Deciding on a location for a facility is an overwhelming, often times expensive, process.

Among other things, you have to find available properties that are right for your business, decide upon the right city or county to locate the facility, and figure out geographic advantages of different business locations.

When it comes to real estate, we all know that it’s a matter of location, location, location. Select the right location and your business can thrive. Settle in the wrong location can it could be costly.

The key to finding the best location is to have good information upon which to make the decision.

How’d you like to be able to do a lot of this “prospecting” without having to travel to visit multiple sites, and without having to deal with brokers?

If you would, you might want to give ZoomProspector a try. It’s a free web-based service that provides demographic data on thousands of communities across the US.

These cities and counties have detailed map information, along with particulars on such matters as transportation, taxation, city planning, and more.

You define the community and property characteristics important to you, and the service uses a variety of technologies, including matchmaking technology (like that used for finding a date/mate), to find and display the locations that are a match.

The result: a faster process of site selection analysis so that companies can quickly identify the optimal location for their business start-up, expansion, or relocation.

Ain’t technology something.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

To leave yours, click on the “No Comments” link below.

Remember that British television show from years ago, “The Prisoner?”

Actor Patrick McGoohan played a British secret agent who resigns his job and then finds himself captive in a mysterious seaside village under the rule of Number One.

There, McGoohan is under constant surveillance. He comes to know this, and that influences his behavior.

When we know we’re being watched, we’re more likely to do things the proper way. Conversely, when we don’t think we’re being observed, there’s the tendency to find shortcuts and take risks.

That’s just human nature.

That principle is being applied to warehouses and forklift operators to improve safety.

Even trained, experienced operators have an inclination to cut corners when in a hurry, or when management isn’t around. And that’s not a good thing, as accident-inducing behavior creates dangerous situations.

I was surprised to learn that one person is killed every 3½ days by forklifts, and some 20,000 workers seriously injured each year. Those stats come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Forklift-monitoring technology is being developed to allow managers to know what’s happening in the warehouse and on the docks when they aren’t watching.

These technologies help promote operator accountability for reducing accidents and damage, and they’re proving effective.

Consider a study done by ShockWatch, a company that specializes in damage prevention, with a major warehouser.

At first, forklift operators performed their daily tasks but didn’t know they were being observed.

Then, operators were verbally reminded to stay safe, and told that an alarm system would sound in the event of an impact exceeding a pre-determined threshold.

The final phase of the study involved accountability. Operators were assigned keys that allowed them operate their forklifts. The warehouse managers also were issued keys.

When the impact threshold was exceeded, the forklift slowed to a creep, the lift was interrupted, and an alarm sounded continuously until a manager came to the forklift, turned off the alarm and returned the forklift to operational status.

The threat of having to face responsibility for improper driving was dramatic. Daily threshold-exceeded impacts dropped by about 94%.

Maybe there is something to be said for this big-brother-is-watching thing after all.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

To leave yours, click on the “No Comments” link below.

In my previous blog, I shared some thoughts and observations about the increase in data breaches, and how some companies aren’t doing enough to protect themselves.

I referenced a study on corporate data breaches by Verizon Business that, in addition to discussing the increasing problem, concluded that simple actions, when done diligently and continually, can help businesses protect themselves.

Among the recommendations to help prevent unauthorized individuals from breaking into restricted computer systems and compromising sensitive information stored within them:

- Align process with policy. In 59% of data breaches, the organization had security policies and procedures established for the system, but these measures were never implemented.

- Create a data retention plan. Some 66% of all breaches involved data that a company didn’t even know was on their system. It’s critical that an organization knows were data flows and where it resides. Identify data and prioritize its risk to the organization.

- Control data with transaction zones. Investigators concluded that network segmentation can help prevent, or at least partially mitigate, an attack. In other words, wall off data when and where appropriate.

- Monitor event logs. Evidence of events leading up to 82% of data breaches was available to the organization prior to the actual compromise. Data logs should be continually and systemically monitored and responded to when events are discovered.

- Create an incident response plan. If and when a breach is suspected, an organization must be ready to respond, not only to stop the data compromise, but to collect evidence that enables the business to pursue prosecution when necessary.

- Increase awareness. Only 14% of data breaches were discovered by employees of the victimized organization, even though employees are the first line of defense in safeguarding data. Educate them to be aware.

- Engage in mock-incident testing: Making sure employees are well-trained to respond to a breach. Run drills and test people’s abilities, judgments, and actions during a mock crisis.

When it comes to data security, keep in mind the words of Daryl White, a former chief information officer for the US Department of the Interior: “You can’t hold firewalls and intrusion detection systems accountable. You can only hold people accountable.”

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

To leave yours, click on the “No Comments” link below.

Clearly, the world of trucking is going through some very difficult times, and there’s much to contend with as we all go through this rough ride.

Compounding our worries, we’re confronted with doom and gloom business news reports and forecasts every time we open a newspaper or turn on the radio or television - and this doesn’t help matters. It causes damage.

If you believe something to be true, or expect something to happen, whether correct or not, the tendency is to adjust one’s behavior to match so that the original expectation becomes true.

I know of companies in the temperature-controlled trucking segment that were doing okay business-wise but pulled back because they figured from all that they’ve been reading and hearing that it would be just a matter of time before their business would drop off.

Seems like more and more managers are limiting their field of vision and running around espousing Chicken Little’s theory: “The sky is falling.”

These doomsayers have the wrong perspective and attitude. To them I say: Take another look at the sky. It’s not falling. It’s expanding.

Granted this is a painful period for most businesses, with difficult decisions having to be made, but there is way too much panic and stupidity.

This prevailing economic storm too shall pass. We’ve all been through bad times before.

Change is unavoidable, but it brings with it opportunities - although they’re harder to spot.

Trucking is the essential driving force that moves the economy forward, and this won’t change.

Two other things haven’t changed: the value of the customer, and providing solutions to their problems.

Critical to this is building and maintaining relationships. The better you know and understand customers’ businesses and goals - as well as their changing needs, the more effectively you will be able to make changes to serve them better.

My suggestion: Work to cultivate relationships that are so strong your customers feel they can’t go to the competition because doing so would be like “dumping” on a trusted friend.

It started out innocently enough. An over-tired long-haul trucker got into a squabble over some change at a maintenance shop.

But things soon went horribly bad. The quarrel escalated into a fight that ended in the trucker’s death.

The trucker, who has yet to be identified pending notification of next of kin, died at the scene due to a fractured skull, multiple broken bones, and extensive blood loss.

“The fight went on for a good while, a witness said of the altercation. “It was horrible to watch.”

Surprisingly, the other combatant has not been charged.

“The incident apparently began when an automatic retailer (vending machine) allegedly confiscated the trucker’s money after said trucker inserted the correct amount of change into the suspect with the intent of getting - and we find this difficult to believe - a healthy snack,” said New Jersey Detective David Farbish.

“Witnesses told us that when the machine didn’t dispense the snack, the trucker reached his hand up the machine’s orifice to try and grab it, but was unable to. Said trucker then punched this machine in its robotic belly. This was followed by several more solid blows, none of which had any effect, as the snack remained in its place.”

The trucker then began kicking the vending machine, witnesses told police. When this brought no results, he began rocking the machine back and forth, harder and harder, until it fell on him.

“At first, we thought we had a notorious killer on our hands,” Detective Farbish said. “We know of at least 44 documented cases in which people trying to get a drink or snack out of an automatic retailer were crushed to death. Some 114 people have been injured.”

“But upon further investigation, we discovered that this particular automatic retailer was not the wanted killer,” added Detective U L Ulman. “We determined it was merely trying to defend itself from the trucker’s attacks.

“Like all automatic retailers, this one is also very transparent,” he continued. “It even cautioned the trucker about fighting with it. In plain view is a ‘Warning: Tipping may cause injury or death’ sticker.”

The first vending machines were introduced to the US in 1888. They were installed on the elevated subway platforms in New York City and sold Tutti-Fruiti gum.

Instances of vending machines attacking people did not start being reported in the late 1970s.

Until the notorious automatic retailer killer is captured, Detective Ulman advised people not to fight or wrestle with vending machines.

“They’re big, have bulky frames, and have substantial weight,” he said. “They can take a lot of punishment, but can also dish out a lot of pain, retribution, and even death when they’ve had enough of someone messing with them.”

April Fool’s.

As the trucking world twirls, more and more of us are working longer and longer hours.

There is more work to do because there are fewer people to do it as companies downsize.

As my brother Steve is fond of preaching: “It is what it is, and you need to do what you need to do.” True enough but, putting in too many long hours could be affecting our brains.

A recent study found that compared with working the typical 40-hour week, middle-aged workers who put in more than 55 hours per week had significantly lower performance on a series of mental skills, reasoning, and vocabulary tests.

More disturbing, the research adds to the increasing evidence that establishes a link between cognitive impairment and later life dementia.

The study stated that the “cognitive functioning between employees working long hours and those working normal hours is similar in magnitude to that of smoking, a risk factor for dementia.”

You might want to share this blog with your boss when you leave the office - on time - today.

With everything going on in the world these days, you may have missed a most interesting read: the National Highway & Traffic Safety Administration’s report entitled, Commercial Medium Tire Debris Study.

The agency contracted researchers to adopt a scientific approach to determine the causes, extent, and impacts of tire debris.

You’re probably shaking your head thinking: Kolman needs a checkup from the neck up. Right?

Not so fast.

I’ll have you know this 214-page report is chock full of educational, useful, and thought-provoking material. In addition to discussing the whole matter of tire debris, subjects addressed range far and wide - from the processes of tire manufacturing, retreading, and regrooving to fleets and their tire programs to truck tire failures to tire safety and durability issues to wide base tires and more.

One of the many things that caught my attention was that overall, researchers collected more than 86,000 tons of tire/rubber casings and debris, of which 1,496 items were assessed to determine their probable cause of failure. Talk about labor-intensive.

The researchers found that the top three reasons casings were removed from service were:

- Road hazards - 32 %.

- Maintenance/operational factors - 30%.

- Overdeflected operation (underinflation) -14%.

“Slightly less than 10% of all casings identified showed any manufacturing or process-related conditions that could be expected to contribute to the tire being removed from service,” the report stated. “Of this slightly less than 10%, the vast majority appeared to be retreading process issues, such as casing selection and repair, or tread rubber application issues.”

An underlying message throughout the report, published in December, is that proper tire care and maintenance is essential to keeping tires operating safely and at peak performance.

Give it a read.

The report can be accessed by clicking here.

What do you get when you combine the green movement, with renewable energy researches, and outside-the-box thinking?

You get the Electro-Kinetic Road Ramp - basically a “green” speed bump that generates electrical energy when vehicles drive over it.

The device operates by virtue of a series of articulated plates set in a pad that is practically flush to the road. When a vehicle’s weight is exerted on these plates, they are moved up and down by means of a special mechanism which drives a generator capable of producing AC or DC current.

The generator’s output will vary according to the frequency and weight of traffic, but in general terms, it is capable of producing between 5 and 10kW of energy.

Each ramp is covered with a hardwearing elastromeric membrane to avoid any problems with vehicles gripping or skidding when crossing the ramp, and to seal the mechanism from the ingress of dirt, water, and anything else which may harm the mechanism.

Unlike a conventional speed bump, the Electro-Kinetic Road Ramp is not hard, and has a damping effect to avoid causing discomfort to vehicle occupants.

This “sleeping policeman” - what the English have nicknamed speed bumps - can be used for generating electricity to power street lighting, traffic lights, or road signs. Electricity can also be stored in a battery for later use.

Highway Energy Systems, a research company in the United Kingdom that developed the Electro-Kinetic Road Ramp, says the device not only produces green energy, it is free energy, once the capital cost of the equipment has been paid.

A pilot program using the ramps is set to begin soon in London.

Depending on the outcome of the testing, it might not be that long before green speed bumps start showing up across the US.

Every now and again we learn about some jokester who thinks it’s funny to change the messages on those electronic road signs used to warn road users of hazards down the road. They apparently get a kick out of displaying ridiculous messages.

Most recently, jokesters in a handful of states have “tinkered” with such signs, getting them to present warnings about zombies. Among the messages: “Daily Lane Closures Due To Zombies,” “Caution Zombies Ahead,” and “Zombies In Area! Run.”

A sample of tampered safety messages can be found by clicking here.

While such pranks may seem amusing, they cause create dangerous situations. “Joke” messages distract road users from heeding legitimate safety information.

Electronic road signs play an important role in highway safety and traffic operations. They are intended to attract motorists’ attention and provide important information to protect motorists, highway crews, and emergency response personnel.

Jokes and pranks have their place, but not in road traffic safety.

There is nothing humorous about deaths, injuries, and property damage resulting from vehicle crashes.

Much of the revolutionary technology we enjoy today evolved from America’s space program. Over the years, the program has transferred a wide variety of space technologies to other applications, as diverse as noninvasive tests that detect cardiovascular disease, lithium batteries for electric vehicles, and space age swimsuits that significantly reduce skin friction drag.

You may be interested to know that 94% of gold medals in swimming at the 2008 Olympics were won in such swimsuits.

Yet, we tend to take technology for granted. Consider truck design.

It was in the 1970s when researchers at the Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, began conducting numerous tests to refine the shape of trucks to reduce aerodynamic drag and improve efficiency.

Already working on the effects of drag and wind resistance on different kinds of aircraft and the early space shuttle designs, the researcher transferred their considerable knowledge to the design of large trucks.

Aerospace Engineer Edwin J Saltzman and his team found that rounding a tractor’s edges, placing a smooth fairing on its roof, and extending the sides back to the trailer could cut drag by more than 50%, increase highway fuel economy by more than 20%, and help with vehicle handling.

Assuming a typical truck drives 100,000 miles annually, these modifications translated to fuel savings of more than 6,000 gallons per year per vehicle.

The research revolutionized truck design. The modifications the engineers tested have now been widely adopted around the world.

Now, this technology is being recognized by the Space Foundation - one of the world’s premier non-profit organizations supporting space activities, professionals, and education.

Next month, a more efficient truck cab design will be inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame during the 25th National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

I wondered why Saltzman decided to investigate truck design in the first place.

I discovered he was motivated while bicycling through the California desert. He noticed the push and pull of large trucks at highway speeds while riding to work.

As a tractor trailer overtook him, he first felt the bow wave of air pushing him slightly away from the road and toward the sagebrush. Then, as the truck swept past, its wake had the opposite effect, drawing him toward the road and even causing him and his bike to lean toward the lane.

This got him exploring the flow of air around a moving truck.

Learning Saltzman’s story brings to mind the quote: “Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why.