David Campbell lives in Norman, Oklahoma with his wife, Le, of 30 years and three dogs. Their three children, all in their 20’s, are ‘out of the nest.’ Campbell says he’s been married that long “Despite being on the road for 25 years!” Another longevity record–21 years–is his tenure in the Special Commodities Fleet at Safeway Moving Systems, an agent of United Van Lines based in Indianapolis, Indiana. He’s twice been named United Van Lines’ Operator of the Year (2007, 2010) and the 2009 winner of the AMSA Super Van Operator of the Year Award, all while in Special Commodities. Not one to brag, Campbell said, “While it is an honor to receive these awards, I feel that I was not doing anything over and above what my job required.”
Why Special Commodities?
Campbell: “It’s the different challenges of the commodities fleet that keeps me interested in the moving industry, although there are times when bumping a dock and letting someone else load/unload my trailer sounds appealing.”
Greatest Challenge?
“In the mid-1990's, my agent, Safeway, took on a move for Uniden Electronics, moving their parts distribution facility from Indianapolis to Fort Worth, Texas. It eventually ended up being a 30-truckload move, and because of the small electronic components being moved, it required some special handling to make sure the product did not get mixed up in transit.
“I was primarily involved with the set-up of the facility in Fort Worth, but to do this I had to spend time working at origin, so I could understand how their system worked.
“What we did was to go through the shelved section of the facility and videotape the set-up, so as we could set up the same way in Fort Worth, as everything had to go back in the exact same order.”
Everything?
“Everything. The small electronic components were stored on shelves in little tray-type boxes, numbered with the parts number–which had to be kept in sequential order. These trays were approximately 4" wide by 8" long and 3" tall, and there were several thousand units. In order to keep everything in the correct sequence, we set up a system. We had people stand side-by-side and hand off the trays to be stacked in large gondolier boxes and kept in the same order. This meant loading the highest-numbered tray in the bottom of the first box and the lowest-numbered on the top of the last box. The gondolier boxes were then numbered on the outside to make sure they were unloaded and all of the boxes of electronic components set on the shelves in correct order.”
“This procedure was very time-consuming and had to be done with great precision to avoid any mix-up, as this would have created major headaches and untold expense.”
What about a schedule?
“A very strict time constraint, as Uniden wanted to be able to maintain the flow of parts to their customers.”
Sounds like an extreme challenge. Was there more?
“Apart from all the small components, there was also the breakdown and set up of all the shelving which consisted of numerous rows of shelving approximately 50 feet long by 8 feet tall. All shelving had to be set up in the new facility on a floor surface painted with special non-static paint, and we had to be extremely careful not to scratch the floor when doing set-up.”
So even the floor was a hurdle. Any ordinary items moved?
“There were work benches and office furniture to be moved. That’s why it required so many trailers.”
What about crew?
“The crew at origin was all from the agent, but at destination, I had to work with a crew from temporary services, as agent help wasn’t available. This posed its own problem, in that two of the guys who showed up were mutes, and one of them was also deaf. However, these two guys ended up being my best help!”
Was your customer pleased?
“When all was said and done, Uniden was extremely happy with the move and didn’t miss a beat as far as their distribution network was concerned. Fortunately, the moving of work benches and office furniture was not time-sensitive, so once we got the parts set up, we could relax a little. All in all, the move took approximately 2-3 weeks, and it all went off without a hitch. (PHEW).”