A lumper service is a 3rd party company that generally is on site that provides unloading services and other services to warehouse and distribution facilities. There are many unloading companies some on a national level and some on a local level. When looking to outsourcing your warehouse needs you should do due diligence on the company you are working with. Most warehouses go with price when choosing a service as most contracts are bid on. But what some fail to realize is most of the time you get what you pay for and although it might be cheap up front it could be costly on the back end. A lumper service can be a huge plus to your company. They can cut overtime hours, assist you in day to day operation, and back you up when you are short handed. They pay on productivity so you always get the job done in a timely manner. If the lumpers are not productive it reflects on their payroll so they have a huge incentive to move fast. These are the 7 steps to look for when choosing the right lumper service for your warehouse.

1.Check how many years they have been in business. You can get a good idea of their track record by longevity.

2.Check what type of volume are they use to dealing with. If they have locations in large warehouses this is a good sign of experience.

3. Check what other warehouse they have the longest running contract. This is a good sign of great customer service withing the lumper service.

4. Ask them how many contracts have they lost within the last year. If they lost a lot of them this is a bad sign although they could of just got underbid. Verify why the lumper service lost the contracts if its a high number.

5. Verify that they have a strong safety program. Go over there safety program with their safety manager, also ask them do they sign hold harmless agreements.

6. See what kind of turnover rate they have by calling other locations they are at. This helps see how they treat their own employees and shows the integrity of the company.

7.Make sure they can move at least 25 pallets per hour or 400 cases per hour. See that they provide you productivity reports on a weekly basis so you can verify that they are up to standard on productivity.

Lumper services can provide great benefits to your warehouse. Just make sure you do due diligence and take the necessary steps to to make it a great relationship for your future partnership.