How thorough are your trailer inspections?

A proper trailer inspection can mean the difference between a product arriving safely to its destination, or not.

Whether you are loading or unloading trailer, there are a few things that should be inspected to protect the integrity of the products going into the trailer, as well as those in the warehouse where the pallets are being unloaded.

1. Check for odor. This is likely the first thing someone will notice when opening a trailer for inspection. If the smell is off, there is probably an issue that needs to be investigated further.
2. Clean Floor. If the trailer is being loaded with product, the floors should be clean and free of debris. A flashlight should be used to check the corners for cleanliness.
3. Walls and door. Take a walk through the trailer and make sure there are no holes or jagged edges in the walls. It’s also important to check that the truck door holds a tight seal. Sometimes debris from the previous shipment can get lodged in the truck walls or under the door. That should be cleared before loading new product in.
4. No insects. Especially when it comes to food-grade products, it is imperative to do a thorough inspection for any signs of insects when loading and unloading a trailer.
5. Clean & sturdy pallets. When removing product from trailer, make sure pallets are clean before unloading them into the warehouse to avoid contaminating other products. They should also be in good, sturdy condition, so they can be safely moved.
6. Temperature control. When inspecting a refrigerated trailer, you should make sure the temperature is within the guidelines for the product you are transporting.

The best way to prevent product contamination while in transport is to have properly trained employees doing inspections. Taking the time to make sure each person has mastered what to look for will make all the difference. 

Web Analytics Offer Snapshot of Site Performance

Your company is pouring money into its website and SEO, but how often are you doing a checkup on the site’s performance? It’s simple to sign up for Google Analytics and start accumulating statistics on your site’s traffic, but what are the stats that are most meaningful?

What exactly do the numbers even represent? It only takes a few minutes within Google Analytics for eyes to glaze over at the vast amounts of data available. While you can dive as deep as you want into the analytics pool, below are few key numbers from the shallow end that you should be tracking.

Session – As you would expect, this is the number of visits to your website. Once a baseline average is established, the number becomes more meaningful, allowing you to compare it to set time periods (previous day, month, year, etc.). Tracking it enables you to see any drop-offs (or spikes) in visits, and course correct.

Pageviews – This category shows the number of views each page of your site received and can be listed as a percent of the total pages viewed. It is meaningful to determine if visitors are hitting the pages you want them to. If they aren’t, it’s time to make some changes to better feature important content.

Time on Page – Simply, how long visitors view each page. Again, this can reflect the quality of the page content as well as a visitor’s engagement with it.

Bounce Rate – This important figure is the number of visitors who view only a single page and leave the site. It’s a reflection of relevance of content and page design. Numbers can vary by industry, but generally, if your website has a bounce rate under 50 percent, you are doing pretty well. However, like all statistics, this once can be misleading. For instance, if the page is answering a specific question, the visitor got exactly what they needed and there was no reason to drill further into the site.