Who Moved My Grapes?
This blog post is inspired by a talk that we had at the 2022
TWGGA conference. Les and I were honored
to speak at the conference regarding two separate topics: supply chain challenges and the ins and outs
of logistics for the Texas wine industry.
Our partner in crime when we talk about logistics is always our
Dreamsicle. That is the name for our
truck and refrigerated trailer that we use to carry the valuable goods needed
by the Texas wine industry.
Les introduced the
Dreamsicle with these words:
Space: the final
frontier. These are the voyages of the
“starship” Dreamsicle.
Its eternal
mission: to deliver the equipment, to
deliver the grapes and to deliver the cased goods for the success of Texas
Wine!!
Space is the one word that dominates any discussion about
planning. You have heard it before, but
before you break ground, decisions must be made as to what your vision will be
not only today, next year and five years from now. With that said, what kind of trucks will you
encounter once operations commence?
Construction deliveries will arrive on flatbeds. Vineyard supplies will arrive on
flatbeds. Flatbeds can range from 36’ to
53’ in length. Other supplies,
especially once a winery is receiving supplies, will arrive on dry or
refrigerated trailers. Grapes will ship
on refrigerated trailers. Wine will
arrive on vans, refrigerated or dry depending on the weather. Vans can range in length from 26 to 53’. Think worst case scenario, which means a
full 53’ trailer with a tractor that has a sleeper cab included. The overall length could be 80’ or
better. What exactly does that mean for
your entrance, exit, driveways, loading, unloading, and docking areas?
Planning your entrance
Your entrance should be wide enough with a tapered entrance
for a tractor with trailer to pull in safely from the road. The gate, if there is one, should easily open
wide enough to allow for trucks to pass easily.
What type of aggregate will you use for your driveways? If paving your driveways is not in the
budget, make sure your contractor lays the correct aggregates for your parking
lots, driveways, and staging areas.
Nothing is worse than an inferior aggregate used for the driveways of
your property, which cause a tractor trailer to sink when the ground is
wet. The size of the tractor trailer is
not the only consideration, but the weight of any loads on your property is
incremental too. Most tractor trailers
will weight close to 80,000 pounds when full of fuel and product. We'll talk about heavier loads further in this post.
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Lost Oak Winery – This is the roadway approaching the
delivery entrance – Notice the wide entrance for pulling into and off the
roadway. |
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Lost Oak Winery – This is the entrance – Notice the tapered entry. This entry has a double gate. |
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Lost Oak Winery – The driveway itself isn’t overly wide,
but it is easily wide enough for a truck with trailer. |
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Lost Oak Winery – The loading dock has visible alignment lines and a dock leveler when trucks back into for loading and unloading. |
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Marker Cellars – The entry is again wide, tapered, and
deep for tractor trailers to enter. |
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Planning your loading, unloading, docking, and
staging areas
Your loading, unloading, docking, and staging areas should
allow for plenty of turning radius for the tractor trailers that arrive at your
property. Is your staging area ground
level? Have an area that descends so that
the when the tractor trailer backs into the staging area, it will then be level
to the loading/unloading area.
Aggregates again become an important item for this area,
too. Kuhlman Cellars has a loading dock
with thick rock the size of a man’s fist, which allows for ample traction when
backing in or pulling out. This
aggregate also allows for easy drainage when it is raining, and the tractor
trailer won’t get bogged down.
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Hillsboro TA Travel Center – This shows how large the
standard truck parking lot is for trucks to maneuver when parking. |
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Waco Area HEB – This shows the ample space for a
well-planned loading dock. |
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Waco Area HEB – The area for aligning to the loading dock
is spacious. |
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Waco Area HEB – A separate exit area is used when tractor
trailers are finished loading or unloading. |
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Heavy Haul and Large Items – Think space again. If the future of your business includes
mechanized machinery, your entrance and driveways will need to accommodate
those types of deliveries. Consideration for the added weight that this type of load will add to your driveways is another consideration for choosing the best aggregate for your facility. |
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Essential equipment
Some items to have for receiving or shipping items from your
facility are not limited to but should include the following:
Dock Plate
Pallet Jack
Forklift
Packaging and securement
When shipping your items make sure that they are in the
proper type of packaging that will sustain the journey you plan. Will you need ½ or 1.5-ton bins for
harvest? Will you need lids? Equipment crating may be necessary and shouldn’t
be done in an inexpensive manner.
Crating is to protect what is being shipped. What type of tote will you use for bulk
purchases? Be sure you are aware of an
item’s benefit and curse when making a purchase. Not all totes are equal.
Loading and unloading
A loading dock isn’t necessary. A staging area or crushing pad will work for
small facilities.
Lighting
Deliveries and shipments are made any time during the day and
night and in all kinds of weather. Even
without building a loading dock but using a staging area for deliveries, you
must have ample lighting. Entrances need
to have clearly defined areas for nighttime shipments. A flashing beacon is best and can be used
only when necessary. Solar lights are
not for entrances and are only fashion accessories. When creating lighted signage or applicable
lights for entrances, ensure that they are seen when approaching the entrance
from the roadway and not flush with your entrance.
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Hye Meadow Winery – Notice the dock plate. |
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Nighttime Delivery – Lighting is imperative. |
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Lighting – Flashing beacon light |
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Options for fixing entrance constraints
If existing structures exist, there may be ways to improve
the areas that you have. The biggest one
is the width of an entrance. The width
may be a prohibitive factor but moving the structures that at an entrance can
be an area that can be improved. Flowerbeds,
ornamental items, fences, and other items may be attractive, but once they are
damaged by a tractor trailer, there’s no going back. Don’t forget how gates and other structures
with archways can impact traffic in and out of your entry. Be mindful when designing entrances and never
lose sight of delivery or shipping needs.
Optimizing your delivery
No matter the carrier, there are shipping basics that every
carrier will need to know for quotation purposes and for the quality of
delivery once an item is collected. The
weight provided can be per piece or as an overall weight. However, if there are multiple items of
varying sizes being shipped, the weight provided should be per piece and not an
overall weight.
The dimensions are expressed in length, width, and
height. The unit of measure should be
provided, such as inches, feet, centimeters, or meters. If multiple pieces of varying sizes are being
shipped, the measurement for each item should be provided.
The need for refrigeration is an important factor as is the
pickup and delivery windows. For
quotation purposes the ship from and to zip codes are adequate, but once the
item is booked for shipping, more detailed information is necessary.
The business shipper and receiver name, address, contact
name, phone and email address are all necessary as is the shipping and
receiving hours. We like to know if a
forklift is available. Finally, any
additional information that is useful, such as the gate code or entrance
directions.
Cost containment
Freight costs have escalated over the last two years. Limited capacity, which means the number of
available empty trailers to ship your product, has become an issue far more
than ever. Within the last two years,
fewer trucks are on the road due to illness, death, business closure, and
mechanical constraints due to an even more prevalent problem. Manufacturers are having issues providing
replacement part due to raw material constraints, staff reductions, longer lead
times and shipping backlogs.
Freight costs have increased because trucking companies are
mandating higher prices to create a bidding war between potential
customers. Loads that previously cost
$5,500 can now cost $12,000. The carrier
claims higher fuel prices as the reason for the increased pricing. However, that isn’t the case. Yes, there are higher fuel prices. However, they don’t justify load prices
doubling in a matter of months.
What can you do to curb the costs? Most of our customers cannot afford to pay
for a full truckload as they are small business owners. Coordinate purchases and shipments with
others that are looking for the types of products. Give your carrier ample time to work with
other customers to combine loads so that the freight costs are shared among
multiple parties. Be mindful that truck
drivers are in general a lazy lot. They
like simple, which means one pick up and one drop off. Load combining would entail multiple pick-ups
and drop offs. This also means that it
will cost more to convince a carrier to take the load, but it's not
impossible.
Choosing the right carrier for you
Cost is not the only consideration when deciding on the
carrier for you. Quality, reliability,
lead time and safety are important considerations. Whatever your reasons are for choosing the
carrier for your shipping needs, be sure that you check with two to three
options. By only evaluating on source,
you are limiting your options to see what others can do for you. You are also limiting yourself to know if the
one supplier you use as a default is meeting your needs.
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