Watco Logistics Shares the Loads

from The Dispatch June 2021

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What started with one retailer and the Watco Logistics branch office in South Carolina quickly grew into a much broader Watco collaboration and ultimately led to a significant new contract. During a period last fall, Charleston Branch Manager Jeff Dambro was looking for additional business, a major American department store chain was suffering from service problems with its existing trucking arrangements. A match was in the making. After digging into the retailer’s situation, Dambro recognized a potential opportunity to assist, and not just with local-level service. Instead, he recognized broader issues and wanted to offer the customer a bigger-picture solution by coordinating with other Watco branch offices. This is unique because it’s more common in the realm of logistics to keep a customer’s loads controlled through one logistics branch.

“Our branch didn’t have the bandwidth to cover all they needed help with,” Dambro explained. “I sat with Curtiss (Hemby, Vice President of Operations) and Charlie (Polach, Vice President of Highway Logistics). We strategically placed certain lanes with certain branches. That has been extremely successful.”

Visibility to the customer’s national supply chain grew, and so did Watco’s service and support. 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. The Logistics team has had good results through their many connections with both independent drivers and asset-based trucking companies. 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

Says Dambro, “We’ve been able to keep their supply chain flowing.” As a result of the team’s success, Watco was recently awarded a contract that will mean an estimated $40 million annually. And Watco continues to step up.

“Sometimes a carrier falls off in another lane. They contact us, and we’ve got the capacity they need so their supply chain doesn’t suffer. We’ve become their No. 1 carrier when it comes to falloff from other carriers,” explained Danbro.

The relationship could lead to Watco providing services beyond logistics. Dambro says it’s possible rail could take on some of the loads as West Coast port congestion improves. “They’ve checked into that as a future option,” he said. “As soon as capacity issues subside and (the Port of) Los Angeles opens back up on a regular basis, the railcar solution could be a viable option for them.”