Schneider meets critical delivery window with a dedicated cross-border solution

An automotive supplier used more than 20 carriers to transport vehicle parts cross border from Toronto, Canada, to various vehicle manufacturer facilities in Detroit, Michigan, and Toledo, Ohio. The company was plagued by missed deliveries and, by extension, stalled production lines. Additionally, the carriers struggled with border-crossing paperwork, which often led to more delivery delays. With so many carriers hauling portions of the freight, no carrier placed the company high on its priority list. The company needed a carrier with significant cross-border expertise that would prioritize its business to meet critical on-time delivery needs.

Automotive freight deliveries are often subject to just-in-time deliveries, where a customer receives the inventory only as it is needed in the production process. This means it’s essential for a carrier to make freight-flow adjustments on the fly to meet manufacturing needs. For the automotive supplier, if the parts didn’t arrive within the vehicle manufacturer’s tight delivery window, the entire assembly line shut down. An out-of-service line cost the company $10,000 per minute until it was up and running again.

Even with multiple carriers, the company was only seeing an 80 percent on-time delivery rate. This amounted to a large annual loss. Moreover, when the company knew in advance that its carriers weren’t going to meet the strict delivery deadlines, it would charter a plane to deliver the parts at a cost of $200,000.

Using multiple carriers that lacked cross-border expertise cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. In need of a cross-border solution due to missed critical on-time deliveries, another automotive provider recommended Schneider.

With its extensive Canadian driver network, a proven record of more than 52,000 clean cross-border moves per year, and its Dedicated service option, Schneider was the company that could bring the much-needed cross-border expertise. Within days of its outreach, Schneider became the company’s single-carrier cross-border solution. In the first two weeks, it began moving with a 99 percent on-time delivery rate.

Schneider’s Dedicated program provided 17 Canadian drivers dedicated to the account. Operating like an extension of the shipper, Schneider’s dedicated drivers leveraged their accumulated knowledge of the account and the lanes to provide top-tier service.

Trailer tracking technology also allowed Schneider to provide accurate on-time delivery updates, providing the company peace of mind that products would be delivered on time, as promised. The use of Schneider’s technology and proactive communication meant there was no longer a need for a chartered plane or thousands of dollars in production delays.

With an operating center, maintenance staff, sales team and experts in the border-crossing process all based in Canada, Schneider could meet capacity needs as well as stay on top of regulatory changes relevant to cross-border freight. By offering the company a dedicated solution, Schneider’s drivers knew the routes, the facilities and had a greater understanding of the vehicle manufacturer’s facilities. Since partnering with Schneider, the company has seen significant results.

With three years of Schneider’s Dedicated solution under its belt, the company has never had a line shut down. Other key results include:

• 99.6 percent on-time delivery
• Increased annual cost savings
• Consistent driver retention over three years

With a dedicated solution in place by a carrier with extensive cross-border experience, the company now has a new, higher standard for service and knows it can rely on Schneider to flex with its cross-border capacity demands.