Welcome back to Warehouse and Operations as a Career. I’m Marty and today I want to talk about something a listener brought up recently. They asked me, “Why don’t you just stick to explaining warehouse positions instead of all the other stuff that doesn’t make us more money?” Well, I guess that is a fair question. As We’ve discussed many times, and I believe this is more than just my opinion. Here’s the thing about warehousing, transportation, distribution, manufacturing, and the whole supply chain. Nothing stands alone. Every movement touches another movement. Every position affects another position. Every delay or error cost somebody time. And in my experience, every shortcut creates a problem somewhere else. And, not only do I believe, but I think I can show that the people who grow the farthest in this industry are usually the people who understand more than just their own task. That’s why we talk about everything, and why I try and get as many questions answered as possible. We can all learn something from all the experiences shared.

On another note, kind of keeping with the theme of the day, I had a long time mentor, just this week say that the associate who learns the language of the operation becomes more valuable to the operation.

So today, I thought we’d have some fun with that idea by talking about something every warehouse, dispatcher, inventory clerk, transportation coordinator, recruiter, manager, and forklift operator and a couple of hundred other positions hear every day.

Acronyms. Being honest. The supply chain world LOVES acronyms. Sometimes it feels like people are speaking another language. A dispatcher says I Need POD on that LTL before DET hits, or customer’s asking for an ETA, and OS&D says there’s one QTR short. And the new employee standing there is thinking What in the world just happened? But once you understand the language, you start understanding the business. And understanding the business creates opportunity. So let’s break a few of them down today.

POD. This one’s huge. POD simply means Proof of Delivery. It’s the signature, paperwork, photo, or electronic confirmation showing freight arrived where it was supposed to arrive. Without a POD, customers may refuse payment. Billing can stop. Claims can happen. That little signature? That’s money. It’s like a check. One missing POD can turn into hours of emails, phone calls, and frustration.

The BOL or Bill of Laden. The BOL is basically the birth certificate of the shipment. It tells us what the freight is, where it’s going , who shipped it, who receives it , and how many pallets or cartons there are. Drivers carry it. Receivers check it. And dispatch tracks it. If the BOL is wrong, everything downstream can become wrong too. Again, everything touches everything.

On to the ETA or the estimated time of arrival. Everybody wants the ETA. An inaccurate ETA affects staffing, dock schedules, unloaders, production planning, and customer satisfaction. One late truck can ripple through an entire building.

PU and DEL. PU means Pickup. DEL means Delivery. Simple terms, but they move the entire transportation world. You’ll hear the PU is at 1400. And maybe read or hear DEL scheduled for tomorrow. And you don’t want to read or hear Missed PU. Or Late DEL. Those two tiny acronyms control millions of dollars in freight every single day.

Oh, these are common ones. FTL, TL and LTL. Now we’re getting into freight classifications. FTL or TL means Full Truckload or Truckload. That means one shipment basically fills the trailer. LTL means Less Than Truckload. That means multiple customers share trailer space. Why does this matter? Because of the freight handling changes. LTL freight gets touched more. More touches means more chances for damages. More planning, terminals being crossed and more scheduling. Understanding freight flow helps associates understand WHY all those processes we have to follow exist.

STL or Spot Trailer Load. Now depending on the company, STL can mean different things, but many operations use it to describe a spotted trailer load or staged trailer movement. Spotters, yard dogs, dispatch, and shipping clerks all coordinate trailer movement to keep freight flowing. One missed trailer move can shut down a shipping lane.

Then OS&D. This acronym can ruin everybody’s day. OS&D means, over, short, and damaged. To a receiver that’ll mean too much product. Missing product. Or Broken product! This affects inventory, customer service, claims, transportation, receivers, selectors and loaders. One crushed pallet may not seem important on the dock floor
until you realize it can cost thousands of dollars.

Lets see, TONU or Truck Ordered Not Used. Transportation people cringe hearing this one. TONU means a truck was scheduled, showed up, and wasn’t needed. But the carrier is still going to expect his or her payment. Why? Remember all we’ve learned about transportation. A truck sitting parked still costs money.

One we’re all getting used to is FSC, the fuel surcharge. Fuel affects everything. When diesel prices rise, FSC charges often rise too. That means transportation costs increase. And when transportation costs increase, product prices eventually increase. Again, everything touches everything.

Two more biggies, DET and D&H. DET means Detention. D&H means Detention and Handling. This happens when drivers sit too long waiting to load or unload. And let me tell you, drivers will charge you and they remember facilities that waste their time. A poorly managed dock damages relationships fast. And we as warehouse people probably know these next two. APPT and FCFS. APPT means Appointment. FCFS means First Come, First Serve. Many warehouses, especially the larger ones run by appointments. Others unload trailers in the order in which they arrive. Understanding which system a facility uses affects scheduling, staffing, and transportation planning.

And here are 3 system ones. TMS, WMS, and YMS. Now we’re talking technology. TMS is the Transportation Management System, and I’m sure us warehouse folks know WMS, the Warehouse Management System, and a little lesser known system is the YMS, Yard Management System. You’ll see these in high traffic operations. These three systems track freight, our inventory, trailer locations, our productivity, shipping schedules, receiving , even our labor hours and cost. Really pretty much what ever information we feed into them! Years ago, many warehouses used clipboards and paper. Today? Data drives our operations. And the associate willing to learn systems becomes extremely valuable. A forklift operator that understands WMS screens and RF scanners may eventually move into inventory control or leadership. Knowledge adds up.

ASN and EDI. ASN means Advanced Shipping Notice. That’s electronic information sent be...