The Overview
The world’s second largest airline needs to move big, heavy, odd-size parts and hazardous materials from its hubs to maintenance centers all over the U.S. All of the parts are crucial to the airline’s performance and safety. Some are fragile and require white-glove handling. On-time expedited delivery is essential to transportation success, with overnight delivery required in major lanes, and less than 7-day transit time required throughout the network. The company requires an extremely high level of reliability and special handling. Cost savings are always appreciated.
The Challenge
This client’s needs are huge and ongoing, with a high number of shipments weekly. But before Covenant stepped in, the airline lacked the logistics analysis and engineering capabilities to design a network to manage it all. With suppliers all over the U.S. and many different airport destinations, transit time is critical, and extremely careful handling is a must — no scratches nor blemishes on unpackaged parts, such as airplane wheels, for example.
Characteristics
• Extreme flexibility to manage quick transit times
• Complex network design for <7 day delivery
• Departures from main hubs 3 days a week
• Major lanes = overnight service
Expectations
• 95% on time delivery
• Order-to-delivery shipment visibility
• Full range of transit solutions, from box trucks to hazmat
• One point of contact
• Continuous improvement
The Results
Over five years, our relationship with this customer has evolved from an LTL managed solution to a nationwide, custom network with a dedicated fleet, local shuttles and distribution center management. The customer is delighted with our track record of on-time delivery — and our tailored solution has resulted in $9 million in cost savings in five years. We are piloting new programs, growing our local services, and have recently embarked on new warehousing operations with this airline. We are looking forward to further expansion of our partnership.
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