONE. 30 mins over...
 
sub 2000 30-45 mins
2000-2200 1 hour
2200-2400 1 hour 15 mins
2400-2800 1 hour 25 mins
Trucks really don't go over 1 hour and 30 mins.
Is typical for our flow, even less when ETL and TL are both in, mostly because they can remove paper and water pallets in the way other wise we typically use a puller if they are near by, the person in the front of the line or the throwers themselves remove them.
2 Throwers, 1 Scanner, 2 Blackline, 4 Push, 2 Pullers.
Times are go longer when you use less people but they're graded in relation to the number of people for unloading the truck.
 
Truck between 1700-2100 is usually 1 hr 30 min
Truck between 2100-2500 is usually 1 hr 45 min to 2 hours.

Its been like this for a few years at my store. No one has lost a job and nothing has been changed. Honestly, I don't think Target really cares about this store. We probably have the worst lines or belts, whatever you want to call them, in the company and out trailer door sits parallel to the main line, so the WWII era lines with the missing wheels have to bend. We need like 3 people to actually push the line from inside the truck to make the unload somewhat productive. I've been to newer stores where its a straight shot and the unload seems to run smoother.

Also, the stockroom is super tiny, so as soon as you pull a pallet, you're like half a foot away from a bulk steel. Not much room for mobility back there.

At one point, we were getting off within an hour, but most of the good team members quit or got fired and the vets are old, fat, and lazy. Its a mess and no one has any answers.
 
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Truck goal time should be an hour no matter the size of the trailer. We have to get the team pushing boxes to the shelves asap and any time over an hour is wasted and unnecessary. I'll take 1-3 boxes ending up on the wrong pallets here and there for an hour unload on a 2500pc truck.

This is the ideal line set up:
2 throw
1 scan (Always scan, push all is a joke)
1 line pusher
5 on push
1 on backstock
2 pallet pullers/bowlers
2 sorting repacks (HL, stat, gm stuff)
3 sorting softlines
DON'T SORT hba repacks... I'm a big fan of how they're sorted from the DC (I know, surprise surprise) ask me if you have questions about this!

Basically, make sure your team is communicating with each other, your TL and ETL should always be around, maybe not taking a spot on the line, but jumping in where it is getting jammed up so your throwers can keep throwing and your sorters can keep sorting. Make it a game of hot potato, are your line crew pushing boxes down that aren't in their bay? Then they should be, do they call out loud the custom block number if their teammate misses a box ahead of them? Are your pallets getting stacked too high? The harder the sorter has to think about building the pallet, the longer it takes, pull that sucker out of there and get bowling!

Shoot for an hour, teach and train your team to work efficiently, and you will get there. Set expectations, make sure they have what they need to be successful and hold them accountable when they slip up.
 
My store is overnight, so we start at 10pm and usually finish anywhere between 11:25-11:45 unless we have a double. The loads usually range between 1800-2600 pieces. We have two throwers, one or two pushers, one scanner, and about ten people on the line and three pulling pallets.
 
Overnight store her starting at 10. Truck is done between 11:30- 11:45 unless it's a double
 
My store starts at 4am. A few people come in at 3:30, but the whole crew is there at 4 and the truck is usually done by 5:00-5:15.

Usually our store has 4 trucks (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday) but when we take 5 trucks we add a Tuesday truck. Soon we are starting 6 trucks, with a possibility of 7. But we were told that we will probably take a double instead of taking one every day.
 
A basic goal all 6AM stores should shoot for is unloading at a pace of 33 cartons/minute, that will get a 2000-piece truck unloaded in an hour. Take your truck size and divide by 33 and that will give you your unload goal in minutes. If you're a 6AM store and you are not meeting or exceeding this goal, something isn't running efficiently somewhere on the unload.

For stores saying that all trucks should be unloaded in an hour, that's not very realistic. Always try to get unloaded as fast as possible, you're not going to slow down your unload to compensate for an 1800-piece truck and you're not going to get a 2500-piece truck unloaded in an hour.
 
A basic goal all 6AM stores should shoot for is unloading at a pace of 33 cartons/minute, that will get a 2000-piece truck unloaded in an hour. Take your truck size and divide by 33 and that will give you your unload goal in minutes. If you're a 6AM store and you are not meeting or exceeding this goal, something isn't running efficiently somewhere on the unload.

For stores saying that all trucks should be unloaded in an hour, that's not very realistic. Always try to get unloaded as fast as possible, you're not going to slow down your unload to compensate for an 1800-piece truck and you're not going to get a 2500-piece truck unloaded in an hour.

Yep I agree with this. I think its about efficiency. There are a few problems with aiming on going this fast. First, stores are going so fast they are not setting their teams up for success later at some point in the process. You need it to stay organized and controlled. Second, some stores are adding people to the line to get it done faster, but its a diminishing returns when it comes to payroll. As you add more people, each team member is worth less and less with productivity. At a certain point its better to not add that person, do a few less cartons/minute, but have an entire area bowled out, repacks broken out faster, or batches pulled faster.
 
Reading through this post is making me think not, but are any other stores still running metered unload? I feel like my store is way behind the curve on this, as we only implemented it a couple months ago when I thought everyone had figured out how terrible it is by now. Generally our trucks can take anywhere from 3-4 hours for the unload with 1 thrower and 3-5 on the line (avg. 1900-2500 pieces, push all), unless it's a double and the execs panic and make us go back to the old unload for them. The one double metered we attempted was still being unloaded when I left at 1pm after starting at 2am, two 2500 piece trucks and the second arrived late.

I am curious how often does everybody get trucks (on average)?

5/wk regularly but 6-7 many weeks the second half of the year.
 
I am curious how often does everybody get trucks (on average)?
We are a 4 truck per week store, but more often than not we end up with 5. I think we're forecasted for 7 starting in a few weeks.

B volume, 6am start.
 
Does anyone else do metered unload? I'm the flow tl and our dtl is making us do metered. We have been doing it for 3 weeks. And it sucks. It's taking too long. We start unload at 4am and don't finish until 8-9am. We get held back because we have to stop unload due to vendors or FDC trucks. We have to stop unload when the flats and u boats are stacked with boxes. It's taking too long. We do scan every truck but the process is taking too long
 
we come in at 6 so maybe 715? though often times 730. we get 3 trucks a week sometimes 4 and we never comes clean. flow has like 14 people? counting every head. but 4 of those are in softlines, and the other 10 for the rest of the store, and most leave at 10 or 11. if the truck is less than 1800 then were good. but any more than that ...
 
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