HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Meeting - Council Workshop - Agenda - 11/20/2001 :d y®
KEN T
I%- WASHINGTON COUNCIL WORKSHOP
CITY COUNCIL November 20, 2001
Leona Orr
Council President
Phone:253-856-5712'
Fax:253-856-6712 The Council Workshop will be held in Chambers East in Kent City Hall at 5:00 PM
220 Fourth Ave. S. on Tuesday, November 20, 2001.
Kent,WA 98032-5895'
Council Members: President Leona Orr, Tom Brotherton, Tim Clark,
Connie Epperly,Judy Woods, Greg Worthing, Rico Yingling
Speaker Time
1. Freight Mobility Project Report Barb Ivanov 20 min.
Ed Parks
2. SR 509 Project WSDOT Representative 30 min.
The Council Workshop meets each month on the first and third Tuesdays at 5:OOPM in
Chambers East unless otherwise noted. For agenda information please call Jackie
Bicknell at (253) 856-5712.
ANY PERSON REQUIRING A DISABILITY ACCOMMODATION SHOULD
CONTACT THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE AT (253) 856-5725 IN ADVANCE.
FOR TDD RELAY SERVICE, CALL THE WASHINGTON
TELECOMMUNICATIONS RELAY SERVICE AT 1-800-833-6388:
KENT CHAMBER
OF + COMMERCE
Puget Sound Freight Customer Association
Presentation to the Kent City Council
November 20, 2001
Drawing on the groundbreaking work done by the Freight Mobility System Improvement
Team in 1999-2000, we began looking at the "timeliness" of delivery of goods in the
Puget Sound region and what effect traffic congestion and mobility had on business
operations in the area. On April 25 we had a kick off meeting at Emerald Downs and
fleshed out our ideas with an industry group. The resultant discussion built the following
purpose for the study:
Collect Data about on-time delivery performance of local distribution and
transportation companies
Establish an industry standard to which firms can judge their own performance
Outline "Best Practices"that can assist all freight customer and providers to
improve their on-time performance
Quantify aggregate impacts of traffic and congestion on the freight industry to
help influence transportation decisions in the Puget Sound region
The study focused on five major industry sectors for analysis: Manufacturing,
Institutional,Warehousing, Retail and Construction. A total of 26 different firms and
organizations were contacted for input. Nine of those entities agreed to participate in
sharing information on an on-going basis, bi-weekly or monthly, on a confidential basis.
Competition, customer relations and potential labor issues make overt disclosure of this
information very sensitive. Thanks go to the companies who have shared this
information and the contacts from throughout the industry that were willing to share
vignettes and stories that have resulted in our findings.
Based on the reported information, on-time dispatch rates are very high. Consistent 95-
100% on-time performance was reported. Delayed inventory, labor and equipment
problems and miscellaneous facility glitches were the cause of non-perfect performance.
On-time delivery to the customer is much higher than we had originally anticipated. Of
the firms reporting, the average of hitting the delivery window runs between 90 and
100%of the time. Good summer weather,reasonably defined transportation
construction delays and few major emergency shutdowns of the Interstate System
allowed standard operating procedures to be in effect. Roughly 60%of on-road delays
524 West Meeker Street - Suite #1 - P.O.Box 128 - Kent,Washington 98035-0128
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are because of accidents, unforeseen road repairs or congestion. Since September 11,
some deliveries to institutions, hospitals and large, public buildings are being impacted
by security screening/inspection delays.
2001 AGGREGATE "ON-TIME" PERFORMANCE
ASSESSMENTS
100
Dispatch
e very
90
80 4
Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Companies sharing information: AG,Boeing,FSA,Glacier NW,GSF,Lowes Hardware,Merlino
Foods, Safeway, SpaceLabs Medical
Findings:
Transportation is absorbing the costs of`delay' and coping with the realities
of providing service to their customers, margins are slim
High tech communications and dispatch/routing processes are necessary for
large firms to be responsive and efficient
Economies of scale are growing large firms; small firms specialize in
specialties (meat, fish,wine, ethnic goods). Undercapitalized and smaller,
general companies are finding it difficult to compete.
Traditional warehousing is changing. . .just in time, managed inventories,
expeditors. ("97% of Wal-Mart's goods never pass through a warehouse")
UPS, Fed Ex,DHL, etc. are being used for rush shipments and for
accountability in spite of high costs.
Shoulder delivery, i.e. non-traditional working hours,will put additional
burdens on 24/7 transportation accommodations, employee and family
services.
Key Issues for Decision Makers
Some of the trends identified have implications for public decision makers in the Puget
Sound region. The ongoing debate over transportation funding must be resolved at the
State level. Coordinated planning throughout the Puget Sound region, with emphasis on
the gridlocked Interstate System must lead to publicly acceptable projects that can be
implemented in a reasonable time. Daily management of the system, particularly from the
standpoint of accident investigation and cleanup needs to be addressed. Metered access to
the freeway during peak hours is a good example. The focus of the Puget Sound Freight
Customer Association, however, was broader, including arterial and local street systems.
Much credit is given to the City of Kent for spearheading transportation projects that
increase transportation access to the Valley. Given the ability of trucks to get from the
warehouse to their customers, concerns over land use,truck maneuvering/parking areas
and buffering from residential land uses need to be further addressed. As we have seen in
this report, 24/7 dispatch and delivery will impact adjacent land use as the practice grows
stronger. Growth management issues must be considered in addressing long term
warehousing/distribution needs and anticipated displacement of one land use by another.
On-going traffic congestion
Length of"emergency" road closures, i.e. incident management
Publicly accessible traffic information system—proactive (E-Mail)
Land Use Issues
Displaced land use considerations, gentrification, retailization
Lay by areas for truck parking
Increased truck maneuvering requirements
On-site parking, load/unload, additional docks
Acoustic barriers in residential neighborhoods
Truck access restrictions (a la CBD Seattle)
Social Issues
24/7 family care issues
More customer(i.e. retail) 24-hour needs
Overall, the Northwest transportation system is taking up the slack and meeting customer
delivery expectations. They are adapting to the environment by increased technology and
more flexible application of resources(equipment and human). They are not adapting the
"integrator" offerings of UPS/FedEx that offer a variety of services with commensurate
pricing and guaranteed delivery, but are responding with a more efficient traditional
delivery system to meet their customer needs. In doing so, they pose challenges to State
and local governments to address in a declining economy.