ArcBest announced Wednesday the launch of warehouse freight movement technology that allows all of the freight on a trailer to be loaded or unloaded at once.
The Vaux Freight Movement System incorporates software and hardware, a 26-foot-long mobile platform and a coupler that can connect to most forklifts, to move freight on and off a trailer. Freight filling an entire trailer is positioned on the mobile platform and when unloaded to a warehouse floor it can be serviced from all sides simultaneously by multiple forklifts.
The mobile platform can fit into a less-than-truckload pup trailer or two units can be used to fill a 53-foot trailer. The platform can be reconfigured in numerous ways to accommodate various freight dimensions with the operating system dictating the best configuration, placement and workflows. Loading and unloading can be accomplished in less than five minutes and doesn’t require multiple forklifts to enter the trailer or dockworkers to insert load bars.
“In many of our customers’ warehouses, the traditional way of loading and unloading trailers one piece at a time is impacting their supply chains,” said Judy McReynolds, ArcBest chairman, president and CEO. “With Vaux, our innovation teams have developed solutions to address these challenges, allowing transformation in the way freight moves.”
The software provides real-time load visibility at the warehouse level and while the freight is in transit and can be integrated into existing warehouse management systems. Reductions in driver wait times and damage claims, as well as improvements in dock utilization and lower operating costs, were cited as benefits.
No specifics around cost savings were provided.
“The level of speed, efficiency and visibility Vaux offers is game-changing for companies facing supply chain challenges such as congested docks, damage, throughput issues and a need to operate more sustainably,” said Michael Newcity, ArcBest’s chief innovation officer and president of ArcBest Technologies.
“The ability to pull an entire shipment off a trailer in one movement is groundbreaking. And with customizable Mobile Platforms, those with freight that can’t be stacked can now move fully loaded trailers for a more sustainable operation.”
ArcBest has invested more than $90 million in freight-handling technology over the last four years.
Vaux started as a pilot with ArcBest’s customers in 2019 as a means of improving freight handling at warehouses. Named after a bird, the Vaux’s Swift, which is known for its swarming, synchronized movements, ArcBest said it will continue testing the technology with customers.
A year ago, ArcBest announced a $25 million investment in Phantom Auto, which provides the software to operate forklifts and yard trucks remotely.
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Sheena
While it may be a brilliant concept, it remains quite distant from actuality.
Spaceman
To further the points by Anonymous Citizen, it’s comical to see the picture in this article of course only show perfectly shrink wrapped 48×40 skids only all 3 or 4 feet high lol 😂, but OF COURSE. As someone who works for ABF and has seen these sleds get pulled out of a trailer with ALL the various DIFFERENT types and sizes of freight in a typical LTL trailer, I can assure you they look just about as pathetic as a normally loaded LTL trailer without one of these sleds in the trailer.
I’ve always been curious of course about the fact of said sleds weighing approximately 4,500lbs, meaning that now instead of being able to load up to approximately 24,500 on a pup trailer you’ll now be able to only load up to close to 20,000, or if 2 of these sleds are in a 53′ trailer equalling 9,000lbs, you’ll now only be able to load say 35,000-37,000lbs instead of up to say 45,000-47,000lbs. Or if one is in each trailer of a typical doubles combination that is also 9,000lbs less freight potentially per set of doubles. Now I’m no mathematical wiz but it seems to me like that’s a lot of dead weight in the trailer that you’re not making any revenue on and with the price of fuel and everything else? Mmmmm…….
Anonymous Citizen
So how does this get loaded with 25K worth of freight and one end lifted slightly by a 5K capacity forklift? How are right Hazmat totes secured in the trailer when you’ve another 5K of freight above them? How do you secure the freight on the platforms up top? What happens when the dick is slightly lower or higher than the trailer being loaded or unloaded?
In the end you will need perfectly leveled trailers and socks, contortionists to secure the individual hazardous materials, larger forklifts to be able to move the platforms, spotters to help load the platforms, etc. etc.
I’ve worked at one of the top LTL’s in the industry for fifteen years, and I can tell you that while this may happen some day in some instances, it is far from a realistic execution of loading and unloading most LTL freight for numerous reasons.
Lavern muldrow
Owner operators would love this idea if it turned out to really work it’ll less for us being in a dock. If our wheels aren’t turning we aren’t making money the quicker we get unloaded the better it is for us to get another load and keep it moving. We don’t get paid by the hour.