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Spotting patterns in the data: a success for the Road Management Center

Our customer, a manufacturer of oversized doors, was grappling with rising costs, damaged freight, and a list of destinations they simply couldn’t serve.

Summary
Results

A smarter way to optimize road freight

The Road Management Center (RMC) brings together advanced technology, predictive analytics and a dedicated team.

It is this combination of data, visibility, and operational expertise that allows the RMC to spot hidden opportunities and propose solutions that companies often miss.

analyst

The challenge: the cargo is fragile, oversized, and costly to move

Transporting oversized freight across the United States is never simple, but this manufacturer of 12-foot doors was facing multiple hurdles when shipping from their manufacturing site in North Carolina to customers across the West Coast and western Canada. The journey through the traditional less than truckload (LTL) network was particularly challenging.

Key challenges included:

  • Multiple handling points meant the doors were frequently damaged before they even reached customers

  • Excessive length fees were applied to every shipment over eight feet, and those fees had skyrocketed in the last two years

  • Specialized security dividers had to be installed inside the trailers to protect the oversized doors in transit, adding to the costs

  • Transit times were long and inconsistent, with freight moving through multiple terminals and touchpoints

  • Losing money on each sale due to freight costs

The sister companies were within five minutes of each other, but they weren’t working together. Through RMC reporting, we saw opportunities neither company could see on their own.

Emily Schoenberger

Global Road Logistics Solutions Manager

What had historically been a workable process was becoming unsustainable. Until the RMC noticed that there was an opportunity to combine freight with the door manufacturer’s sister company, located just five minutes away, which was also shipping oversized doors to the West Coast and western Canada. Both companies were RMC clients, but they operated independently and only shared minimum data. The breakthrough came when the RMC looked at the data for both companies holistically.

Monthly RMC improvement meetings brought both companies to the table. As they shared their pain points, clear overlaps emerged. Orders going to Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Canada from both companies were all moving separately, incurring repeated oversized fees and being subjected to unnecessary handling.

The solution: weekly pool distribution

The RMC team designed a new, end to end truckload strategy that eliminated the weaknesses of the LTL network while preserving its flexibility at the final mile.

By reviewing transit times and lane performance across both companies, the RMC observed that the combined volume to the West Coast and western Canada from both companies was consistent enough to support a full truckload solution. This insight changed everything.

How the pool distribution works

This hybrid model—full truckload for the long haul and LTL for the last mile—reduced handling and lowered oversized fees, opening the door for the customers to ship glass glazed products safely across the US and on to western Canada.

If the two divisions had continued working independently, they never would have been able to consolidate these orders. The RMC made this possible.

Emily Schoenberger

Global Road Logistics Solutions Manager

The results: lower costs, less damage, and new market access

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cost reduction rate
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packaging reduction
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pool distributions across the U.S.

The impact was immediate and measurable. By shifting from a multi-terminal LTL journey to a pool distribution, the customer unlocked a faster and more direct route. Transit times dropped, delivery windows became far more predictable, and the delays typically caused by cross-dock dwell time were significantly reduced.

Cost savings ✓

  • Freight costs were reduced by 38%, tracked through monthly continuous improvement meetings

  • Oversized length fees were virtually eliminated

  • Consolidation cut packaging needs by 33%, creating additional savings

Operational improvements ✓

  • Damage rates dropped dramatically due to minimal handling

  • Glass glazed doors can now be shipped safely to the West Coast and western Canada

  • A consistent, predictable weekly schedule improved planning for both divisions

Scalability ✓

  • The success of this model led to five pool distributions now operating across the U.S.

  • The customer can now confidently expand product availability in previously unreachable markets

Conclusion: turning fragmentation into a strategic advantage

What began as a costly, damage prone shipping challenge became a showcase of what’s possible when data, collaboration, and smart routing come together.

This success hinged on seeing the entire supply chain for both companies clearly and then finding new lanes that mitigated the pain points.

By consolidating the freight from the two sister companies and designing a hybrid truckload–LTL solution, the RMC solved a logistics problem, unlocked new revenue potential, reduced transit times, and created a bespoke scalable model that is now used across the country.

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