Contoro Robotics and States Logistics offload 450 trailers in one year

Container and trailer unloading company Contoro Robotics announced it recently celebrated one year of a successful partnership with States Logistics at its Buena Park, Calif., facility.

Contoro said that in the past 12 months, its autonomous unloading robot, known as Dock Duck, has unloaded more than 450 floor-loaded, non-palletized trailers. The system drives into the trailer, grips boxes using its patented DuoGrasp “beak,” and places those cases onto its conveyance system.

The companies said that the deployment allows warehouse teams to stay outside the trailer in a safer, more ergonomic environment and generate consistent productivity in one of the toughest areas of warehouse operations.

Expanded loading dock operations

This year, Contoro Robotics and States Logistics plan to expand the deployment to include a full palletization component, enabling freight to be unloaded and palletized without requiring manual labor. With support from Contoro’s remote intervention tools and continuous learning system, the companies said that throughput has improved 20% every six months, demonstrating how Contoro’s AdaptAI and InteleOp features evolve, learn and improve. 

“Partnering with Contoro to automate the task of offloading trailers continues to help us with keeping our team safe and productive,” said Jesse Sevilla, director of sales and operations at States Logistics. “We are a premier 3PL provider and leverage automation in as many departments as possible within our operations. Automating the most challenging task of offloading floor-loaded trailers has been well received by our team, and we are planning to add additional Ducks to continue our automation vision while providing world-class service to our customers.”

States Logistics operates more than 5.5 million square feet of warehousing across California and Arizona. Contoro Robotics said the Buena Park facility is a strong “nesting ground” for Dock Duck, and provides a real-world environment where the robot continues to benefit labor efficiency, productivity and throughput. 

“Working with States is truly a collaborative experience,” said Dr. Youngmok (Mok) Yun, CEO of Contoro Robotics. “They leverage technology to help tackle inflation, sustainability costs and labor shortages, and we are proud to assist them in offloading their trailers with our robot. They are customer- and employee-centric and take a proactive approach with technology to remain on the cutting edge of automation adoption.”

Contoro Robotics and States Logistics said that are currently evaluating opportunities to scale Dock Duck across additional sites, continuing the migration toward safer, more efficient inbound operations.