GENCO's Mid-Tier Elite Program Benefits Midsize and Small Shippers

This article comes from the April 2009 Supply Chain Link e-newsletter.

Getting More Mileage from Your Shipment Spend

Ever wonder how your shipping costs and systems compare to those of Fortune 500 shippers? Do you wish you had the technology and carrier leverage these shippers have?

Just because your company’s size and shipment spend is less than the “big boys” doesn’t mean you should settle for anything less than a best-in-class supply chain. Thanks to an innovative program by GENCO Transportation Logistics, mid-tier shippers can now afford and benefit from top-tier transportation management system (TMS) technology and carrier rates—just like multi-million dollar shippers.

More TMS Options

Many shippers today use a routing guide or a carrier rate sheet because they assume that a transportation management system is too costly and requires significant IT infrastructure to get off the ground. Web-based TMS and on-demand systems have put TMS technology in the hands of many shippers that heretofore were unable to invest hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars into standard systems. This leaves smaller shippers with minimal options, ranging from systems with limited functionality or manual rate sheets and spreadsheets.

Also, as carrier rates are primarily based on lane volume and density, smaller shippers have difficulty obtaining the best rates in the marketplace because their volume and density doesn’t rank compared to large shippers.

However, GENCO’s Mid-Tier Elite Program brings to midsize shippers the state-of-the art tools and rates that big shippers enjoy. Our Web-based TMS provides electronic carrier selection, electronic tender, shipment tracking, visibility, and reporting. All users need is a PC with a high-speed Internet connection. Then they can simply log on the system and begin entering or transmitting orders to GENCO.

Mid-Tier Elite Program Benefits

The Mid-Tier Elite Program was designed specifically to enable smaller and midsize shippers to realize cost savings, both throughout your organization and with your suppliers, with an easy-to-use system. GENCO’s Customer Service department can determine the low-cost carrier for a shipment and provide cost information to you in real time. If your customer requires a specific carrier, you can quickly find out the additional cost of using that carrier.

Another benefit is supply chain visibility. Routing guides are often communicated to suppliers, but enforcing these guides is very difficult. Using GENCO’s system, suppliers can see only their information, and the best carrier is electronically tendered the load.

GENCO understands the issues of undertaking large projects with long implementation times in today’s competitive, fast-paced environment. In addition, complex systems can slow the speed of adoption. Therefore, we’ve designed our program to be simple and fast for easy implementation. In most cases, shippers can be up and running in less than a week.

The Mid-Tier Elite Program

Backed by GENCO’s billion-dollar purchasing power and industry experience, the Mid Tier Elite Program:

Delivers transportation savings through optimized carrier selection and competitive carrier rates.
Streamlines the carrier selection and tender process.
Offers a stable of qualified and capable carriers.
Eliminates the headache of paying freight bills.
Provides easy-to-use technology and reporting.
Provides a team of supply chain experts.
Frees up your valuable resources to support other core activities.

GENCO 3PL Expertise

GENCO currently manages over $1.5 billion in transportation annually, so we know what works in today’s marketplace. Partnering with GENCO gives you access to our large shipper status, and our stable of national and regional carriers is qualified and contracted to move your freight nationwide.

To get a good picture of your current transportation needs, we review your shipment history. The GENCO Supply Chain engineering team will perform a complete analysis of your shipments and determine the potential savings you can realize by using our technology and having access to GENCO’s carriers. Our goal is to provide good service at firmly negotiated rates.

One Customer's Comments

Illinois Auto Electric Co. (IAE) is one of America’s largest independent sales and service facilities of transportation, industrial equipment, and outdoor care products. Headquartered in Aurora, Ill., IAE wanted to get better control of its LTL shipping, have the power of real-time carrier selection, and gain access to data for reporting and analysis. And of course, they were interested in obtaining the best possible carrier rates.

IAE selected GENCO to be its supply chain partner. Mike McCaleb, Director of Operations at IAE, believes IAE has benefited from its relationship with GENCO. “We now know we have the best rates available and are benefiting from savings while utilizing state-of-the-art TMS technology. In addition, we have access to GENCO’s team of supply chain professionals for both strategic and day-to-day supply chain improvements.”