Posted by Brandy Mcmullen on Tue, Apr 27, 2010 @ 08:54 AM
Trinity Transport, Inc., a third-party logistics supplier of transportation solutions, announced a new service division to serve shippers in various industries from retail to manufacturing.
Trinity Customized Logistics (TCL) was initially launched in response to Trinity's client freight management needs, and has been extended to prospective new customers in need of a more tailored cost-savings approach.
"Our shippers needed to find methods to improve their processes in order to reduce logistics costs to offset the downturn in the economy. Clients were looking for solutions, and by pairing our customized support approach with leading transportation management software, Trinity created opportunities for operational savings between 10-30% of overhead expenses," shared Amy Proctor, Director of Logistics Sales for TCL.
Trinity Customized Logistics is made up of a team of experienced Trinity team members that leverages over thirty years of experience in the industry with a web-based transportation management system. Unlike other TMS solutions, Trinity is unique in that it offers complete support for its software, while other systems require large capital expenditures to simply purchase stand-alone technology.
Jeff Banning, CEO and President of Trinity Transport, Inc., summarized what makes the new division so beneficial. "TCL is an optimal solution for shippers that are looking for ways to enhance visibility and reporting while taking advantage of cost savings from automation, optimization, and other solutions created by our team. We can be as involved or as hands-off as the client would like, but the goal is to lend our experience and recommendations to increase their profit margins, bottom line."
Posted by Brandy Mcmullen on Tue, Jul 21, 2009 @ 02:15 PM
I was stupefied! There really is no other way to describe how I felt after listening to a shipper recently describe their carrier set up process.
I'd been invited to submit a bid to handle shipping for this shipper, and like the good salesperson I am, I gave her a follow up call fifteen minutes later to see how we ranked. The conversation that followed led me to wonder how many other companies are doing business the same way?
Read a summary of our conversation below, (as best I can recall it!). I welcome your comments, let me know if your process is similar, I'm interested to see who else out there has the pain of paperwork like she did.
Shipper: "Well, Laura, you're the only one that had returned my email so far."
Laura: "How many did you send out?"
Shipper: "Well, I gotta get at least five or six quotes on each load, my bosses want to make sure I'm getting the best price and that we aren't getting overcharged. You know how it is now-adays."
Laura: "Yep, sure do! But tell me, I know you move at least five loads a day out of there, how do you keep track of all the different rates?"
Shipper: "Oh I have a folder for each of our salespeople. Whenever they send their requests for quotes to me on email, I print it out and staple each carrier's email to the request. That way if they come back later and need to know what the other options were, I have them right here."
For just five quotes per day, my customer was printing out at least 30 sheets daily, 150 per week, 600 a month, and 7,200 a year! Somebody call the EPA, this woman's going to single handedly bump up global warming by 20 years!
Laura: "Wow! Your desk is officially a graveyard for trees!"
Shipper: (laughing) "You got that right! Any more, and I'll need to call search and rescue to dig me out!"
Laura: "So, what do you do when it comes time to ship?"
Shipper: "Sometimes I just remember who the cheapest carrier was, so call them to make sure they have a truck, and email them the shipment details. If they don't have a truck, then I go back to the files. I'm pretty organized, but it's a pain to dig it back out and go back and compare again. It's never apples to apples, some of them charge for handling, some charge extra for delivery appointments, and I have to make sure to include that in when I line them up next to each other."
Laura: (shaking her head in disbelief despite being verbal vs. visible) "Ever wonder if there's an easier way?"
Shipper: "Well, to be honest, I guess I never took the time to think about it, I'm just on autopilot most days, trying to get as much done as possible before the salesmen start hounding me!"
Laura: "Ok, well sounds like you need a little TLC from "TCL". It's a product named after both our company and also what it does, "Trinity Customized Logistics". Basically, it offers the convenience of a web-based freight management program and the reliability of a service-oriented support staff."
"It's what the industry refers to as a "TMS", or transportation management system. It's software that allows you to manage ALL transportation operations by automating many of the manual processes like you're describing; rate quoting, freight tendering, and shipment tracking."
"The process is simple, you send out requests for quotes through the software. When carriers respond to your request, they could do it through this system, too, which automatically archives the rates for future reference. The beauty of the system is the sorting...it sorts the rates from lowest to highest for you and then automatically tenders the freight in a waterfall effect until someone had a truck available and accepts the offer!"
"Think of all the time you could save...not to mention the trees!"
Shipper: "Yeah, then I could use my spare time to clear out some of these filing cabinets and get my office back! Ok, Laura, come show it to me and the boss, let's see what your TCL system can do in action!"
Laura Willey is an Account Manager located in the Seaford, DE Trinity Transport Headquarters office. She's been part of the Trinity team since 2006, is married to Jason Willey, and has two twins, Mason and Jocelyn, two years old. Laura specializes in her knowledge of truckload and LTL logistics, and also helps her clients with international and intermodal needs. For more information on the software solutions she discussed, contact her at (800) 871-8717 or by e-mail.