While it is impressive to be recognized as a top performer among shippers in efficiency, availability or facilities, the best of the best do all three well.
Transflo sponsors the Shipper of Choice Awards for which nearly 400 companies were nominated by FreightWaves’ readers on social media.
Nominees completed a survey addressing operational data, including dwell times, overages/shortages and damages, hours of operation, communication protocols, and facility attributes including the availability of showers, bathrooms and break rooms for drivers.
With freight ranging from pet foods to bottled water to washing machines, a dozen companies attained that status as overall winners of the 2020 FreightWaves Shipper of Choice Awards announced Wednesday during FreightWaves LIVE @HOME:
Agri-Mark
Costa Foods
HNI Corp.
Home Depot
KraftHeinz
Nestle Purina PetCare Co.
Nestle Waters
Schreiber Foods
Syngenta
Tyson Foods
Weston Foods
Whirlpool Corp.
“These shippers represent the best of the best out there because they are paying attention to all the KPIs that matter most to their businesses and their customers.” said Craig Fuller, FreightWaves founder and CEO. “It is not an easy task.”
Efficiency
To be a Shipper of Choice in efficiency requires maintaining a dwell time of less than two hours; having a specific check-in and checkout gate or location; and 0.75% or less for overages, shortages and damaged (OS&D) deliveries.
OS&D can affect long-term relationships between shipper and carrier
“Frankly, the potential cost savings of an effectively run OS&D program can be significant,” according to a Transportfolio blog post by third-party logistics leader C.H. Robinson.
“But when you couple that savings with the potential to have cheaper outbound freight costs by becoming a ‘favored shipper,’ having an effective OS&D event strategy becomes that much more important.”
The blog lists five important aspects of an effective OS&D program: consistently and immediately taking detailed information; having a disposition tree that balances recovery value vs. return costs; flexibility to handle unique exceptions; timely disposition of an issue; and accurate documentation to avoid the same issue in the future.
Availability
The FreightWaves Shipper of Choice criteria for being available requires allowing facility access to drivers at least eight hours a day on weekdays, weekends and most holidays, as well as regularly meeting with transportation providers.
Stories are plentiful of drivers arriving minutes late because of bad weather or traffic congestion and finding a facility closed. Missing a delivery slot can mean a significant financial loss for the driver because he or she must park for hours awaiting another unload opportunity. Federal hours-of-service restrictions could prevent being able to haul or pick up another load.
Karen Stetner, a senior supply chain manager for Garick, a Midwest mulch shipper, said Shipper of Choice winner Home Depot helped her company by accepting shipments earlier to assure product was in stores on time, easing the difficulty of matching freight capacity with availability.
Facilities
A facility qualifies for FreightWaves Shipper of Choice honors by having 75% or greater availability for drop and hook, which allows a carrier to avoid waiting for loading or unloading. The tractor is guided to a waiting load, hooks up, or drops its cargo, and is on its way.
The other facility criteria require having at least three of four amenities — restrooms, showers, break room, or food and beverage availability.
Click here to learn more about Transflo’s new Electronic Bill of Lading for Shippers.