Reach Logistics is a unique business. As the in-house third-party logistics provider for Pattern, one of the largest sellers on Amazon, no day is the same. They could be shipping out vitamin supplements one moment then bulky camping equipment and the latest footwear the next. Underlying it all is the constant pressure from their end customer, consumers in their homes, who have high expectations when it comes to swift delivery.

It all results in a fast-paced warehouse with exceptionally demanding shipping needs. That’s why they turned to Amazon Freight.

“Our business has a lot of different elements and constant changes,” says Michael Lardakis, the company’s Director of Logistics. “We are not static so we need a freight provider with steadfast reliability, fast transit, and competitive prices.”

Before Amazon Freight, Reach dealt with some troublesome areas. Because some of their carriers could not deliver during certain hours, they had difficulty securing appointment times. Detention chargebacks were a persistent issue. And they were constrained by providers who could only run shipments during specific timeframes because of daily back-hauls that needed to be covered.

That’s when they decided to partner with Amazon Freight and have not looked back since.

Self-service tech = “huge time savings”
What stands out in particular for Reach is Amazon Freight’s easy-to-use booking portal.

Reach’s team spends a lot of time in the tool. They want an option that is as self-service as possible, where they can log in and see all their bookings and the status of major milestones for each one: pickup, in-route, and delivery. On top of it, they can see how Amazon’s dynamic pricing technology computes the latest market factors and gives them projected rates up to 14 days out.

The fact that this can all be done with no back and forth with anyone at Amazon Freight is a significant benefit. “The ability to quote, modify, and book shipments all within a single platform with zero emails required means huge time savings for our teams,” says Lardakis.

His goal every day is to ensure the shipping dock is never a roadblock. With constant access to the portal, he has the latest information to make the right decisions about whether or not to hold pallets on the dock or to ship them out.

Hands-on support
Behind that self-service technology is the Amazon Freight support team that delivers every day for Reach.

“The importance of customer service cannot be understated here,” says Lardakis. “We feel that Amazon Freight understands our business and our shipping needs and is readily available to help us when issues or questions arise.”

That starts with the dedicated transportation specialist and team who know Reach’s unique business and shipping trends and volumes. The specialist helps Reach optimize their lanes, prepare for shipping spikes during their multiple peak seasons, and troubleshoot for smarter ways of shipping.

For instance, Lardakis had a problem shipping large orders of office chairs that stacked inefficiently on pallets and resulted in time delays. His specialist put a call together with Lardakis and a team of Amazon packing experts. They were able to come up with a solution that used a different type of pallet and took advantage of all the space on the trailer. It was a simple fix but it made a big difference, says Lardakis.

More cruise control, less worries
What makes Reach Logistics successful is its vigilance to constantly optimize its shipping operations, and Amazon Freight has been the partner to help make that happen.

“Most of our routine shipping operations are on cruise control because of Amazon Freight, which is vital because it allows my team and me to dig in and find ways to optimize,” says Lardakis.

Previously, when working with other freight providers, Reach spent too much time managing the day-to-day shipping mechanics that their providers were missing. “Cruising means we don’t have to worry about the basics and that we have the time and space to look at the big picture of our operations.”

Ultimately, Amazon Freight is the partner Reach needs to get their goods where they need to be and keep their end customers satisfied. “Amazon Freight has an exceptional account management team paired with low costs and an impressive carrier performance,” says Lardakis.

Simply put, “Amazon Freight is our preferred shipping partner.”

Want to try the same experience Reach Logistics is getting from Amazon Freight? Create your shipper account to start getting quotes in three easy steps.