American Woodmark Corporation is building a driver lounge in its Moorefield, West Virginia facility as part of a $30 million expansion project. The free Wi-Fi, refreshments, restrooms with showers, and other amenities in the lounge could rival those of any commercial or private fleet.
American Woodmark does not have a fleet, however. It is the largest independent manufacturer of kitchen and bath cabinets in the United States. John Boyer, the corporate transportation manager, says that not being driver friendly in today’s market is risky business for shippers.
Boyer joined three other panelists on May 20 at the CCJ Spring Symposium to discuss “building lasting shipper-carrier relationships.”
The panel, moderated by CCJ Editor Jeff Crissey, dissected a number of ways that shippers and carriers can work together to eliminate pain points in the supply chain.
Boyer said his company is looking for ways to improve the experience for carriers and drivers. It has been running a campaign called the Woodmark WAY (We Appreciate You) that is “all about what we can do to make things better for the driver as they move into and out of our facilities, and what can we do to make it better for the carrier to be more efficient.”
Having equipment and drivers flow through its facilities in an efficient manner helps keep costs down, but “it’s also the right thing to do,” he said. The company will soon be adding kiosks in its facilities so that drivers can print out their bills of lading, similar to the kiosks at airports to print boarding tickets, as well as status boards to monitor when their loads will be completed and ready for pickup.
American Woodmark has got the average wait time for drivers at its facilities down to about 30 minutes, he said. This has been possible by pre-loading trailers for drop-and-hook operations. “I think it is my responsibility to make sure that these folks get in and can take a load and get out. We are the controllers of that.”
