Costco Depot, Sumner WA receiving

As a 27 year driver, and now a hostler for my company (Wilson Logistics) at the Costco Depot here in Sumner for the last 6 months, I've gotten to see the problem receivers have with fresh eyes. Keep in mind, I am still a driver, I could go back to either regional or local for my company tomorrow if I choose to.

What I have seen from other drivers here is frankly appalling and embarrassing to the industry as far as I'm concerned.

Any drivers coming here to deliver, be aware that Costco has gotten firmer on their rules here, and is about to get even firmer with them because of repeat offenders and unruly drivers who can't seem to understand that they are guests here.

When you are assigned a receiving door, you will either be sent to the pad to wait for your door to be available, or head to receiving: you will be given verbal instructions at the gate, which will be very brief: they receive about 350 trucks per day at the dry/general receiving dock alone, they have to keep the traffic flow moving as much as possible. When they give you your instructions, you are given a pager that will tell you when you can proceed to your door.

WHEN YOU ARE SENT TO RECEIVING, ALL DRIVERS MUST STOP AT THE STOP SIGNS, OPEN YOUR DOORS, AND SLIDE YOUR TANDEMS BEFORE PROCEEDING TO YOUR DOOR. There are no excuses, no exceptions. No one is special or privileged here. If you're concerned that freight may be against the door, ask the yard boss for receiving what to do: it's his call, not yours. No "I've always done it this way", "I didn't see the signs", "I'm new here"... There's a reason for the rules, and it's not to be a pain in your side, it's to maintain a steady flow, and actually make it easier for everyone including the drivers, not to mention safety: there are multiple near-misses every day in here, with both vehicles and pedestrians. Just an FYI.

 

The sheer volume of freight that moves across their dock on a daily basis is truly astounding. And this is a cross-dock operation, not a warehouse. From the time a truck is offloaded, that freight is in outbound trucks within twenty minutes.

Costco uses five-pallet electric jacks designed by Hyster, and they're currently working with Hyster on a six-pallet versions. And they're constantly running down a very busy "street" through the middle of the dock, probably 40-50 of them.

 

Costco doesn't ask for you to slide your tandems at the gate, but they do expect it once you reach their receiving docks before you proceed to your door. And good on you for being willing to help the new guys out once in awhile. They need veteran mentorship, which seems to unfortunately be somewhat lacking these days.