The Home Depot Awards Convoy 2021 Digital Carrier of the Year

In January of 2021, Convoy Account Director Andrew Shults received news that Convoy was recognized as The Home Depot’s 2021 Digital Carrier of the Year. Each year, The Home Depot recognizes one logistics provider that excels in responsiveness and innovation by presenting them with this award. Convoy won last year for its ability to deliver consistent, high-quality service through its elastic network of carriers and innovative programs – Guaranteed Primary and Convoy Go – during an unprecedented period of volatility. 

Shults attributes this recognition to various Convoy teams being able to come together and drive impact. “The Home Depot sees value in innovative and timely solutions that improve the efficiency of their supply chain,” Shults said. “They challenge us to do so within their existing infrastructure versus reinventing the wheel.” 

Innovation and Timely Solutions Amidst Market Volatility

Over the last four years, Convoy and The Home Depot have partnered through two extremely volatile periods for the freight industry. During 2018-19, the freight market was one of the softest periods in recent memory, whereas 2020-21 was one of the tightest.

The Home Depot fosters a culture of collaboration and has a high appetite for innovation and experimentation. Because their freight is seasonal, they were interested in experimenting with dynamic pricing on contract freight to capture additional capacity during seasonal surges throughout the year at fair prices. In 2019, they were one of the first to pilot Convoy Guaranteed Primary, an industry-first pricing program that guarantees 100% tender acceptance for a low fixed margin.

Given the nature of The Home Depot’s freight (e.g. lumber, power tools, and appliances), loading and unloading can be a hassle because the freight tends to be bulky and heavy. Thus, The Home Depot deploys drop trailers extensively throughout its network, which allows carriers to get in and out quickly without waiting for live loading and unloading. Convoy was able to offer The Home Depot a flexible drop-and-hook solution with its own trailer pool and power-only drivers through a program called Convoy Go. By deploying Convoy Go, The Home Depot could scale trailer capacity up or down as needed, to match volatile demand, which proved critical throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Following a successful pilot, The Home Depot awarded Convoy its outbound retail freight, which in the past was only reserved for asset carriers.

Collaboration and Experimentation

Through consistent collaboration and experimentation, Convoy and The Home Depot have been able to address challenges head on by leveraging technology to stay ahead of the curve. 

“By leading with a start-with-the-customer mindset, we were able to innovate deliberately and experiment with new solutions that raise the bar for consistent high-quality service.” Shults said. “It is truly a “One Team” effort. You’d be hard pressed to find a team at Convoy that has not contributed to the success of being an innovative partner. We’re excited for what’s ahead as we continue to build on our longstanding partnership with The Home Depot.”