- Third-Party Logistics Providers & Freight Forwarders
- Automotive & Heavy Truck
- Government & Defense
- High Value Products
- Life Sciences
- Manufacturing
ArcBest - A&A 3PL Case Study
posted by AJOT | Dec 08 2017 at 08:25 AM | Intermodal
ArcBest, led by Judy R. McReynolds (Chairman, CEO and President), unified and simplified its organizational structure on January 1, 2017 to provide its customers with one-stop shipping. Customers now have a single point of contact and dashboards providing excellent supply chain management information, along with assured capacity options and a large network of third-party providers.
In the enhanced market approach, most services are now offered under the ArcBest brand to facilitate ease of doing business and a best-in-class customer experience. These logistics services include:
Sales for both ArcBest’s asset based and asset light offerings (ABF Freight, Panther Premium Logistics, truckload and other solutions) were combined under Chief Sales Officer, Dave Darter. Cross selling ArcBest’s services allows its customers visibility across their logistics activities and gives clarity to performance standards. The unified sales structure also enables ArcBest’s trusted advisors to provide customers with unique insights into optimizing their total supply chain efforts.
ABF Freight started in the trucking business in 1923 and became a major less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier, later branching out into U-Pack moving, domestic transportation management/freight brokerage and other areas. Judy McReynolds led the recent reorganization efforts, with a major emphasis on expanding supply chain solutions, since she became CEO in 2010. With the new enhanced market approach of 2017, customer support operations were reorganized. In addition, ArcBest added modern, analytical research and yield management functions.
The current company goal is to expand asset light operations to 50% of total revenue. For 2016, asset light revenues were 30% of the total and growing fast.
Improving Retail Supply Chains
ArcBest was approached by a major retailer who wanted to control its domestic supply chains better. The shipper provided ArcBest with one year of shipment information. ArcBest fashioned solutions involving consolidation and distribution. (A major feature of ArcBest’s strength is its ability to use the over 200 terminal locations of its LTL operation.) ArcBest analyzed the data and offered the shipper consolidation solutions from the West Coast to eight locations. The savings ranged from 21–39%. From the customer’s major distribution facility in the middle of the country to California and four Eastern locations, consolidation of LTL to truckload (TL) lowered costs by 54–72%. Pool distributions from California to the Midwest and Northeast saved 26–35. The yearly savings for the shipper exceeded $10 million.
Vertical Specializations for ArcBest ArcBest’s Expedite solution, offered through Panther Premium Logistics, is a guaranteed on-time service. Shipments are picked up and delivered within 15 minutes of scheduled times. Panther meets these deadline requirements 98.5% of the time 365 days a year. Panther has 1,100 regular owner-operators. Contract providers are prequalified through the Carrier Excellence Program.
ArcBest has a particular focus in six identified verticals: