Hope all finds you well this week, I\u2019m Marty and we appreciate you checking in with us today here at Warehouse and Operations as a Career! I\u2019m really excited about an episode, or I guess it\u2019ll be several episodes actually where we\u2019ll be speaking with a New Associate in the Freight Handling world. We\u2019ll have a lot of fun with it and we\u2019re going to try and follow him for a few months within his new job, from his application process to getting hired, his first days on the job and the training. It should be interesting to hear his thoughts about starting a new job, any challenges with the process and checking in with him periodically to hear about any new hire frustrations and the positive feelings he may have about his position. We\u2019re going to try and kick off the series as soon as we can get it all put together and schedule a few phone calls, I\u2019ll keep you posted with our progress, it\u2019s going to be a lot of fun and I hope you\u2019ll find it interesting and informational.
\nSo as for today let\u2019s talk a little about the position of Warehouse Clerk. I was asked by a young gentleman if there were any positions in the warehouse other than unloading trucks or picking the product. He had just started with his first warehouse position, it sounds like maybe a utility type position where one day he may unload trucks, possibly do a bit of Sanitation occasionally and he\u2019s been sent to a re-pack area a few times as well. He was enjoying the work until he had been introduced to the electric pallet jack. It sounds to me like he was doing a good job and learning the tasks well and either his supervisor wanted more for him or possibly he had spoken with someone about making more money or kind of spoke up asking what\u2019s next or something like that.
\nYou know none of us are born with a stamp on our birth certificate that states we can operate an electric pallet jack. I sometimes get frustrated when I hear a young Supervisor or Lead speaking with HR and asking for only PIT trained or experienced Electric Pallet Jack employees. The equipment and its use is not difficult to learn, 90% of its operation is staying aware of your surroundings, focus on what you\u2019re doing, operating it Safely & showing it some respect. I take every opportunity to point out to these managers that someone had given them a chance and taught them how to use the equipment hence helping launch their careers! When I see a young man or woman that really wants to work, full of energy and motivated or excited about a job I point out any additional training hours spent on them are cheaper and more beneficial than running through 2 or 3 less interested individuals. I don\u2019t feel that\u2019s so much of an opinion really, in my experiences I\u2019ve found it to ring true time and again.
\nAnyway, this gentleman is quite uncomfortable even being around any type of powered equipment and states he doesn\u2019t believe being out on the warehouse floor is going to be for him. His question is \u201care there other positions available, not an office job, but something where one doesn\u2019t have to be in the aisles and on equipment.\u201d He\u2019s heard us mention the Warehouse Clerk & asked if we could speak to those duties & explain what a clerk is.
\nThat\u2019s kind of hard to define but I think the term is used pretty broadly in our industry and really can be anything from an Inbound or Outbound Scheduler to a position filing drivers daily log sheets. Let\u2019s talk about a couple of different task real quick:
\nThe Inbound Window, this task is to identify a load, trailer or Vendor arriving to drop off a load of product, supplies or equipment to our facility. Usually our task is to confirm a purchase order number is associated with it and that the driver has an scheduled appointment and that in fact we are expecting the delivery. Now this person can be working from the Guard Shack or Check-in Station located at the beginning of a staging driveway,