LTL news: ODFL rolls out improvements for Canada-bound shipments
Jeff Berman, Group News Editor -- Logistics Management, 11/12/2009
THOMASVILLE, N.C.-Regional less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) said this week it has rolled out improved service through its Northwest gateway into Canada, which, it said will connect more than 65 ODFL service centers to Canada-based destinations Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta.
Company officials said this service will reduce border crossing times by providing a single gateway into Alberta through the ODFL Great Falls, Montana location.
Greg Plemmons, president of ODFL subsidiary OD Global, told LM that while this is not a brand new service offering it is an improved way of providing an already existing service to Canada.
"ODFL has provided service to Canada for a long time," said Plemmons. "In fact it is a very strong part of our NAFTA service. By sending shipments across the border [in Montana], we are able to remove circuitous miles and improve the transit times for our customers who ship to and from Alberta Canada by 1-2 days. Part of the quality process here at OD is to always look at how we can become more efficient in our operations and there by provide improved serviced to our customer base. The creation of [this] gateway is a result of that process."
In terms of transit time improvements, Plemmons explained that transit times between major markets like Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, and Denver as well as many others on the one hand, and all of Alberta on the other, were reduced by 1 day, and transit times between Montana and Alberta were reduced by 2 days.
"In today's environment, it is OD's goal to provide our customers with quality service," he said. "We have taken the opposite approach to many of our competitors during this difficult economic time. Instead of cutting schedules and holding freight, we have instead continued to improve our service product and offer greater value. We believe value in the long run is a better offering to the market place. This gateway was an opportunity to provide improved value in our NAFTA service."
When asked what the biggest benefits of this news are for shippers, Plemmons cited a reduced handling, improved order cycle time and quicker delivery of product to their customers. So many times the benefit to customers is in their inventory cost, he explained, and ODFL we can reduce their transit times and help them there by reduce inventory carrying cost, then it is adding value to their supply chain.
"We understand that every touch point of our customer's supply chain involves a promise of some nature and we at OD believe it's our job to help our customers around the world help keep their promises," he said. "And that's the real lasting benefit to this new gateway. It's just one more way we are helping our customers keep promises to their customers."
View All On-Demand Webcasts