Thursday, August 30, 2012

Delivering – and Maintaining – Effective Forklift Safety


Let’s face it: the daily and nightly grind inside a lot of warehouses in America – and across the world – can be punishing. The work-shifts can run late, the shift boss might not be your favorite pal on Earth, and the finesse required to maneuver among stacks of crates, boxes, and pallets can be more than a little bit aggravating and tiresome. But a job’s a job, right? When it comes right down to it, you’ve got to make sure you’re doing it well, and that brings up the important issue of proper safety. Two of the most important areas involved in the safe operation of a forklift include following proper procedures during loading and unloading operations, and unnecessary speeding.

To the expert fork lifter, loading and unloading operations may feel like second-nature, but to those just starting out at a new warehouse, there’s oftentimes a lot to be mastered. Raising or lowering the forks while a forklift is moving, or trying to take on a load that’s too heavy or bulky, or carrying a particularly heavy item on a down-ramp or up-ramp – all of these contribute to the kinds of accidents that occur in a typical warehouse, and all of them can result in the overturning of forklifts. According to OSHA, 25% of all warehouse deaths in North America can be traced to forklifts overturning. It’s a serious business you’re helping to run, and it can’t be stressed enough that paying close attention to details is an essential.

Another factor that leads to all kinds of forklift accidents is the problem of speeding. Speeding on a forklift through a tight-packed warehouse is a different animal entirely than speeding along an empty, open highway. While both might be illegal (and dangerous), one of them carries far more potential for harm than the other. Drive slowly and carefully when operating in a warehouse, making sure you have a clear line of vision while driving, and be sure to slow down at cross aisles and sound the horn to alert other traffic that you’re coming through the intersection. Be sure to wear a seatbelt if such is provided, and never let someone else ride on your forklift if an actual seat isn’t provided for them to sit on.

We know it’s a tough job, but hey, if you’re a fork lifter, you’re probably a pretty tough guy or gal yourself. We’re just making sure you keep safe in there, same as anyone who had respect for the profession.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Flatbeds Help the Real Estate Market Find Its Legs Again

When the Great Recession struck in 2007, there wasn’t an industry in America (besides big banks) that took a harder punch than the real estate market. The “Housing Bubble” became – overnight – a household word. It’s been a long several years now since those days of sudden economic collapse, and the nation is still struggling to rekindle its economy, the real estate sector included. But while growth remains slow, the signs point towards a gradual improvement for even the housing and commercial real estate market – and for the flatbed and dry van industry that means a corresponding uptick in business opportunities.

Flatbeds continue to be an integral part of the transportation of construction materials. Without the volume that flatbeds can carry, there would simply have been no cost-effective means of developing the sprawling suburbs and exurbs that surround most North American cities. But the housing market is just the “tip of the opportunity” for truckers and big rig companies. Despite June and July’s slow manufacturing growth (in comparison with the earlier months of this year), manufacturing orders are up considerably from just a year ago. While we’re certainly not out of the woods yet as a country, the numbers show that the growing need for trucking jobs in America attests to an overall spirit of optimism and recovery. Here’s to making it over the mountain.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Breaking Our Dependence on Middle East Oil

Even a few years back, a headline like this would have just been wishful thinking. There’s been talk since at least the OPEC Oil Crisis of 1973 about freeing America from its addiction to foreign fossil fuels. But it hasn’t been an issue that any administration – including the current one – has been willing to fully dedicate itself to. The funny thing is, the problem of curbing our foreign oil consumption may no longer be merely a political issue with a political solution. With the ongoing development of technologies such as hydraulic fracturing, deepwater oil drilling, natural gas, and even photovoltaic energy fuel cells, our automotive and trucking industries – and all other such industries dependent on exports from the Persian Gulf and the like – may very well have a strategy that allows us to eliminate our dependency on foreign oil altogether. Politics may have very little to do with it any longer.

Examples abound of oil deposits that are to be found nowhere near the volatile Middle East. The Bakken Shale Oil Deposit in North Dakota is perhaps the most obvious example of a new American oil renaissance. Since the large-scale discovery of shale oil in North Dakota, the state’s unemployment rate has dropped to 5%, the smallest in the nation. In fact, there’s an ongoing and desperate need for new jobs in the small towns dotting the western North Dakotan plains. The counter-workers at a local McDonald’s in the heart of shale oil country work are paid $20/hour; the counter itself is maintained 24 hours/day.

This is only the most obvious, domestic solution to foreign oil dependency. Huge offshore oil fields have been discovered not only in the Gulf of Mexico, but off the Brazilian coastline as well. With companies already in a much-contested bidding war for these resources, it seems likely that the stakes are high and the profits will indeed be profitable. Likewise, the tar sands of Alberta, Canada are another strong source of “local” oil that will undermine Arab efforts at cornering the oil market. Finally, the proliferation of natural gas and bio-fuels (recently legislation has been passed throughout North America that makes natural gas a viable and regulated source of energy for cars and trucks), as well as the slow but steady development of photovoltaic fuel cells attest to an ultimate break from our long-time dependency.

Estimates indicate that the US will halve its reliance on Middle East oil by as early as 2025. If the new energy policies bear full fruit, that 2025 number can be expected to become reduced to almost 0% by 2035. In terms of history, that’s basically just around the corner from today’s times. Let’s hope that cheaper fuel prices come as a result!