Why Tracking Short Truck Turnaround Rates Helps Make Your Business More Profitable

If you’re involved with logistics, you understand the importance of efficiency. With such a long journey from manufacturer to retail, even small delays along the route add up, potentially causing problems down the line.

One significant key performance indicator (KPI) to be aware of is truck turnaround rate at cold storage warehouses.  

What Is a Truck Turnaround Rate?

Truck turnaround rate or turnaround time at a cold storage facility is calculated from the appointment time until driver release. If a driver is late to an appointment, the turnaround clock won’t start ticking until the truck arrives at the loading dock.

This crucial metric measures how effective the shipping and receiving department at the cold storage facility is and how efficiently customers can expect dock workers to load and unload a full truckload of goods.

Truck turnaround rate = Appointment time (or driver arrival time, whichever is later) – driver release.

The cost of inefficiency

Slow truck turnaround rates can increase expenses and have a trickle-down effect on processes further down the line. There are many effects of slow turnaround rates, including:

• Customer dissatisfaction. When products don’t arrive within their promised timeframe, customers can lose trust and confidence in your company.
• Higher operational costs. More time idling at the cold storage facility means higher fuel consumption and more driver time on the clock.
• Increased penalties. Idling drivers can get cited for noise complaints or incur charges from carriers or ports if shipments don’t arrive in their expected window. Detention is a form of penalty that is charged by the transport company, for holding their assets longer than the allotted “free time.” Slow driver turn times are the root cause to this common penalty charge.
• Risk of spoilage. Perishables are more vulnerable as they move between the truck and cold storage warehouse. More time spent in transition means higher risk.
• Delayed delivery. Delays on the loading dock are passed to the next stage of the supply chain, inconveniencing retailers, distributors, and customers and potentially causing your products to stock out.
• Possible stockouts. Because retailers have a limited amount of storage space, they wait until stock is low before placing orders. If inventory takes too long to arrive at its destination, the supply on hand may run out.

Reducing truck turnaround rates

The best way to increase your truck turnaround rate is to partner with a well-run cold storage facility that is designed to meet your needs and has systems in place to keep it operating at its best.

Choosing the right type of facility for your application is essential. Storing your perishables in a bulk cold storage warehouse when you need frequent access to your inventory or in a distribution cold storage facility when you move full truckloads at a time will cause conflicts that can cause delays.  

Does the facility have enough doors to keep forklifts moving smoothly, or do operators have to wait for their turn to pass through? Physical limitations in building structure can add significantly to truck turnaround times.

Taking time to learn about a prospective cold storage warehouse’s inventory system will show the facility’s level of organization. Do they utilize RF Scanners and are they Electronic Data Exchange (EDI) compliant? If so, the facility should be able to upload inbound pallet level data more efficiently and accurately as well as get the load into the freezer quicker. This will also be replicated on outbound orders shipping from the facility. Can you verify the loads yourself with online access? If not, they may take more time loading or unloading as their dock workers work around system inefficiencies.

Do they have frequent employee turnover? If so, you should expect to add time to loading or unloading as workers become more familiar with their new jobs.

Interstate Cold Storage reduces driver turn times

At Interstate Cold Storage, we track this essential KPI during peak months so we can evaluate our level of efficiency. The industry strives for an average turnaround time of 2 hours or less. Turnaround time in our cold storage warehouses is between 1 hour, fifteen minutes and 1 hour, thirty-five minutes.

We achieve these superior truck turnaround times with a simplified system that sets us up for success.

At ICS, we:

• Ask prospective customers questions to make sure that we’re the right kind of cold storage facility for their application before starting a contract.
• Have plenty of doors to keep forklift traffic moving swiftly and efficiently.
• Invest in appropriate technology, such as RF scanners, a cutting edge warehouse management system while supporting EDI transaction integration. We know exactly where your inventory is at all times, and you can access real-time information online.
• Retain tenured professionals who do their jobs well.

Our shorter turnaround times show that our leadership team is driving success in each of our facilities.

About Interstate Cold Storage

Established in 1973, ICS is a leader in cold storage facilities, shipping and distribution, with a network of warehouses strategically located across the Midwest. Headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, we’re a family-owned company with five locations and nearly 22 million cubic feet of refrigerated space. ICS is a top 20 North American refrigerated warehousing company according to the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses. The facility network currently supports temperature ranges from -15°F to 35°F with multi-room, multi-temp offerings.