Students Demonstrate “Ready For Action” Attitude
The transportation and logistics program has started its fourth year in Mississippi and its fourth year in the DeSoto County School District at the CTC East campus in Olive Branch. Things are going strong, and just like in the real world of logistics, we barely have time to breathe! Our Year 1 students were fresh off the safety training for material handling equipment when a truckload of
children’s books showed up bright and early on a Monday morning, only three weeks after the start of school.
It’s not always possible to plan what happens every minute of the day,especially in the world of logistics, but you can develop a ”ready for action”attitude. Our students showed that attitude and willingness to step up to the task of unloading a truck when it showed up at our center two hours early. The plan was to have the truck show up at the beginning of the second year students’ block, since they were familiar with the receiving/offloading process, but at 8:00 a.m. our first block students heard a truck pull up to the dock, and they sprang into action.
The students were still in the process of preparing for the delivery by moving existing freight to out-of-the-way locations, thus freeing up the staging
area for receiving, when the truck
arrived. Immediately, they took it upon themselves to split into two groups to continue the task and to address the arriving truck. Working as a team,they simultaneously accomplished both goals and were able to offload the truck quickly and efficiently. After a quick water break, they jumped back in to start the next step in the receiving process.
The second year students, although disappointed that they didn’t get to unload the truck, were proud of the first year students and their initiative, accomplishments, and willingness to jump in to make sure the job got done!
The 2015-2016 school year
represents our largest group of students since the program’s inception. Time is ticking and things are clicking at the DeSoto County Schools CTC East Logistics Program!
Mike Doss
Logistics Instructor
DeSoto County CTC