Supply Scan


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News and trends from across the food supply chain.


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Certified Grocers Midwest Promotes Leadership

Certified Grocers Midwest Inc. has teamed up with Tom Zosel Associates (TZA) to deliver a management training curriculum and help its warehouse supervisors gain the knowledge needed to become great leaders.

The training program is specifically tailored to the challenges of distribution environments. Certified Grocer's floor managers will receive practical tips, techniques and solutions they need for supervisory success when coordinating people and tasks.

"The training focuses on the challenges they face every day on the floor and offers solutions to help them fully achieve their potential—not just as managers but also as true leaders who command the respect, commitment and credibility that moves people to action," says Todd Avery, director of distribution operations for the Hodgkins, IL-based grocery wholesaler.

 

Railroads Rebuilding Trust In Perishables Services

Efforts by the American railroad industry to rebuild a reputation for moving perishables that has suffered significantly in recent years appear to be paying off.

"Companies like Chiquita used to move a lot of products by rail," says John LaRue, executive director of the Port of Corpus Christi. "Then, when the rail carriers went through their biggest problems in the '60s and '70s, they lost all that business," he says.

Now, people moving perishables are looking more positively at the rail industry, LaRue says. "There's starting to be some confidence again," he says. One of the primary reasons is that, for what seems to be the first time in a long while, perishables have become a priority for American railroads.

Rail carriers are investing heavily in their perishables fleets as they move to build up a level of trust that had faded significantly in recent years. "The freight rail industry continues to reinvest in the refrigerated car perishable business," says Hubert K. "Obie" O'Bannon, senior vice president, government affairs for the Association of American Railroads.

"Over the last five years, the western Class I railroads have invested over $480 million in new state of the art equipment" for the perishables marketplace, O'Bannon says. Money has been spent on everything from refurbishing older equipment to buying new, state of the art technology.

"Examples of the type of equipment purchased include: 1,000 72 foot reefers with two way satellite monitoring for low fuel, temperature fluctuations and open doors; 1,500 new 64 foot reefers and refurbishing of 2,600 50 foot refrigerated boxcars," O'Bannon says.

The size of some of the equipment that's been purchased shows a key advantage rail has over truck transportation: far more goods can be carried in each rail car than in the average reefer container or refrigerated truck.

"You can get a lot more in a rail car than you can in a truck," LaRue says. Because of this and other factors, railroads can offer significant cost advantages compared to trucking companies, especially on journeys of 400-500 miles or more, he says. This is one reason that Corpus Christi recently used rail to help move the frozen chicken that is one of the port's top perishable cargoes.

"The costs we got on the moves of chicken were very competitive. That's why we were able to do it," LaRue says. In addition, rail's improvements have gone far beyond just buying new equipment. "Rail has gotten a lot better with their schedules and deliveries," he says.

 

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