Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/655792
14 FEDA News & Views continued on page 22 there was a big class change on refrigerators, two years ago it was glass and just recently it was dishwashers," he says. "Sometimes manufacturers do not update their databases and you'd be surprised by the number of inaccuracies. To confi rm the information is correct, distributors can ask their suppliers for a list of products and classes. Lately, we've been focused on the customers that have issues with vague descriptions— e.g., restaurant equipment—and helping them clean up their product libraries." Webstaurant has been at it for years. That's how long it's taken the ecommerce giant to perfect its shipping process— and hoe the weeds in its database of more than 150,000. "For us, managing our freight costs comes down to focusing on three key areas," says President Dave Groff, explaining that one of the fi rst is making sure the information in its database is accurate. (See sidebar for the remaining keys.) "Freight classes are stored centrally and used to show shipping charges to our customers in the shopping cart and to create freight bills in our proprietary shipping software" says Groff. "Another piece of data that is important is the shipping address. Sometimes customers make typos when entering this. We have a tool that validates the address before the customer is able to complete check out. Lastly, freight bills are fi lled out automatically by the system. This means no human error in re-keying the data. This includes special options that the customer selects such as lift gate or call before delivery." According to Walsh, Webstaurant is one of many larger dis- tributors investing in similar bells and whistles. But for those lacking the infrastructure to fully automate, the FEDA direc- tory is a respectable alternative, he says, calling it a good cheat sheet. "A lot of people use it as their bible when it comes to the most commonly shipped food equipment but every dealer is different," says Walsh. "Some have extensive libraries with hundreds of items, others have a shorter list they refer to on the docks. The most important thing is making sure what you have is accurate." Don't Let Special Services Erase Your Profi ts Keeping profi ts intact also is high on the priority list—for the carrier and many distributors, says Walsh, who's noticed both have stepped up their efforts to head off erosion. "Because of the capacity crunch, one of the things we're seeing a lot more of is the carrier's focus on effi ciency and profi tability," he says. "In other words, getting the freight delivered—regardless of what the shipper says on the bill of lading. If a shipment gets to a customer and needs a lift gate, the carrier is going to offl oad that freight with a lift gate, and then charge the shipper, or the customer, an additional fee for the service. That's why it's important that everyone in the chain on the shipper's end is clear—and the customer is clear—on the additional services required to properly deliver an order." The same applies to monopolizing the driver's time, another billable offense called a detention charge. "That's had even more of an impact on distributors because carriers have been Cost of Freight continued Freight Management the Webstaurant Way "For us, managing our freight costs comes down to focusing on three key areas," says President Dave Groff. Exact Data- We've spent years perfecting our freight class codes in our database of more than 150,000 items. This is stored centrally and used to show ship- ping charges to our customers in the shopping cart and to create freight bills in our proprietary shipping software. Another piece of data that is important is the shipping address. Sometimes customers make typos when entering this so we have a tool that validates the address before the customer is able to complete checkout. Lastly, freight bills are fi lled out automatically by the system. This means no human error in re-keying the data and includes special options that the customer selected such as lift gate or call before delivery. Evaluation of Shipping Options- Our system uses weight, dimensions, and class codes to determine the best way to get the product to the customer. (The same criteria used by carriers to calculate freight rates.) Additionally, the algorithm looks at cost, time in transit, and special services (lift gate, white glove, etc.) when selecting the best carrier. It is very easy to add new carriers as we negotiate new deals. The idea was to pattern it after something like a "kayak. com" but for freight. Educating the Customer- We work hard to make sure customers know exactly what to expect when receiving an LTL shipment. They receive instructions electronically, and we also use a video to help explain the process. There's one more piece to this—and that's our people, says Groff. We have a team of 10 in our traffi c department who do an outstanding job of making sure that freight arrives in the right place, at the right time, in the right condition, for the right price. Even though there is a lot of automation in this process, it needs to be balanced with some human interaction. When the three things mentioned above our done well, the savings more than pays for the overhead of the department.