Ocean Export Problem Solving

Logistics Plus harnesses the power of its ‘yes’ culture to re-route and deliver engines to a local warehouse in Michigan to prepare for the ocean freight leg of the shipment.

THE CHALLENGE

Logistics Plus (LP) is a leading worldwide provider of transportation, warehousing, fulfillment, global logistics, business intelligence, technology, and supply chain solutions. In 2023, a United States-based engine supplier was referred to the LP International team for a critical export shipment. The supplier mistakenly dispatched the engines to an LP branch office rather than the designated LP warehouse to which the cargo was consigned. The LP branch office was not equipped to receive the shipment, nor did the supplier properly crate the engines for ocean shipping.

THE SOLUTION

As it has done many times before, Logistics Plus had to quickly come up with a solution to handle the cargo and prepare it for export. Since the engines were coming from the Midwest region, the Logistics Plus team re-routed the driver and had the engines delivered to a local partner warehouse in Michigan. Delivering the shipments to a local warehouse allowed LP to apply the proper crating before blocking and bracing the engines in an ocean container. After the cargo was crated and loaded into the container, the LP Ocean Exports team arranged for the container to be transported from Detroit to Newark via rail freight. From there, the container was loaded onto a vessel for sailing to its final destination in Durban, South Africa.

THE RESULTS

With LP’s rapid response and quick problem-solving, the driver was given plenty of lead time to re-route the shipment to a partner warehouse. This allowed the shipment to be properly crated and transported to the port in a timely manner to avoid delays. Ultimately, the shipment was successfully delivered to the client on schedule.

One of the significant benefits to the client was not having to worry about delays. Although the supplier mistakenly dispatched the cargo to an office location rather than a warehouse, the client was not negatively affected. The potential for business disruption was real if the LP team didn’t quickly come up with an alternative solution for the cargo.

As a 21st century logistics company, LP was able to leverage its can-do culture and network of resources to deliver a high-quality solution even when the odds weren’t stacked in our favor.