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Routing Analysis Wins Forty Million Dollar Business for Covenant
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Covenant Transportation Group (Covenant) Recently Won Forty Million Dollar Business from a Leading Fresh Food Producer Using Truck Routing and Scheduling Analysis Conducted by Paradox Software Consulting (Paradox), a Logistics Planning Software Company Based in North Carolina.
Shelby, NC September 2, 2016- Paradox is pleased to announce results of a unique project it worked on earlier this year for Covenant, a top twenty truckload carrier in the US and longtime customer. The project, which involved specialized routing and scheduling analysis, allowed Covenant to bid successfully for forty million dollar business of a leading fresh food producer.
Earlier this year, when Covenant was asked to respond to a multi-year dedicated contract carriage business from a leading fresh food producer, the company had to look beyond in-house tools to complete the required routing and scheduling analysis. It engaged Paradox, an existing vendor, to help with the analysis which eventually led to Covenant winning forty million dollar business.
"Given the aggressive timeline for responding to the bid, Paradox's team worked round the clock in completing multiple iterations of analysis which involved routing and scheduling a sample set of historic shipments provided by the customer to determine optimal miles, trucks, and drivers to support their operations. Paradox's quick and timely response helped us immensely in preparing our proposal. Their analysis got us about 90% of the way to our proposal and was critical in us winning the business," said Edward Kern, VP for Pricing and Network Strategy at Covenant and the project's sponsor. "I would recommend their services and tools to any carrier or shipper," he concluded.
Paradox's analysis for this project involved generating optimal closed loop routes for given shipments from multiple distribution locations and feeding those routes to a resource scheduling engine to determine truck and driver (solos and teams) requirements to execute an average week's loads for the customer. Some of the unique operating constraints the analysis had to account for are separate pickup and delivery time windows for each shipment, routing radius to build separate routes for single and team drivers, and scheduling drivers optimally yet operationally given their scarcity. The analysis process also involved multiple iterations to simulate different operating scenarios to determine impact of change in operating parameters on the metrics that drove costs. Outputs of this analysis helped Covenant estimate operating costs accurately and present their best possible bid to the customer and ultimately win the business.
Working closely with Covenant’s bid team Paradox turned around results for each iteration within an aggressive timeframe that was compressed further to meet customer’s schedule. Paradox also added new parameters to its routing engine to meet customer’s operating conditions. Results delivered to Covenant were comprehensive enough that its team only had to complete 10% of the analysis to wrap up their response which proved to be a winner.
To complete this project, Paradox used software tools they develop and market to carriers and shippers. These tools include Paradox Routing Tool (PART) and Continuous Move Planner (CMP)®. They support shipment optimization including routing and scheduling for private fleet, 3PL, and truckload operations. Complemented by a flexible licensing model, these tools are used by six of the top ten truckload carriers in the US, based on 2015 revenue.
About Covenant Transportation Group
Based in Chattanooga, TN, Covenant Transport is a thirty year old transportation company focused on leading the industry with quality and integrity. Emphasis on communication, attitude, respect, and excellence highlights the culture at Covenant and has propelled the company to the top of industry standards. Covenant’s transportation services include: truckload dry van and refrigerated teams, hazmat, dedicated, brokerage, regional solo and cross border to Canada and Mexico. Based on 2015 revenue, Covenant is ranked in the top twenty truckload carriers in the US.
About Paradox Software Consulting, Inc.
Paradox Software Consulting is a logistics software development and consulting company founded in 1998 and based in North Carolina. Paradox specializes in logistics planning and optimization software, focusing on Continuous Move Planning, Vehicle Routing and Scheduling, Shipment Consolidation and Mode Selection, Backhaul Matching, Fleet Sizing, and Facility Location. Paradox's customer base, built over eighteen years of industry presence, comprises of shippers, carriers, 3PLS, and logistics consulting companies.
To learn more about the news that is the subject of this release or schedule a demo of Paradox's software, please email cpesti@paradoxsci.com or call +1 (704)-481-8614.
Media Contact:
Charlie Pesti, Director of Public Relations and Social Media
Paradox Software Consulting
Phone: +1 (267)-439-4355