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

JOC Staff |
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.

For more information, please contact:
Sarah Jackson -- or-- Aaron Brown
Exel Fahlgren Mortine Public Relations
614-865-5935 614-383-1608
sarah.jackson@exel.com aaron.brown@fahlgren.com

About Ocean Spray
Ocean Spray is an agricultural cooperative owned by more than 600 cranberry growers in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and other parts of Canada as well as more than 50 Florida grapefruit growers. Ocean Spray was formed over 75 years ago by three cranberry growers from Massachusetts and New Jersey. Florida grapefruit growers joined the Cooperative in 1976. Ocean Spray is North America’s leading producer of canned and bottled juices and juice drinks, and has been the best-selling brand name in the canned and bottled juice category since 1981. Ocean Spray posted fiscal 2007 earnings of roughly $1.7 billion. For additional information, visit www.oceanspray.com.

About Exel
Exel is the North American leader in contract logistics, providing customer-focused solutions to a wide range of industries including aerospace, automotive, chemical, consumer, energy, industrial, life sciences, retail and technology. Exel’s innovative supply chain solutions, skilled people and regional coverage, bring together all aspects of contract logistics in addition to a wide range of integrated, value-added and specialist services. Exel is a wholly owned entity of Deutsche Post DHL, the world’s leading logistics group. For more information, visit www.exel.com.