The cold chain, of course, involves more than transportation. Freshway Distributors Inc, a division of Kozy Shack Enterprises Inc, which makes ready-to-eat pudding desserts, knows this very well. Freshway exists to provide logistics services to its parent company and other food producers.
“You can't manage what you don't know,” says Michael Caridi, Freshway president. “We know food production. Thus, as a distributor, we are able to provide good service to our parent company and to others.”
The corporate decision in 1994 to separate Freshway from Kozy Shack was followed by investment in some of the latest technology. In February 2000, Freshway implemented Fleet Advisor, Eaton's fleet management system.
“We want to offer topnotch service using 21st century technology,” he says. “Customers are getting more demanding each day, and this system gives us the tools to meet those demands.”
Roughly half of Freshway's distribution is for Kozy Shack. Since Freshway already was delivering within a 250-mile radius of New York City, Kozy Shack reasoned that it might as well offer delivery services to others, Joe Kagan, a member of Freshway's board, says. Freshway's main distribution center is in Hicksville, New York, on Long Island.
“We offer a consolidation program for customers who want distribution outside the 250-mile radius our fleet serves,” Caridi says. “We work with about 15 for-hire carriers and use a combination of our trucks and theirs to provide distribution to select locations throughout the country.”
In addition to distribution, Freshway provides limited warehousing for food manufacturers. The company rents about 10% of the 2,000 pallet positions in its refrigerated warehouse. These include dairy and meat processors and producers of ready-to-eat refrigerated and frozen food entrees.
Freshway also serves other Kozy Shack centers in Turlock, California, and Sulphur Springs, Texas, about 60 miles east of Dallas. Though Freshway managers supervise these operations, they are part of the Kozy Shack company group. Distribution is handled by a mix of company equipment and for-hire carriers.
Focus on Consolidation
“Our business focuses on consolidating loads,” Kagan says. “Doing this effectively lowers the total cost of distribution. We fill an increased need among small food manufacturers for third-party distribution.”
Freshway's typical customer ships only a few pallets with Freshway. Trucks average five to eight stops per run from Hicksville.
Providing distribution in the New York metropolitan area, upstate New York, Pennsylvania, and southern New Jersey offers plenty of opportunity for Freshway expansion, Kagan points out. Approximately 50 million people live within a 250-mile radius of New York City.
Freshway runs 13 tractors and refrigerated trailers and four refrigerated straight trucks. Of these, 10 tractors and trailers and three straight trucks are leased from Mendon Truck Leasing and Local Truck Leasing. Other vehicles are rented on a day-to-day basis.
Both leasing companies have shops in Westbury on Long Island, where the equipment is serviced regularly. The tractors are a mix of Volvos and Internationals. Trailers are 48- and 53-ft Great Danes. Thermo King supplies refrigeration units. The fleet is growing rapidly, says Frank Gilmartin, Hicksville terminal manager. In 2001, Freshway will add six tractors and seven refrigerated trailers.
Besides serving the outbound needs of about 60 food producers in the Northeast, Freshway provides inbound service. Most trailers return with backhauls. Customers get service from three to five days a week. “The nature of our business is changing,” Gilmartin notes. “Instead of larger orders once or twice a week, customers are trying smaller deliveries. They want to provide just-in-time service.”
Freshway cross-docks product nightly at Hicksville, providing next-day delivery. Loading starts about 5 pm and routes leave from 11 pm to 6 am.
Company's Eyes and Ears
Drivers are the eyes and ears of any company, and Freshway screens candidates carefully based on experience and ability to relate well with customers. “A big percentage of new business comes from recommendations from established customers who say we have nice drivers,” Kagan says.
To ensure new drivers make a good start, Freshway recently began a 30-hour training program. Classes are conducted by professional trainers brought in from outside the company. “As part of an effort constantly to improve our service, we mail letters asking customers how we are performing,” Kagan says. “We also have an employee incentive program known by the acronym ‘SMART’ — Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.”
To track driver performance, Freshway relies on Eaton's Fleet Advisor system. Elements include the on-board recorders, the global positioning system, wireless communications, and a PC support system.
Recorders are installed in all tractors. They help track fleet costs by vehicle and by driver. For instance, idle time gets a lot of attention, Kagan says.
Fleet Advisor has two separate microprocessors. One runs the instrument panel display for the driver. The other records vehicle performance such as road speed and rpm. Records of arrival and departure, state line crossings, and tolls are entered by drivers.
“This system confirms deliveries immediately, so that we can bill the customer right away,” Kagan says. “We used to spend two or three days confirming 60 to 70 deliveries. We had to check for loading and order errors. That became almost a full-time job.”
Satellite Communications
Fleet Advisor uses GPS to determine vehicle location. A touch-screen and 30 preprogrammed messages allow drivers to confirm messages easily.
“The system helps with routing, too,” adds Dennis Maggiacomo, Freshway's warehouse director. “If a driver is held up and we need to change the route, we simply send a Fleet Advisor message.”
Of course, the system offers paperless logging capability. “Eventually, we will do paperless logging,” Gilmartin says. “But until we get new tractors and trailers in service, we will continue with paper logs. We rent extra vehicles every day, and they aren't part of the system.”
