If there’s one thing that shipping managers have in common with each other, it’s their unified dislike for supply chain disruptions. Shipping delays are detrimental to customer success and your bottom line, and they can happen at just about every touchpoint along a shipment’s journey. From increased vessel dwell time and demurrage at the port to the drayage provider delayed in picking up the container; understaffed warehouse and transloading facilities taking too much time unloading the truck, and poor route optimization resulted in a missed delivery appointment at the end destination. Most of the time, these delays are caused by a lack of communication, and because most shippers have a tendency to silo their transportation providers with specific roles. The idea is that multiple parties can manage the complexities of logistics and prevent disruptions by sharing the work. The drayage provider does the drayage, the transloading is done by someone else, and the OTR capacity is drawn from some other random service provider. The problem is, none of these companies talk to one another, and tracking and tracing requires communicating with three different reps, and sending a ton of emails in search of a status update.
The best solution for overcoming many of these disruptions is to partner with a fully-integrated single source logistics company to manage your entire supply chain. Shippers benefit enormously from streamlining and integrating their transportation network with a single provider that manages and coordinates every step of a shipment’s journey. By embracing single source logistics, shippers can simplify their operations, improve communication, and have visibility control over their entire supply chain. This article looks at some of the value-added services a single source logistics company can provide shippers to optimize their operations.
What is Single Source Logistics?
This approach to logistics is quite simple. Single source logistics means dedicating a single company to manage every portion of a shipper’s supply chain. Single source logistics providers are generally large, established providers with decades of experience servicing all aspects of the logistics process. These companies are built upon their success in servicing, managing, and supporting the unique operational procedures required for shippers large and small. Single source logistics providers often own and manage their own fleet of assets, own and operate their own brick-and-mortar warehouse facilities, and have a dedicated team of logistics professionals that understand how to handle each customer's operational requirements. Port City Logistics, for example, is a fully integrated single source logistics provider that offers a range of value-added services to its customers. These services fall into three categories: 3PL Transportation, Port Drayage, and Warehouse and Distribution.
Transportation Solutions
Whether you are looking to source dedicated capacity for your high-volume lanes or need to pull a single pallet from a container and haul it LTL, Port City Logistics can cover all your transportation needs. This single source logistics provider offers customers:
- A fleet of assets for local and regional hauls
- Full Truck Load (FTL) service for reefer, dry van, and flatbed
- Less Than Truckload (LTL) and partial service
- Specialized transport of heavy and oversize freight
- Hazardous materials transportation
- Port drayage
- Secure storage yards
Port Drayage
Drayage is arguably one of the most important transportation services in the United States, as an estimated 90% of all traded goods are shipped across the oceans. The Savannah Port is one of the busiest ports in the U.S. Each year, Port City Logistics hauls more than 90,000 containers from that port, helping customers connect their containerized freight to their larger supply chain. As the preferred single source logistics provider for thousands of unique customers, Port City Logistics has your drayage loads covered, offering:
- Company-owned trucks
- Company-owned chassis and trailers
- Year-round dedicated transportation
- TWIC-certified and bonded drivers
- Secure stack tards
- Specialized transport
- Port-to-door service
- Transloading service
Distribution and Warehouse Services
Warehouse and distribution facilities are crucial hubs that help customers streamline their supply chains as efficiently as possible. Shippers depend on these spaces as staging grounds to ensure that their products get processed and ready for the next stage of transportation. Port City Logistics has one of the largest warehouse facilities in Savannah, Georgia. Strategically located just a few miles from the Georgia Port Authority, their state-of-the-art 4 million square feet of industrial warehouse space serves as a crucial space that shippers use for transloading, cross-docking, and storing their precious cargo. As a single source logistics company that owns and operates its own brick-and-mortar warehousing and distribution centers, Port City Logistics and its helpful warehouse staff help thousands of freight forwarders, manufacturers, and BCOs with:
- Wrap and Palletizing Services
- Labeling Services
- Cross-Docks
- Bulk Transfer
- Pick and Pack Services
- Crating Services
- WMS Digital Inventory Management
- Temperature Controlled Facilities
- FTZ and Custom Bonded
- DOT/IMDG Hazmat Certification
- EDI & Barcoding Equipment
- Ramped Doors
- Leveler Loading Docks for all Equipment Heights and Sizes
- 24-hour security
What Other Features Do Single Source Logistics Providers Offer Shippers?
Handling and managing port drayage, warehousing, and OTR transportation requires an expert staff of knowledgeable logistics coordinators and excellent communication. Rather than attempting to coordinate with multiple third-party logistics providers, a single source logistics company offers shippers the ability to streamline communication and gain real-time visibility and control over their supply chains. A single source logistics provider connects your supply chain from start to finish, ensuring that every step in your shipment's journey is monitored, coordinated, and managed efficiently so that your loads deliver on time and in full. This approach helps improve customer satisfaction, helping to make the lives of shipping managers much easier. Load status updates, tracking, tracing, and delivery notifications are communicated through a collaborative transportation management system (TMS) that gives shippers visibility over their entire transportation.
Don’t Forget about Payroll!
Working with a single source logistics provider also makes the jobs of your billing department much easier. Instead of having to track the invoices, bills of lading, and load paperwork of various third-party vendors, Port City Logistics makes account services easy, collapsing your billing and inventory management into a single, easy-to-use digital dashboard.
Shippers Count on Port City Logistics as their Single Source Logistics Provider
Shipping freight doesn't need to be complicated. Quality trucks, dependable service, and excellent communication are the key factors that make supply chains operate smoothly. But when multiple service providers are siloed into specific roles, service and communication tend to break down, and the chances of experiencing a supply chain disruption will be inevitable.
That's why more and more customers are turning to Port City Logistics, a single source logistics provider that specializes in handling entire supply chains. Offering dedicated solutions for customers since 2001, Port City Logistics is the choice for shippers looking for a provider that can handle everything they move. Port City Logistics has you covered, from port drayage and transloading to warehouse service and over-the-road trucking. Contact Port City Logistics today, and find your perfect logistics fit.