Client
Anchem Sales, a family-owned business located in London, Ontario, supplies specialty blend formulations and industrial chemicals across Canada. Anchem prides themselves on their customer service and unwavering commitment to quality. Their products include chemicals for agriculture, water treatment, heating and cooling, swimming pools, and industrial applications.
Anchem is proud to be registered to ISO 9001:2000, as well as meeting the requirements of the chemical industry’s Responsible Care® program. The company is a member of The Canadian Association of Chemical Distributors, The Pool & Hot Tub Council of Canada, and The Chlorine Institute.
Opportunity
As a company dedicated to high service standards, Anchem was struggling to find a transportation partner who could transport their products safely and provide outstanding service levels to their customers. They found very few service providers who had drivers with tanker-truck experience and safety training in handling gases and chemicals.
Anchem’s other challenge was to find a company who could respond to the seasonal volume spikes in their business. During the Spring and Summer months, demand for their swimming pool chemicals are high, and delivery volumes increase by 100%. Their transportation provider needed to be able to fill equipment and driver needs during this peak period, while running an efficient number of drivers and trucks during the slower winter months.
The Solution
Canada Cartage took over Anchem’s deliveries in April 2015 with four full-time dedicated tractors, and an additional four to five trucks to handle surge volumes during peak periods to support their swimming pool chemical sales.
Canada Cartage put forth several solutions to address Anchem’s needs, including:
A dedicated fleet model that offered many advantages over an itinerant truckload model by having the same trained drivers on-site every day who are familiar with Anchem and their customers.
An innovative solution by Canada Cartage’s equipment procurement team to provide portable power take-off units (PTO) on tractors, rather than permanent PTOs. This allowed for more flexibility and less down-time for Anchem as the units can be shifted to other tractor units if one of the dedicated trucks is in the shop for regular maintenance.
A flexible pricing model was customized to the unique demands of Anchem’s supply chain. After a few months of evaluation, Canada Cartage adjusted the pricing approach to build a more efficient cost model for Anchem that was also more attractive for the drivers.
A rigorous maintenance program was implemented to ensure safe operations, alleviate the hassle of trailer service administration for Anchem, and reduce equipment down time.
“Canada Cartage is flexible and continues to work with us to meet our needs. We negotiated a program to have them operate their tractors and run our existing trailers with a maintenance contract, relieving us of the ongoing headaches associated with flat tires, burnt out lights, and replacement brakes.” says Henry Vieira, CEO of Anchem Sales.
Detailed key performance indicator (KPI) reports give Anchem insight and transparency into all the deliveries by outlining cost per kilometer, cost per stop, and average kilometers per trip.
The impact
Canada Cartage has had a large impact on Anchem’s business in a short amount of time by implementing various solutions that have resulted in improved customer service, efficiencies, and reduced costs.
Improved customer service: An extensive training program, and experienced tanker drivers with clean driving abstracts gives Anchem peace of mind. As well, having reliable drivers who seamlessly integrate and meet overflow to ensure deliveries are on-time has improved their customer service and resulted in a number of compliments from Anchem’s customers. “Dave Byers, a Canada Cartage driver, is very courteous, professional, and helpful”, says Patti at Solar Swim, an Anchem customer. “He’s a pleasure to deal with.”
Efficiencies: Canada Cartage’s innovative solutions, project analysis, and maintenance programs ensure drivers and equipment are operating optimally.
Reduced costs: As a result of Canada Cartage’s KPI reports, a new pricing structure was implemented to offer better pricing solutions by changing from hourly rates to weekly fixed costs. Through route and delivery optimization, Canada Cartage was able to adjust drivers’ schedules to accommodate deliveries during non-peak driving hours for additional cost savings.
Customer quote
Working with Canada Cartage has made my job easier. The sales team no longer has to run around trying to pacify customers due to incorrect and delayed deliveries.
Steve Gaboury, Sales Manager
ANCHEM