By working with a consolidation service, the team at the depot ensures that all shipments are packed to optimize available space, as seen here. Photo: Emma’s Garden Growers
The truck leaves your loading dock only half full. But the per-mile cost on that half-full truck is the same as a full one. You need a few dozen more racks, but only for a month each year. Racks are expensive, and storing them for the rest of the year is a pain. And there’s the problem of recovering them from the retailer. The loading dock supervisor is out sick at the worst time, and now your crew is struggling to pick, package, and ship orders. They’re running behind, and no one knows her system.
You’re a grower. You grow plants — annuals, perennials, shrubbery. It’s what your business does. But unless you’re selling directly from the farm, you’ve got to ship it somewhere. Probably to quite a few places. That’s often where the hassle comes in.
Many family-run operations struggle as they grow from local to regional or national. Processes that work for one or two trucks a day break down as capacity increases.
“If you plan to grow your business, you need a scalable process. We’ve worked with a lot of small growers to help establish a process that grows with the company,” says Gary Cortés, EVP of Horticulture and Founding Partner at FlowVision.
Spending some effort working on this side of your business is well worth the time and effort. It will save you money. It might save your sanity.
Joyce Opulgencia is the Buyer and Greenhouse Manager for Emma’s Gardens on Long Island. She deals with a situation many growers face.
“We maintain a steady flow of shipments, transporting full truckloads of plant material from Florida to New York on a weekly basis,” she says. “Given the increasing cost of freight, fuel, and products, I want to make sure that every shipment is packed as efficiently as possible.”
“If you can increase your cube both on the rack and in the truck, you’re reducing your overall cost per plant to haul. It can be pretty significant once you realize how much waste you actually have. We try to eliminate any airspace on a truck — it’s wasted space. Nothing should ride for free,” says AJ Lambert, VP of Sales & Account Management at Container Centralen. “Get as many plants on the truck as you can.”
Logistics as a Service
You’ve heard of Software as a Service (SaaS) and likely use some. Google Docs is a popular example of SaaS. It’s a cloud-based application that allows users to access the software without installing or downloading anything. Logistics as a Service (LaaS) could also be a boon for small and medium-sized businesses, especially horticulture businesses.
“Utilizing rack tracking within your operations to enhance asset recovery efficiency is a key advantage,” says Lambert. CC employs rack tracking software, coupled with an active RFID tag (as well as a barcode), to streamline the tracking process for rack shipments from growers to retail outlets. The active RFID tag transmits signals every 30 seconds to RFID readers at customer and depot sites, ensuring comprehensive tracking of assets. The system contributes significantly to achieving a recovery rate of nearly 99% for both CC and growers alike.
“We have a customer portal that reports back out to the customers. They have access to all of the asset tracking data,” says Lambert. Users can export the data into Excel or other enterprise resource planning (ERP) or warehouse management systems.
Adjustable racks are great for maximizing space on each rack and, therefore, the truck, but they’re expensive. Plus, they need to be recovered and stored during the offseason. Several companies now offer rack rental services, taking the headache out of rack usage. Rack recovery is often included, and if you make your own deliveries, you can get credit for recovering racks from other growers.
“You can rent racks when you need them. When you don’t need them, they’re not on-site taking up space,” says Lambert. It’s a scalable solution, allowing expansion or contraction as your business needs dictate.
It is convenient for growers to rent racks during the busy season. That way, they have enough racks when they need more, without having to store many racks at their operation year round. Photo: Container Centralen
It’s also a viable solution for smaller producers. “We have growers who ship 200,000 plus racks a year and others who ship 50 racks a year,” Lambert says.
Depending on the locale, other cost-saving pickup and delivery options may be available. “I find consolidation services beneficial in many ways. Fewer stops for the trucking company makes the pickup process quicker with less chance of delays. Our shipment arrives to us early or on time. Additionally, the team at the depot sees to it that every order is packed optimally. My orders are in good hands from start to finish, ensuring they arrive in the best possible condition,” says Opulgencia.
Out-of-area deliveries in a new market (for example shipping from Florida to Chicago) can be tough. The price can climb significantly higher when looking for a driver willing to take a load cross-country and then make a bunch of delivery drops. With a cross-docking service, your full truckload (FTL) driver can make one stop, drop the load at a depot, and depart, eliminating potential layover, detention, or stop charges. A consolidation service will put it on one of their trucks, which were already going to the retailers to recover racks, and make the deliveries for you.
With living products, you can’t build up inventory and let it sit on the shelf like other industries. When it’s time to ship, many growers move 70-80% of their annual sales in a two-month window. A hard look at your process, shipping system, and scalability can help you be as efficient as possible when the busy season arrives, saving labor, freight charges, and time. Logistics doesn’t often get the spotlight in the horticulture industry, but growing outstanding plants is only part of the business.
