I have recently started working as a clerk for my local Kroger. I have noticed that the pallets we receive from the distribution center in Atlanta are incredibly off balance. I am finding that people are loading these 1500+ pound pallets with fragile and light weight things on the BOTTOM and then VERY HEAVY things stacked on top. By the time the truck reaches our location these pallets are disfigured and half the time they end up falling over themselves before I can even get them opened!!!!
I have never worked at a distribution center before, but do they not have a way of checking the items they stack ? Or is the object of the distribution center to just get pallets out as quickly as possible, regardless of the fact that pallet might come out and crush/horribly disfigure an employee on the job ? Not sure if any of you have seen what happens when a tons worth of objects falls on someone, but it is not pretty.
Honestly, if Kroger is concerned about the safety and well being of their employees they might want to send a few higher ups to the distribution center located in Atlanta. If we have to do our jobs right, what exactly exempts them ?
There was one time I was supposed to get my pallet out of the freezer, and it had completely fallen over because someone stacked it up improperly. I told a manager and he told me not to even try moving it because it would collapse and they didn't want anyone getting hurt.
There's been many times we've gotten squished lighter boxes on the bottom, such as cakes that say "Fragile" on them... obviously they aren't reading that. :P
i'm sure the distribution center has crazy, impossible efficiency goals just like the stores do. doesn't negate any poorly stacked pallets, but i'm sure they have to get X amount of pallets out in a certain time period. this is probably why they don't read "fragile" or take more time to look more closely at what they're stacking things on.
Always been like that in Atlanta division. If Kroger was so concerned about safety they would look into it. We have sent picture after picture and nothing has ever been done.
Well like they say.. A little bit of info in the wrong hands>>>that person was killed in the backroom of a store and it had nothing to do with the distribution center. Osha investigated and fined the store/company for unsafe storage of pallets in the backroom racks. The equipment in the stores is not exactly user friendly nor time saving. It helps to have two people moving pallets down from upper tier storage but whoever it is needs to be fully trained and totally alert that pallets shift, boards break, racks bend, etc., never- ever be underneath an overhead pallet that's being moved.
The D.C.'s are mega busy 24/7 and the pickers loaders and lift truck operators are all paid hourly rate plus incentive bonus. So it's kinda like the old video game called Frogger.. everyone working hard and fast to make maximum pay. No way to make each and every pallet perfectly square and no boxes crushed but the pick is laid out so the heavy cases are picked first and used for the base layers and then the small, light or fragile cases are to go on top layers. Also loaders are directed to fill up every truck and leave no pallet behind. Then the truck driver may have cause to stop suddenly and make pallets shift even more during transit. It's not a Perfect World at the D.C. just like it's not at the stores but no one intentionally assembles or loads unsafe pallets but u try servicing over 300 stores and see what a daunting task it is.
Trying to get the distribution center to palletize right is a losing battle. It has been that way the last 20 years. I got really good at squeezing pallets against one and other to "straighten" them up, getting people to walk along side holding them together, as well as other tricks. Just get even, dump everything on the salvage trailer....trash in...trash out
Our driver said the order selectors are on 90 day probation at our warehouse. The warehouse dumps the selectors before the 90 days so they do not have to pay insurance. So, about every 90 days we get crappy grocery(01)pallets.
I have only had one Peyton(69) pallet fall over. I set it down in our staging area where we sort, went to get another pallet off the truck, when I came around the corner, the pallet was on the floor. It had spaghetti sauce, canned goods and hot sauce stacked on plastic sandwich bags. Other than that time, Peyton pallets are solid.
I used to work in a warehouse 20 years ago. Yes, we were under strict time limits. I would go in early to get a good pallet jack. Peyton are probably pulled off a conveyor but not sure how they would do that without stickers. Grocery pallets are probably picked up thru out the warehouse.
The warehouse is set up in a certain order over 5 acres. I would drive about 2 miles thru the warehouse to fill 2 pallets. Start at one end and go up and down the aisles. Whatever was first, was on the bottom of the pallet. Most of the time I could get a good stack. Other times, there was no way to avoid a crappy stack. Wrap it tight and cross fingers!!
Kmart and the military were the largest customers. 400 cases in a little over an hour. Smaller stores were 20 cases in 15 minutes. I would randomly get the Kmart and Military orders often.
Our driver said the order selectors are on 90 day probation at our warehouse. The warehouse dumps the selectors before the 90 days so they do not have to pay insurance. So, about every 90 days we get crappy grocery(01)pallets.
Also, we did have a pallet of salt fall on the reciever. Salt and Dog food is always on top of the wimpy K cola boxes. He had to use his cell phone to get help to get unburied.
