Some of the terms in the supply chain industry downplay their importance. From referring to freight unloaders as ‘lumpers’ to their tasks as ‘stuffing and unstuffing’ ‘stowing’, ‘filling’, etc., professional freight unloaders may not be fully recognized as key players in our industry. But we are. The task of stuffing by freight unloaders begins as soon as an empty container arrives at the warehouse yard. It will be filled as required by a document known as the ‘daily stuffing plan’ which has been prepared and approved by the transporter or freight forwarder. It is here that the container stuffing task performed by professional lumpers, such as teams deployed by Labor Loop, begins.
After a crucial inspection that not only determines the compatibility of the goods to be ‘stuffed’ but also that the container is clean, and that reefer trucks are the requisite temperature, container loading can begin. Next, the container or containers are positioned at the loading dock, then and only then it is time for container stuffing. Warehouse staff will have pre-picked loading orders and stowed them near the loading bay. Here, Labor Loop’s team begins stuffing, If the load is made up of chilled or frozen goods, these must be quickly moved from their storage locations and loaded directly to avoid deterioration or spoilage. Our teams manually load non-palletized goods and stacks these on pallets inside the container. Entire pallet loads require forklifts. Once inside the container, goods may be hand-stacked as compactly as possible for efficient use of the space and to prevent load shift en route. At all times, the team remains aware of cargo weight limitations set by shippers or transport regulators. The industry term is container stuffing, not overstuffing.
At the final stage of the supply chain, container unstuffing also requires preplanning. Before the container arrives at the warehouse, sufficient storage space inside the warehouse must be available to accept the incoming cargo. Once receivers have performed any regulatory tasks, it is again time for Labor Loop’s team to begin container unstuffing. Our seasoned teams are both OSHA-trained and certified and used to working under tight timelines. After an initial assessment, any observed damages or losses are documented for insurance claims. However, the receiver wishes the goods to be stacked for storage, whether offloaded for warehouse staffers, or if requested, to store the goods as part of our container unstuffing services, know that no request is beyond our experience. Best of all, our teams are deployed on-demand, which also contributes to holding the line on operations costs.
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