From beverage to bottle

Stakes are high when you’re among the top three bottlers for one of the world’s largest beverage producers. In addition to keeping your finger on the pulse of consumer preferences, there’s also a need to monitor product availability, trucking capacity, and transportation budgets to fulfill demand.

The bottler is a global leader in the production and distribution of food and beverage products and operates in 18 countries. Their U.S. operations span more than 45 states and fulfills nearly 20% of one of the world’s largest beverage producer’s U.S. bottler-delivered distribution volume.

To ensure the right beverages are delivered to the right facilities at the right time, the bottler uses the BluJay Transportation Management System (TMS), which is now part of connected supply chain platform e2open. The cloudbased TMS enables them to quickly and efficiently manage their freight operations, including freight procurement.

From sip to surge

Consumer demand for refreshments surged in 2021. The bottler needed to fire on all cylinders to get beverages from production facilities to distribution centers so they could land at consumer destinations and experiences including grocery stores, restaurants, sporting events, and music festivals.

But finding reliable capacity that could keep up with consumer demand was tough.

Food and beverage producers across the U.S. struggled to find carriers able and willing to transport additional volume. Carriers they did secure reneged on their contracts, leaving transportation teams scrambling to find often last-minute, unpredictable, and expensive on the spot market.

Backup at the ready

The bottler knew they needed reliable coverage that could flex up and down with demand for their product—at a moment’s notice—in tight markets and in soft markets.

They decided to activate the Dynamic Backup API on their TMS. Competitive, real-time rates were inserted directly into their routing guide with no manual intervention needed. If a Dynamic Backup rate was shown for a shipment, transportation teams knew they could lock in that rate with guaranteed tender acceptance.

“It was nice to have that dependability. Knowing Convoy would accept 100% of the tenders that came to them was one less thing to worry about.” —Senior Logistics Operations Manager, global bottling company

Since 2021, the bottler has completed more than 500 shipments with 100% tender acceptance by using Dynamic Backup.

Savings with market softening

As the U.S. full truckload market softened in early 2022, the bottler was among the first shippers to immediately save on their transportation costs. Dynamic Backup’s realtime rates automatically adjusted to market conditions to help them initially save on more than 150 lanes and continue to do so across additional lanes.

Getting Started with Dynamic Backup

New to Convoy? Get a demo and learn more about shipping with us. Let’s talk.

Already ship with Convoy? Get in touch with your account manager.

More on how dynamic pricing helps shippers

• In our webinar, Adapting to Freight Market Softening, learn how industry-leading shippers are driving innovation with dynamic pricing programs while avoiding the inefficient, cumbersome process of renegotiating freight contracts.
• A multinational industrial goods company saved thousands of operational hours and an estimated $400,000 by enabling Dynamic Backup in their TMS. Here’s how Convoy’s backup pricing program made that possible.

The post Weathering Seasonal Surges with Coverage and Savings appeared first on Convoy.

Constant demand, constant shifts

This bottled water brand’s production processes stay agile to fulfill customer demand and drive operational efficiencies. Decisions made on where to bottle and ship their water adjusted on a weekly basis.

As a result, it was difficult to accurately forecast shipment volumes, define pickup facilities and designate drop-off destinations. The importer also experienced seasonal surges during summer months and had high customer expectations to fulfill.

Enter Convoy’s freight services and technology

Shipment needs that were predictable and consistent were low and fulfilled through Convoy primary contracts. Coverage for the majority of the bottled water brand’s volume today is provided via Convoy Dynamic Backup, and loads are tracked via the online shipper platform.

Transportation teams are able to get instant rates and book loads with guaranteed tender acceptance by activating the Dynamic Backup API. They are also able to secure high-quality capacity from Convoy’s digital freight network of more than 400,000 trucks—all powered by 80,000 carriers with higher safety ratings than industry averages.

More flexibility, improved visibility

The bottled water brand has completed nearly 6,000 shipments through the dynamic pricing program since late 2019. Teams also used Convoy’s online shipper platform to track shipments and access PODs and BOLs to verify on-time delivery for their customers.

Performance is improving as a result. Most recently, the bottled water brand reported 95% On-Time Pickup (OTP) for contracted and Dynamic Backup volume during one of their busiest Summer months. 97% of all loads serviced in that same period were delivered on time, continuing to help the brand save significantly by avoiding fines due to missed deliveries.

Ready for market softening

As the U.S. full truckload market continues softening in 2022, the bottled water brand also now has options to consider for low-cost, high-quality coverage. With Dynamic Backup, they can quickly get and compare rates to secure cost-effective coverage. They are also paying an average lower rate-per-lane than they would on the spot market, even in soft market conditions.

Today, Convoy is the premium water bottled water brand’s top API carrier. Trucking costs are optimized in real-time to ensure quality coverage at rates in-tune with the market.

The bottled water brand is also partnering with Convoy’s Shipper Insights team to explore ways to enhance performance monitoring beyond shipment tracking. By optimizing their operations across facilities and modes of transportation, there is a shared vision to continue reducing costs and improving service quality.

Getting Started with Dynamic Backup

New to Convoy? Get a demo and learn more about shipping with us. Let’s talk.

Already ship with Convoy? Get in touch with your account manager.

More on how dynamic pricing helps shippers

• In our webinar, Adapting to Freight Market Softening, learn how industry-leading shippers are driving innovation with dynamic pricing programs while avoiding the inefficient, cumbersome process of renegotiating freight contracts.
• A multinational industrial goods company saved thousands of operational hours and an estimated $400,000 by enabling Dynamic Backup in their TMS. Here’s how Convoy’s backup pricing program made that possible.

The post Prepared for the Unpredictable appeared first on Convoy.

The difficulties of spiking shipment volume

As demand for freight spiked in 2021, operations teams found themselves facing waves of canceled shipments. Goods were flying off shelves, including consumer favorites that were high-visibility and high-volume. Many carriers were unable to fulfill spiking volumes well above committed contract volumes. Increased volume hit the spot market as a result. Underperforming lanes remained business critical, but drove up operating costs, and reliable capacity was needed to support peak retail seasons.

Guaranteed tender acceptance to the rescue 

Convoy was already delivering 100% of contracted volume with this retailer. When spikes in volume required even more flexible and reliable capacity, the retailer chose to pilot Guaranteed Primary, designed to minimize shippers’ exposure to volatile spot price markets.

During the pilot, Convoy guaranteed 100% tender acceptance at a fixed 10% margin across 7 out of 26 existing primary lanes. These lanes were experiencing high volume spikes and load cancellations/ tender rejections. Estimated savings through Guaranteed Primary rates were estimated at $1.6 million when compared to standard freight RFP contract rates at the time.

From headache-inducing to high-performing tender acceptance

Within three months, Convoy was able to improve total primary tender acceptance by 88% on the seven lanes chosen for the pilot. While tender rejections increased 105% the month prior to the pilot, the Guaranteed Primary program delivered on its 100% tender acceptance promise, leading to zero spot loads.

High-quality service was also table stakes for Convoy. On-Time-Delivery (OTD) was executed 3% higher than overall primary and 4% higher than overall spot. 

Delivering Guaranteed Freight Coverage

Recognizing the value Guaranteed Primary provides in delivering guaranteed coverage, this retailer continues enrolling additional lanes in the program. Shipment volume grew from 166 to 1,193 from February 2022 to March 2022 alone.

With Convoy, the retailer also gains transparency into shipment costs and is able to take advantage of rates in-tune with the market. Convoy was the first freight provider to offer cost savings to the retailer in 2022 due to seasonality and as signs of market softening emerged.

“[Convoy] was the first carrier to lower rates for us in 2022. This kind of partnership is a game changer for the long run.” —Transportation Director, Fortune 50 Retailer

Getting started with Guaranteed Primary

New to Convoy? Let’s talk about shipping with Convoy and saving more with Guaranteed Primary.

Already ship with Convoy? Get in touch with your account manager.

More on how dynamic pricing helps shippers

• In our webinar, Adapting to Freight Market Softening, learn how industry-leading shippers are driving innovation with dynamic pricing programs while avoiding the inefficient, cumbersome process of renegotiating freight contracts.
• This case study is available for download in PDF format.

The post Taming tough lanes and saving on costs with a Fortune 50 retailer appeared first on Convoy.

Challenges of Predicting the Unpredictable in Freight

A multinational industrial goods company needed to deliver supply chain products to their customers, often within 24 hours’ notice. How much product their customers would need, by when, and to where was often unknown. Adding to the complexity of their operation was the need to also retrieve the products from their customers’ locations and then dynamically route them to servicing centers, stocking locations, or other customers’ operations.

The company recognized the challenges of forecasting their dynamic network and fulfilling their bi-directional transportation needs. Shipments also often needed to be transported at the last minute, on new lanes, to thousands of locations across the United States. Freight RFPs were not a good fit for business operations because volume requirements and lane pairings were often unpredictable. Turning to the spot market for thousands of loads was unsustainable in the long run, requiring immense administrative effort and cost.

Enter Convoy Dynamic Backup

Recognizing the need for coverage at fair rates, the company enabled Convoy’s Dynamic Backup API in their transportation management system (TMS). This unlocked access to instant, elastic capacity at competitive market rates in their routing guide without leaving their TMS and turning to cumbersome spot auctions.

As soon as shipments were added to their system, the company could get an instant quote, lock in the price, and snap up a truck. Instant freight coverage was always one click away as soon as they knew their dedicated and contract carriers couldn’t accept additional loads. Rates for known and new lanes were readily available, eliminating the hassle of contacting and waiting on multiple carriers for contract or spot rates.

Dynamic aining Peace of Mind

More than 40,000 of the company’s loads have been successfully picked up and delivered through Convoy Dynamic Backup since January 2021. During this time, Convoy was able to meet their spiky demand during seasonal and holiday surges, plus flex up to three times their average weekly capacity during surges.

“We recommend our load planners choose Convoy’s dynamic rates whenever possible, rather than doing a spot market auction. We know Convoy will always accept the tender, and they have the best combination of competitive pricing and high quality service.” —Sr. Analyst, Logistics Execution Global Industrials Company

Saving Time and Money

By enabling Convoy Dynamic Backup, the company was able to save an estimated $400,000 since the U.S. full truckload (FTL) market started softening in early 2022 by avoiding the spot market. Transportation teams also saved thousands of operational hours waiting for and negotiating rates for time-sensitive and business-critical freight operations.

As the market continues to soften, the company is able to secure backup coverage—when and where they need it—at competitive rates they wouldn’t be able to find elsewhere. Rates are delivered directly to their TMS and come with a 100% tender acceptance guarantee across all market conditions.

Getting Started with Dynamic Backup

New to Convoy? Get a demo and learn more about shipping with us. Let’s talk.

Already ship with Convoy? Get in touch with your account manager.

More on how dynamic pricing helps shippers

• In our webinar, Adapting to Freight Market Softening, learn how industry-leading shippers are driving innovation with dynamic pricing programs while avoiding the inefficient, cumbersome process of renegotiating freight contracts.
• This case study is available for download in PDF format.

The post Dynamic Rates for a Dynamic Network appeared first on Convoy.