Struggling to hit that goal, the manufacturer turned to Cardinal Logistics for effective strategies. Bringing its transportation expertise to bear, Cardinal put into play a plan that has reaped wide-ranging bene ts. “We were able to increase customer service and get their goods to market faster by changing existing domiciles and adding new domiciles,” explains Cardinal’s Fred Virga. To eliminate running empty miles, Cardinal also began using its brokerage eet to ship products from the company’s manufacturing location to a network of about 20 cross-dock facilities that Cardinal operates around the country. “We ship the customer’s products utilizing a one-way solution to our cross- dock locations” Virga says. “From the cross-docks, we leverage our dedicated footprint, meaning our drivers make the nal delivery from the cross-dock to the customer. “Our trained drivers are the ones who touch every piece of glass and hardware during delivery,” he adds. By rebuilding the transportation model to put Cardinal trucks in zones, the rm now yields greater sales dollars on every truck—in 2022, that translated to a 27% sales increase over 2021. “We ship strategically now, compared to the past when our customer was basically shipping every order whenever their customer wanted it,” says Virga. Cardinal also helped the glass rm strategize on where to open a second manufacturing location to better serve the western United States. They chose Reno, Nevada, based on the company’s historical customer data in the region and the location’s ability to maximize eet operations. Another strategic move centered around workforce allotment. Because of the more strategic approach to delivery, the customer was able to reduce its number of drivers to 85—a signi cant labor cost savings. Cardinal also made the decision to add management staff and place those managers in eld locations to better understand and supervise the local ow of shipments.
Cardinal Logistics credits its 4,000+ experienced and well-trained drivers with maintaining its customer-focused culture.
Introducing technology played a key role in the transformation as well. “Previously, the manufacturer didn’t have any technology” notes Virga. “They dispatched their trucks but had no visibility to what went on. By implementing Cardinal’s technology, they now have routing software, ETA noti cation, and track-and- trace capability. The soup-to-nuts transportation overhaul has produced impressive results including roughly $2 million in yearly savings—a 10% annual reduction—for the manufacturer. The effectiveness also shows in mileage and stops numbers: In 2021, Cardinal logged 6 million miles and 98,000 stops for the customer. Year-to-date (in mid- November), the 2022 numbers were 4 million miles and 72,000 stops. “This improvement is not because we delivered less,” Virga says. “The manufacturer didn’t cancel or lose customers. We just changed the way we deliver.” WHEN TIME IS TIGHT, IT’S TIME TO GET SMART For a shipper, a transportation provider that guarantees next-day shipping for all orders placed by 6 p.m. is a sure win. But such a late cut- off time is super challenging for the company—and its carrier—to execute. That’s the scenario for a leading general commodities company, based in the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania,
that moves a wide range of of ce and shipping products to businesses and consumers across the Northeast. In 2017, the company was struggling to hit its shipment promises using a core carrier and turned to A. Duie Pyle for solutions. What began as a 100-shipments-per-day engagement has grown to some 800 or 900 daily less- than-truckload (LTL) shipments. The commodities company is now one of Pyle’s largest corporate customers. PARTNERS THAT CLICK The companies have worked together with synergy for a few key reasons. “The company is located centrally in the middle of our network, which gives us a strong strategic approach for managing their tight time frames,” says Pyle's John Luciani. “From their location, we can ship overnight, via our network, to destinations such as Portland, Maine; Buffalo, New York; and Richmond, Virginia, which gives them a competitive advantage,” he adds. Proactive communication coupled with strong technology resources are other reasons for the partnership’s success. The company’s wide range of products—everything from 10-foot-long corrugated cardboard to standardized pallets and small cartons of items like packaging tape, along with pallet racking and two wheeled cargo handlers— necessitate some exibility in how the loads are handled.
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