Every day, there are new challenges and difficulties facing terminals around the world. These challenges test their systems and staff even on a good day. We asked three Client Success Managers (CSMs) — who started on terminals before coming to Tideworks and have worked through everything from hurricanes and snowstorms — to share their most harrowing stories with us. They also let us know how Tideworks could’ve helped them through these very challenging times.
What Were Your Most Challenging Days at a Terminal?
Justin Clifford
One challenge that I experienced was when a large company moved from one terminal to another. Around 2007, a massive shipping company moved terminals in New Jersey, forming a relationship with the new terminal; they also brought over 500 chassis and thousands of containers. A new gate and system process to manage the new lines and the incoming volume had to be created. There was a 2.5-mile-long line from the gate entrance kiosks all the way to the New Jersey Turnpike, blocking every single terminal in between. This lasted for weeks, months. Whenever a terminal gets a new large customer, there is always a lot of congestion and long lines as you try to figure out the best way to handle and process the increase in volume.
Ask anyone, and they will tell you every day at a terminal is challenging. But, even amongst many difficult days, there is always a time that stands out. I can tell you Hurricane Sandy was one of those times. Sandy was the worst storm to hit the northeast in 100 years. When the storm came, we had water all the way up to our building. We had two to three feet of saltwater take out everything on the entire terminal — ours, the terminals next door. These are large terminals, 250-plus acres. Wiring, computers, truck engines — everything was knocked out. Saltwater erodes anything it touches. Once we were back after being shut down for a week, we had to replace and reconnect everything, computers, servers. Firewalls and security needed to go back up. And don’t forget the printers, which everyone knows are the most difficult things to connect. Reconnecting everything once the system was back up was the hardest part.
Scott Duncan
My most difficult days at a terminal were the ones where I was responsible for operations at a facility, and we did not have the capacity to process everything that was being delivered to us. I’ll give you an example, Chicago in the middle of a snowstorm. Snowstorm or not, trains continue to arrive at your facility, and you can’t process all the inbound, then turn around and get the outbound back out. That’s a very bad day at a terminal.
Terry Hart
Luckily we did not have a lot of really terrible situations. When we did, it was usually from systems going down, not necessarily Tideworks, just systems in general. For example, at one large intermodal terminal that does a little over a million primary lifts a year, their automatic gate system went down. This happened on a Friday around 11:30. Within 15 minutes, the gate was backed up, and the trucks were lined up to the highway and onto the off-ramp. It was so bad the police were showing up to write tickets.
How Would Tideworks Have Helped?
Justin Clifford
When we have situations like Hurricane Sandy, not as extreme, but situations where computers are down or new servers need to be set up, many people reach out. We will go in and assist customers with an issue, even if it isn’t a Tideworks issue. It may be a port issue or something they need to connect. I wish we had Tideworks there. It would probably have saved us a week of IT work.
At Tideworks, from day one, we’ll tell you, “you are not a customer but a partner.” We build relationships with our customers. We’re willing to go the extra mile and step in to assist with their problems even when they may not be related to Tideworks. Some of the people on our staff have been here for 20-plus years. They have built a natural rapport with our customers. It goes beyond business. Our customers see us as partners. Tideworks understands those relationships and supports terminals in the same way they support their customers.
Tideworks has a lot of operations people in their app support, as well as former terminal superintendents and managers. If we had Tideworks at that time, we would’ve had somebody from the Tideworks team step in because you’re not just talking to a person in a server room or from IT who may not be able to relate to your issue. A Tideworks person knows precisely what you are going through in that situation. Number one, they have the experience to know what you’ll need to turn on — things like parameters, and pathways, and direction. Secondly, they know the urgency that is required. If your partner company is not at the terminal, you worry that they don’t sense the same urgency as you. But the team at Tideworks really does sense the same urgency because many people have lived it. It gives us that connection.
Scott Duncan
Tideworks would’ve absolutely made a big difference. At this facility, we had not rolled out IPRO yet. We were on an older legacy TOS. Had we been using Tideworks products such as IPRO and Traffic Control with their increased efficiency, we would have been in a better state going into the situation. You have more visibility into what’s going on at the terminal, allowing you to get ahead of issues instead of being caught off guard. Tideworks can turn an operation around.
Terry Hart
In the situation I mentioned, Tideworks would’ve made staying on top of the issue much more manageable. We had challenges early on with communication about the Tideworks rollout and prep work for the go-live. We’ve learned our lessons. We are working on a smooth rollout, a good communication plan, and a good rehearsal for future go-lives. When it comes to rolling out Tideworks TOS, pushing for a rehearsal of the data migrations for the startup is key.
By Your Side When the Road Gets Rocky
A CSM never knows what will cause a difficult day, week, or even month. It is impossible to prevent problems from arising. At Tideworks, our team has seen it all. When we form partnerships with our customers, we are committed to not only being there for the good days and the wins but being there when the road inevitably gets rocky. Our solutions can reduce the time it takes to solve a problem or get back online, while our experienced staff can guide customers through their biggest challenges.
