ENERGIZING SITE SELECTION
to mitigate that for customers is by providing intermodal service. It’s a lot easier to send drivers to a local dray than it is to find drivers who are willing to drive a few thousand miles and be away from their family for a few weeks.” CREATING ECONOMIC VALUE CLX prides itself on providing superior service and cost efficiencies. “We create economic value through people, process, and technology,” Hamilton says. An important part of that formula is the deployment of a global transportation management system (TMS) designed for chemical shippers. “The mantra we use is that whenever we talk about customers, we try to bring economic value and look for continuous improvement opportunities,” he notes. Toward that end, the company’s involvement abroad has been instructive. “Logistics in Europe, Asia, and South America are extremely different from what we deal with in the United States,” he says. “It’s important to understand when it’s appropriate to bring what we’ve learned in the United States to these places, and also when it’s appropriate to recognize that what we do in the United States will not work in Germany or Korea, for example.”
Many of these international differences are regulatory, but Hamilton cites cultural differences as well, such as differences in the way truck drivers are treated. It’s an important lesson that has carried over into the company’s operations in the United States. “Our approach has to be different in every region as we find efficiencies and savings for our customers,” he says. Regardless of locale, CLX is known for providing white-glove service. “We provide all our services in a white-glove fashion,” Hamilton says. “We’re a fairly flat organization, so customers get a lot of exposure to upper management, including the CEO.” Watson Land Company: CHOICE PROPERTIES Location and choice serve as the hallmarks of Watson Land Company, a developer, owner, and manager of industrial properties throughout Southern California and the East Coast. With more than 23 million square feet of warehouse and distribution facilities throughout the South Bay of Los Angeles, the Inland Empire (a metropolitan region that lies adjacent to Los Angeles), and the East Coast, Watson’s buildings are designed and located to improve companies’ supply chains as well as their distribution and warehousing operations. Watson’s properties include 13 master- planned communities in California, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Sites are positioned for proximity to seaports, airports, highway systems, and rail lines. Many feature Class A industrial buildings and cross-dock warehouse distribution amenities. Watson’s Inland Empire sites are specifically designed to accommodate the needs of companies and logistics operations that are drawn to the region as it further develops into the industrial location of choice. Watson Center, Redlands, for example, lies in the heart of an area dedicated to industrial use and is ideally positioned along Interstate 10.
management solutions, supply chain consulting, and intermodal
transportation. In addition to locations in Philadelphia and Chicago, CLX maintains a European presence with offices in the Netherlands. The company also plans to open a new office in Houston by the end of 2022. Hamilton’s personal expertise lies in intermodal logistics. “That’s where I’ve spent my life,” he says, adding that he previously worked for both Conrail and Norfolk Southern. “Intermodal is my bailiwick,” he adds. “As I like to say, I’ve been working for, with, and against the railroads for the past 30 years.” In the intermodal arena, CLX primarily serves North America— Canada, Mexico, and the continental United States as well as Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. Asked to name the most important factor businesses should consider in choosing a location for a manufacturing facility, warehouse, or distribution center, Hamilton cites accessibility to rail lines. “That’s critical,” he says. This is especially true during periods when rail and/or truck capacity is limited. “Over these past 18 months, truck capacity has been a real problem,” he says. “And the way we’ve been able
A global 3PL and 4PL provider of chemical transportation management solutions, supply chain consulting, and intermodal transportation, CLX Logistics deploys a large fleet of specially built, lightweight ISO tanks to safely transport bulk liquid chemicals.
48 Inbound Logistics • October 2022
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