Exel Transportation Earns Ocean Spray's Specialty Carrier of the Year Award

WESTERVILLE, Ohio (Nov. 3, 2009) – Exel Transportation, a freight brokerage and transportation management services provider, earned the Special Services Carrier Award from Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. for its exceptional service and on-time delivery performance. Exel Transportation was the sole recipient of this honor.

Exel Transportation manages intermodal, over-the-road, international drayage, rail, and other services for multiple Ocean Spray operations throughout the United States and Canada, including plant transfers and customer deliveries. During the evaluation period for the award, Exel Transportation hauled more than 3,800 loads that were delivered as scheduled 98 percent of time. Further, the operations team made strategic recommendations to save costs, such as:
-- Obtaining overweight transport permits to haul 25 percent more Ocean Spray juice concentrate per order from the port to the plant, which eliminated extra costs for additional storage and handling;
-- Applying thermo blankets to loads to avoid freezing during transfers of Canadian finished goods that would otherwise require refrigerated trucks; and,
-- Managing a drop trailer pool by using tactics that minimize handling and avoid unnecessary warehouse and detention costs.

“Ocean Spray works with hundreds of suppliers to develop and deliver the highest quality products to our customers,” said Wayne Tessin, transportation services manager for Ocean Spray.

Todd Thompson, senior vice president and general manager, Exel Transportation, commented, “We are grateful to receive this recognition from Ocean Spray as it acknowledges our strategic approach to transportation management. Our team is open-minded when it comes to developing customized solutions as evidenced by the multiple transportation modes leveraged to keep Ocean Spray’s supply chain moving quickly and efficiently.”

The two businesses have been working together since 2000. Exel Transportation, which is a single-source, non-asset, mode-neutral provider, is part of Exel, the North American leader in supply chain management and a Deutsche Post DHL company.