Berry & Smith Trucking

Berry and Smith Trucking Ltd. has served the short haul market in Western Canada and the American Northwest since 1958. With operations in Penticton and Vancouver, British Columbia, the company's specialties are in intermodal and over the road transport. Still a family-run operation after more than five decades, with Matt Berry as president, the company has grown by making it a priority to work with customers to provide the most efficient, cost effective service available.

To succeed in the intermodal business the way Berry and Smith has, a company needs to stay on top of schedules minute by minute. When a container arrives by rail car or ship, turnaround time is tight. The container is dropped at the rail ramp storage area for delivery by Berry and Smith to their final destination. The intermodal consultant, who manages the deliveries, assigns a departure time for the full container and a return time for the empty one. If the load outgates later than scheduled, a storage charge is accrued. Similarly, if the round trip is not completed on schedule, a late in-gate results in a detention charge. As the company grew, managing the complex logistics of hundreds of outgates and in-gates per week was straining the Berry and Smith system. "We built our business on efficient customer service," says Matt Berry. "For our customers and for our own bottom line, I knew we could do better."

Berry and Smith found the scheduling visibility and control they needed in Truckmate from TMW. Truckmate has an Intermodal feature that enables the company to input arrival, out-gate, destination and in-gate times. That gives dispatchers the ability to see every container on the road in real time. "Truckmate was exactly the tool we needed to move efficiency to the next level," comments Berry. With visibility to track every minute of the delivery cycle, the company could spot potential problems and address them. A proactive approach meant delays could be minimized or prevented with reallocation of resources.

With the installation of Truckmate, Berry and Smith has cut their detention charges by 20% in just two years. "Truckmate has made a visible reduction in our overhead and that's improved our profitability," says Berry. "But there's more. It's helped us grow our business, too." How? The company's high on-time performance has earned them a stronger reputation with intermodal consultants who broker container jobs, helping to grow their market share with increased business.