Multi-Branch Logistics Collaboration Creates On-Time Trucking Solution
Last fall, a major American department store chain was facing service issues with its existing trucking resources. Pickups and deliveries in certain lanes weren’t occurring in a timely manner, and the customer went to Jeff Dambro, Branch Manager for Logistics in Charleston, South Carolina looking for help. Dambro could have accepted only the loads his location could manage, in keeping with a common logistics practice of maintaining local control of a customer’s business. Instead, having recognized the customer’s needs were broad, he worked with Vice President of Operations Curtiss Hemby and Vice President of Highway Logistics Charlie Polach on a comprehensive strategy for on-time shipments: They matched the lanes with multiple Watco Logistics branches. On any given day, as many as 20 Watco Logistics team members around the country are involved. They’re based in Charleston; Duluth, Georgia; Jonesboro, Arkansas; Chicago, Illinois; Overland Park, Kansas; Phoenix, Arizona; and Denver, Colorado. They use their knowledge of freight lanes and carriers to determine the most efficient ways to execute the requested moves. They’re using their connections with both independent drivers and asset-based trucking companies, and drivers are handling three types of routes or lanes: • To/from 18 national distribution centers • Brand-name vendors to the customers’ sorting facilities • From distribution centers to retail stores Watco has been able to keep the customer’s supply chain flowing, and the retailer has awarded Watco a contract estimated at $40 million annually. In addition, Watco has become their No. 1 carrier when it comes to falloff from other carriers. Dambro said the relationship could lead to Watco providing services beyond logistics, with rail possibly taking on some of the loads as West Coast port congestion improves.
6 The Dispatch | June 2021
