GM Assembly Plant in Arlington, Texas: An illusion of efficiency

To the casual and not so casual observer, the plant in Arlington, Texas, is an efficient user of Just In Time (JIT) freight.  There are a few trucks parked in a lot on the hill, but for the most part trucks simply run up to the gate and head to their door.  A majority of these trucks are day cabs, local drivers, bringing in items from staging warehouses nearby.  It is at these staging warehouses that the illusion is shattered.  The worst of them is located on Avenue E and is run by Penske Logistics.  There you see those day cabs backing in at the front of the building, unloading, reloading and back to the plant.  The back of the building is where the ugliness is.

Starting in the driveway for receiving the first thing you notice is the back of a truck, just barely past a yellow line with a sign stating no trucks past this point, so the driveway isn't blocked.  This truck is the first of almost 15 that you will find as you drive around the building.  They will be on either side of the drive with the small spaces between each truck revealing a red line with the words fire lane in white.  When you get to the docks there will be even more trucks on either side of that fire lane line.  The drivers stopping anywhere they can to get inside and drop their paperwork, each with a carefully written cell phone number at the top so when the dock is ready for them, they can be called from where ever they find a space to park.

Dropping off your paperwork is the last time you have any control over anything at this location.  The only restroom is at the front of the building where the fast moving day cab drivers can use them easily.  Half the time it is easier to find a parking spot somewhere on a street in this industrial area, than it is trying to squeeze another truck onto the property here.  Then it is just a waiting game, knowing sooner or later they will call and you can finally feel like you are doing something by getting your truck into a dock, only to wait again.  Today it took me only fourteen hours to get into a dock.

From a conversation that I had with one of the employees last week, they have had some drivers wait over a day to get in, and that they only bring a truck to the dock when GM requests it.  So all of these trucks are just little warehouses, idling the day away, wasting fuel and man hours day in and day out, just so GM can say they use Just In Time Freight.  The look on their faces when I requested a copy of the detention form that is posted on the wall outside the office was precious.  I don't think they have had that request for some time, I was told that they didn't have any and that they needed to take that down.  If they never get filled out, they can never be billed for detention, and they will only pay detention if that form is the one filled out, good plan.

I have now been in the dock for forty minutes, and nothing has happened yet.