Challenge

TVS had been single sourcing their LTL business through a local, asset-based provider. Because of the exclusive nature of their relationship, our customer had been experiencing a number of fairly predictable issues often related to single sourcing. Less than reliable service in the form of missed pick-ups and pushed delivery dates, regular damage to product resulting in prolonged claims processes, and inconsistent pricing, along with unexplained and apparently excessive assessorial charges all added to their concerns. The bulk of their business, both TL and LTL, consists of government/military contracts which mandate specialized handling. Sorting and segregating the product upon delivery, tight delivery windows, and unique/stringent security requirements all added to the complexity of their LTL supply chain.

Solution

Tumalo Creek has been providing TL services for TVS for many years, and had a deep understanding of that segment of their business. We conducted an audit of their LTL practices in order to determine where inefficiencies existed and where “technique” could be modified to reduce chronic service shortfalls and the excessive ancillary charges. We implemented a program that utilized multiple sources more specific to the delivery regions, and in some cases, consolidated multiple orders into partial loads to reduce overall cost. We negotiated more favorable tariffs with our reliable LTL carriers, blending in some of the more predictable ancillary charges related to unloading at the receiver. Reliability has drastically improved while expense has dropped significantly. Our customer has enjoyed a marked increase in volume without any shortfall in reliability.