Shipping

Shipping Choices – Administration of Freight Logistics

posted Feb 17th, 2015 by Stan Hieronymus

OutSource – Work with a primary freight broker or a “go to guy”, one stop shop, handles everything. The Brewery can negotiate a set “cost plus” arrangement or set budgets on per pallet or per case freight cost targets. This can eliminate a lot of frustration and confusion for you. It may not always get the cheapest freight rate, but the benefit to the brewery’s operation is significant.

Some of the benefits are:

• Every beer order gets shipped on time, every time.
• All raw goods are in the brewery when needed, “just-in-time” inventory.
• No wasted manpower hours chasing trucks, tracking, making sure paperwork is in place, dealing with breakdowns, 3rd party should handle the claims process for you as well.
• A good broker will do all of this behind the scenes, while you concentrate on brewing and producing beer.

In-house person – if you have high enough volume this is an option. Ideally, look for an experienced person who has worked with a carrier or broker. This freight person will have a book or catalog of shippers and qualified legal carriers. A skilled freight person can negotiate your own rates / tariffs with National LTL carriers as well. An In-house Logistics person who works with more than one broker has to be hands on and organized. They need to be constantly on top of what beer orders need to be shipped, when, and where. They’ll place those details “out to bid” to his/her book of brokers. The brokers have to compete for the business by providing their “best price”. The lowest bid is not always the best choice. The important thing is that the truck arrives for loading on time, and can hit delivery windows or appointments. This is typically a lesson that has to be learned the hard way.

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Shipping Damage and Loss Claims

posted Feb 17th, 2015 by Stan Hieronymus

It doesn’t happen often but here are a few simple procedures to follow that will help you properly process loss and damage claims for recovery of money from the carrier:
1. When product is delivered damaged or missing, action must be taken right at the dock, with the driver present.
2. First the Bill of Lading (BOL), the driver will ask you to sign it (or will ask your wholesaler to sign it when receiving full beer). Do not sign anything until the receiving party has COUNTED all pieces, cases, kegs.
3. If it does not match, sign the BOL – with an *note – and declare the missing pieces. Same procedures for damages, note the damages on the BOL, make the driver sign right under your signature as well.
4. Damages – take pictures, this is key, with most everyone carrying a cell phone equipped with a camera there is no excuse not to – instruct your crew or your wholesalers, PLEASE take pictures, they do tell 1000 words and helps get your claim processed much faster.
5. You can get a claim form right from a carrier’s web site in most cases, if you are using a 3rd party to book your freight it is their responsibility to file the claim and help you assemble any needed documents or proof.
6. Armed with these documents you can file the claim with confidence. It takes time, patience and follow-up, but those simple steps raise your odds of recovery quite a bit and prevent endless delays for more information and claim dispute. Expect a refund check in 30 to 60 days.

Download Claim Procedure Checklist (pdf)

Inbound Freight

posted Feb 17th, 2015 by Stan Hieronymus

This could include dry goods, glass, cans, malt, hops, purchase of new / used equipment, and empty keg returns. Most suppliers will offer to sell your goods “delivered”, cost of unit + freight, sometimes this is a good deal, they have purchasing power, or you could be paying a premium for that freight component – you need to weigh the convenience factor. The easiest way to find out the real cost is to ask the supplier, “what are you charging me for the freight” get that cost and compare rates with an independent source – may the best man win!

Shipping Tanks to the brewery, everyone has been a part of this rodeo, flat bed trailers, cranes, and pre-planning is needed. Do not assume anything. It’s very important to have exact specs so the right truck can be booked. Avoid SURPRISES, spot changes to the plan typically means time lost and extra dollars.

Empty Keg returns (turn rate vs. cost per keg return)

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Shipping – LTL – CLASS, NMFC code

posted Feb 17th, 2015 by Stan Hieronymus

Estimating Load Weight – When shipping LTL you are paying the carrier most likely on a weight based rate (also referred to as a tariff). The rate is determined by the weight, linear feet, standard local pick up, delivery fee, and service requirements; i.e.: lift gate required, strict appointment time, freeze protect. The most important factor is to book the LTL freight with an accurate weight.

• Estimate too high – You’re wasting money (the LTL carrier does not give you a discount if this happens, that goes in their pocket).
• Estimate too low –and of course you’ll pay for the extra weight, but you’ll also likely get hit with an additional fee for “re-weigh” (re-weigh fees are not a cheap correction).

Your estimated total load weight is not just how many cases of beer or combined keg weight, the pallet(s) weight also needs to be included in those calculations.
Pallet weights for estimated load calculations:

• Standard pallet – Approximately 25 lbs.
• Heavy duty pallet – Approximately 50 lbs.

* If you are shipping your goods internationally, some countries require the wood used in pallets or crating to be treated with chemicals or heat to avoid possible pest infestation. For the latest regulations and information on shipping with wood packaging materials, go to www.usda.gov and enter the search words “wood packaging materials.”

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Shipping Freight Types

posted Feb 17th, 2015 by Stan Hieronymus

TL – Truck Load – When shipping something that takes up over 16 feet (a large partial) to 53 feet of a trailer and/or up to 44,000 pounds, this is considered a Truck Load. When shipping truckload, you are paying for the whole truck, the truck is going to take or deliver your goods direct from point to point. These carriers are major trucking company names and dominated by small independent and owner operators.

LTL – Less-than-Truck Load – When shipping anything less than 16 feet (8 to 6 pallets and less) – you are shipping LTL. In this case you are most likely working with a National Trucking company, in which your freight is riding in a trailer with multiple other shippers. Your goods do not go point to point; instead the local terminal picks up your goods and returns them to the local cross dock, where that night your pallets are married with other shipments going the same direction. Then your goods are transported across country from terminal hub to hub, until your goods make it across the country. Transit times are slower than TL shipments, but the price is lower since you are only paying for your portion of the trailer. Common LTL are carriers; Fedex Freight, R&L, Estes, UPS, YRC, Old Dominion.

Dry Van – A dry van truck/trailer has no refrigeration unit on it. Most dry van trailers are air-ride, measure 53 feet long, 102 inches wide, 9 feet inside height, and can usually haul 43,000 – 44,000 lbs. The dry van is a less expensive truck to book compared to a reefer, and more trucks of this type are available on any given day to take your freight. You should be able to load 26 standard shipping pallets (40×48) in a standard 53 foot trailer without any issue. (2 rows of 13 pallets side by side)

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Shipping – Freight for the Brewery

posted Feb 17th, 2015 by Stan Hieronymus

Freight for the brewery

Shipping and receiving is a crucial component of any successful business that produces a product for consumption. Beer, as a product, offers many unique challenges. Failure to get raw materials to the brewery in time disrupts the brewing schedule. The finished beer product has a built in vulnerability to time and temperature as well as regulatory hurdles that can slow or stop it from reaching consumers. This can make failure to get a shipment from A to B a very expensive mistake. This content is intended to provide brewers with the essential foundation of knowledge needed to prepare and receive shipments, hopefully avoiding costly mistakes and misunderstandings that can doom a small business operating at the razors edge of a profitable margin.

By Chris Sapyta, shipping professional with Keg Logistics and FitzMark, Inc.

Table of contents

– Freight Types
– LTL – CLASS, NMFC code
– Choices – Administration of Freight Logistics
– Outbound Freight – Shipping out full beer
– Inbound Freight – Raw Materials, Keg Return
– Claims
– Freight Q&A forum

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