NASSTRAC recently announced that USG Corp. received the 2009 NASSTRAC Shipper of the Year award. NASSTRAC, a non-profit association that provides education, advocacy, provider relations, and networking for transportation and logistics professionals, created the award 18 years ago to annually recognize a shipper that has demonstrated excellent in recent transportation and/or logistics strategies. A wide range of manufacturers, retailers, and distributors managing freight through their supply chains have received the award through the years. USG Corp. is the largest manufacturer of gypsum products in North America and the largest U.S. distributor of wallboard. The manufacturer received the award specifically because of innovative approached used in leveraging customer and carrier partnerships, taking corporate responsibility and safety issues seriously, and cost management tactics, according to Brian Everett, NASSTRAC's executive director. According to Everett, USG Corp. demonstrated they had put fuel costs in check, significantly reduced total freight claims, made carriers more accountable in performance, and maintained carrier acceptance rates above 99 percent. Ultimately this increased customer satisfaction as well. 'NASSTRAC continues to encourage best practices in transportation and supply chain management among its shipper members,' said Everett. 'This is just one more example of such encouragement.' According to Janet Kemp, manager of carrier operations for USG Corp. and NASSTRAC member, it's critical to build and sustain carrier partnerships when managing the supply chain. 'We all have to be sitting at the same table and agreeing on what's important,' she said. 'That's why we're now seeing a level of collaboration between shippers and carriers that is really without precedent.' The NASSTRAC Shipper of the Year Award, co-sponsored by Logistics Management magazine, will be recognized at the upcoming NASSTRAC Logistics Conference & Expo in Orlando, Fla., April 25-28, 2010. To view a detailed article on USG Corporation's best practices, visit www.NASSTRAC.org, click Awards/Shipper of the Year" and "View Past Award Recipients." For additional details on NASSTRAC, visit www.NASSTRAC.org or call 952-442-8850 x208.

NASSTRAC provides education, advocacy, provider relations, and networking for professionals involved in all areas of transportation, ranging from full truckload and LTL to containerization and global logistics. For more information, visit www.NASSTRAC.org