Network Transportation Case Study
Scaling Sherwin Williams: Boosting Outbound Volume by 18.4M Pounds
In 2021, global paint supplier Sherwin Williams faced a driver and HAZMAT capacity constraint in the freight market. There simply weren’t enough HAZMAT drivers available in their fleet to maintain the company’s 90% fleet utilization rate expectations for key partner store deliveries, as well as meet the company’s growing demand. This constraint would become even more evident downstream, as a competing paint supply company began to scale back its operations in the Pacific Northwest, leaving Sherwin Williams with an opportunity to fill in the gap.
Sherwin Williams needed a provider that could help overcome HAZMAT market constraints while also helping them manage their west coast trailer pools, out-of-region runs, and ad-hoc freight. They also needed a solution that would meet quarterly and annual fleet budgets.
Solution
ITS Logistics proposed a combined owned-asset and asset-lite approach that would supply Sherwin Williams with the equivalent of 21 additional drivers. ITS leveraged its trusted carrier network to overcome the shortage of HAZMAT capacity in the market while also certifying its own drivers through a three-month process. ITS helped manage Sherwin Williams’ trailer pools and coordinate carriers, supplying Sherwin Williams with a single point of contact for all transportation.
ITS Logistics also aligned its solution with Sherwin Williams’ budgetary cadence and offered a quarterly business review to align on price structure, adding a level of transparency and trust to the relationship.
Shortly after partnering with ITS, a main paint supply company in the Pacific Northwest shuttered its operations, disrupting the market and leaving Sherwin Williams with an opportunity to close the gap. Demand for Sherwin Williams spiked dramatically. As Sherwin Williams’ volume increased, ITS injected a blend of owned trailers and carrier power to alleviate equipment challenges, cover all locations and regions, and help Sherwin Williams scale to meet volume. All in all, ITS Logistics provided Sherwin Williams with a comprehensive transportation solution that helped the company rapidly scale its capacity, meet fleet utilization requirements, manage trailer pools, coordinate carriers, and flex to meet sudden spikes in regional demand.
Results
ITS integrating themselves into our fleet was instrumental in helping increase our outbound volume by 18.4M pounds YoY in the last 7 months of 2023 (2022 vs 2023). This equated to approximately 460 truckloads of extra freight, of which ITS took a large portion on an ad-hoc basis with no operational constraints or quality issues.
- ITS Logistics helped Sherwin Williams overcome their overall capacity shortage and added long term value with trailer pool management solutions, which helped increase customer service outcomes and increase fleet utilization metrics.
- ITS helped Sherwin Williams rapidly scale to meet increased demand in the Pacific Northwest.
- ITS helped Sherwin Williams maintain a 90% fleet utilization rate with big box retailers, which increased from below 70% prior to the partnership.
- ITS kept its solution within Sherwin William’s annual and quarterly fleet budget.