From Farm to Shelf: Logistics | Ep 46

Justin: 00:00:00

If you want higher margins and longer customer retention, you need to tune into this episode where we discuss moving produce. Logistics is an industry that never sleeps. But if you're moving perishable items, you may not be getting much sleep either.

Today we're going to discuss the importance and what's critical when it comes to moving perishable items. Tell us about your experience. You're the guy I go to. If I even come close to produce or perishable products, you're my go to.

So we're going to focus this one on you.

Brian: 00:00:41

Yeah, A lot of it, I think, is a trial and error. Right. So jumping into it, I got, you know, I happened to the fir. The only one call close I've ever had in my entire life was to.

Justin: 00:00:50

Are you bragging right now?

Brian: 00:00:51

Yeah, kind of. Yeah. Yeah.

But it was literally the only time ever that I've ever seen it where I'd call a customer, they asked for rates, and it was a perishable customer around the Fourth of July holiday, asking for pricing, going to a specific retailer from, you know, Santa Maria, California to Seattle, Washington, going to Charlie's Produce, I think perishable items or temp control items, it's a different beast. And when I say that it's not necessarily different from our industry as a whole. It's.

We just have to be more attentive to the concerns and the drivers and the temperature of the reefer throughout transit.

I think that's a big thing, is, you know, these perishable shippers out there, these items have a shelf life and they're going to go bad if they don't go into the retailer. I mean, we've all been to the grocery store when we get some produce that's bad or we get, you know, some items that don't look as fresh. Right.

We've seen it. We're like, oh, man, you take it home and how pissed are you when you get home and the lettuce is all wilted?

Justin: 00:01:50

You mean when you click list something from like Kroger and they. Everything becomes spoiled because they just are.

Brian: 00:01:55

Like, oh, yeah, yeah, back of the house. The stuff that has the closest expiration.

So a lot of these items, some people don't know this, but a lot of the items that we ship or a lot of items that are in the perishable space, they only have a shelf life for anywhere from 14 to 20 days.

So it's a big concern for these perishable shippers to get that item into a retailer like a Costco Kroger Walmart so that they can sell the product to consumers like us. And that's something that, you know, we. You can't swing and miss a lot. And if you do, you got to figure out the solution pretty quickly.

If you do swing and miss, you have to get a recovery truck in there quickly to help serve the business. I think our business, we are a service provider. Hell, that's what we do on a daily basis.

And I think, you know, when you're dealing with that, the perishable industry, we want to have just a different level of customer service where we're monitoring and managing these shipments at all points.

Justin: 00:02:48

Yeah, I think we do a ton of produce. You've been moving produce for the past 15, 16 years.

Brian: 00:02:54

Yeah.

Justin: 00:02:54

There's like frozen foods, chilled foods.

Brian: 00:02:57

Yeah.

Justin: 00:02:57

But when we're moving perishable, like, produce that has that shelf life that you're just, you know, just, just mentioning, it's so much more time sensitive because any small delay is going to disrupt their supply chain.

Brian: 00:03:10

Yeah.

Justin: 00:03:10

And, you know, consumers may not be buying that product. That's half of it has mold on it.

Brian: 00:03:15

So. Yeah.

Justin: 00:03:15

Yeah. So what are a few things that shippers look for when they are getting calls or emails from. From brokers like ourselves?

Like, what exactly are they looking for in a partner?

Brian: 00:03:27

A couple of things. And I think you do a really good job with this is, you know, speaking their language.

And, you know, I know that, you know, you have a certain space and niche and you kind of, you know, wheel and deal. And I love hearing you on the phone prospecting.

And I think one thing that you do a really good job with is speaking the language of who you're calling. Right.

So if this customer is shipping out of a certain area, you're saying it the right way or you're referencing different customers that we currently work with. And we've been down that road before. So, you know, you asked the question, what are some things that shippers are looking for?

Well, they want expertise, they want experience. They want people that, you know, if they give a shipment or a $50,000 load of melons or lettuce or spinach, that they're not going to screw it up.

Right.

Because their customer is relying on them at the receiver because they just, you know, bought a $50,000 load of lettuce or, you know, produce to begin with.

Justin: 00:04:17

Yeah, I think you're spot on. I think that's the easiest way to build credibility out of the gates.

What exactly would they when it comes to qualifying a transportation partner and let's say I'm the shipper. Yeah, you got me. Like I'm entertaining this phone call because you sound very credible and experienced.

But what else would they be looking for in a transportation partner? Like how would you bring value? To me?

Brian: 00:04:35

Yeah, I think the biggest thing is the experience and knowing the markets, knowing when things are going to be shipping. You know, if I'm going to call a tomato customer and I say, oh, when are you going to ship tomatoes out of Missouri?

I'm probably going to get hung up on pretty quick. Right. But knowing, you know, when that season happens in Florida and where do they start? Do they start out of the main shipping points?

If it's labelle or a map and they're moving it, you know, up the coast, those are things that you want to reference.

So if you are a broker listening to this show, get with an older veteran or get with somebody that moves that type of product so that you know some of those major shipping points, you know, kind of like The Laredos, the McAllens, the Plant City, Florida's a couple of them even in southern Georgia that happen in like the early spring timeframe.

Justin: 00:05:20

It reminds me of we, you know, we do SME courses for our employees and, and the one. I'm always very intrigued and I'm like sitting front row when you do the market updates because no one's ever complimented you for being an artist.

But you draw the map of United States up there. And if you're listening, three year old.

Brian: 00:05:40

Could probably draw a better map than myself.

Justin: 00:05:42

I'll give you a little bit of credit on the map of the US but if you're listening, produce controls the market. So dry vans and reefers, they will typically go, you know, if you can, let's say onions or pumpkins or whatever, if you can put it on a dry van.

They're still wanting to go to those produce driven markets because they're gonna get paid better rates going out. So going in they may be getting a lesser rate going out they'll get a higher rate.

But I'm always fascinated because it doesn't matter which month, you can just, you're, you love whiteboarding.

Brian: 00:06:13

Yeah, yeah.

Justin: 00:06:14

You'll get up there and you're just, you're just drawing these arrows on like this is what's coming out, this is what's going in and this is what's going to move and that's what you're going to start seeing. It's so valuable. And when you can do that and your pricing aligns with some of these shippers, because you understand the market, it's a win win.

They know based on your rates, if you just come in and lowball them, they're like, okay, this guy clearly doesn't know that rates are about to pop off in Southern California. When you lowball them like that, they're immediately going to push you out. So that's not the play that we're looking for.

And I think a lot of the clients that you work with from the produce side of the business, they will pay us premium rates because they know what type of value we bring to the table, Correct?

Brian: 00:06:52

Yep.

And I think, you know, at the time of this episode, it's right around Thanksgiving, and the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are always tricky, especially in the produce regions or produce areas.

And those are things that we do have that experience and we know that rates will climb because a lot of drivers take off around Thanksgiving and Christmas timeframe. And, you know, it's a supply and demand issue. Right.

So we have a ton of perishable item or a ton of perishable loads that are available and there's only a few drivers. What's going to happen is the price is going to go up. That's where, you know, we talk about it all the time.

And our team probably hates us because we beat it into their head.

But developing those carrier relationships so that we can go back to them and, you know, have more of a stable foothold in those markets around those holidays.

Justin: 00:07:36

If I'm a sales rep, I'm just got into logistics. Hey, I want to prospect produce.

Brian: 00:07:42

Yeah.

Justin: 00:07:42

What advice would you give them? What should they know? What should they expect?

Brian: 00:07:45

Yeah, Number one, have thick skin because those produce customers are. They're pretty forward and they'll rush you off the phone and hang up on you in literally three seconds.

The second piece is have some knowledge, know who you're calling and have a little bit of info prior to that call. The third thing is, you know, be available.

So if you're a brand new or a newer broker that's out there and you want to get into produce, I would recommend not taking off around Thanksgiving and not taking off the week between Christmas and New Year's. We see so many people take off and there's so much opportunity that's out there.

I know that we've dealt with it in the past with different prospects and clients where they'll reach out during that time because everybody else has taken off. So we say it often, but, you know, sometimes the best ability is availability and we want to be there when our clients actually have a need.

So there's a lot of great things about perishable shippers.

Number one, they have the highest client retention where if you start working with them and you provide a service that is a client that's going to be with you for a long period of time, as long as you service the business. The second thing, they're very hard to get into. They have a small group of carriers.

It's very tough to get a produce or perishable client because they have a tight network and they don't have a lot of trust, especially for younger, newer brokers that don't know a ton. The last piece is, you know, even from the perishable side of it, being on call or having your phone with you and being able to solve a problem.

ck at night, that might be at: 10:30

Justin: 00:09:57

You've been there before.

Brian: 00:09:58

Yeah, a few times. Right. But that's the sacrifice you make and that's the nature of the beast. And you have to know those things going into it.

It is not a Monday through Friday, 8 to 5, you know, especially if you're trying to move those perishable items, you have to be on call. And that's why perishable shippers usually pay a little bit more because of the fact that they want that service. The 24 7, 365.

Justin: 00:10:19

t prospects. I call this back: 2011

Brian: 00:10:27

Yeah, that's right. Yeah.

Justin: 00:10:28

Down in Immokalee. And I get in, I got past my first 20 seconds. He had hung up on me and then, then I made a huge mistake.

And I asked him, like, what temperature should I run these at?

Brian: 00:10:37

Yeah, yeah.

Justin: 00:10:38

And he said, do your research and hung up on me. And I'll never forget it because I'll never forget it because that goes to your point of like, be prepared, do some research.

You know, don't go into that blindly and just ask very generic questions where you know you're gonna lose credibility.

Brian: 00:10:52

Right.

Justin: 00:10:53

If you could give me advice as that young little whippersnapper, you know, cold calling people, what resources or what advice would you give me? I know you mentioned, you know, veteran brokers, but like what resources are out there that could, I could potentially educate myself with?

Brian: 00:11:08

Yeah, I think there's a couple of Number one is the Blue Book. That's one that, you know, it's a produce blue book. It's not the Kelly blue book that we see to appraise our car. It's the Produce blue book.

It is a subscription service. I'm not sure that the cost, but it's something that's very valuable.

You can go in and it has a ton of information on that, like which, you know, what temperature do you run melons and which temperature do you run tomatoes? So it has a lot of that information. There's also another, as far as like industry news.

I know that there's a couple of newsletters that come out daily Produce News as well as the Packer. Those are ones that a great lead source where you see companies that are out there that they'll advertise.

And that's what that means to me is this company is advertising, which means they want to sell their product, which means they're shipping full truckloads. Right? So that's a call that I want to make and I use that as a reference point. Hey, I saw your ad on the Packer.

How you guys handling your transportation?

Justin: 00:11:57

Well, if you're new to the industry and just tuning in, hopefully we didn't scare you off.

Produce isn't really that bad, but like Brian mentioned, you better have thick skin and be willing to sacrifice some, some late nights and some weekends in order to build those relationships. Join us next week when we discuss what you need to know about moving high value cargo.