OKLAHOMA CITY -- Fleming Cos. here has outsourced transportation at its Kansas City, Kan., distribution center. Nearly one-quarter of the wholesaler's facilities now use a third-party provider for transportation.
om Fleming, including loaders, management, clerical staffers, drivers and mechanics.
John Boultier, director of transportation and traffic at Fleming, said it makes economic sense to outsource transportation to Transservice Logistics, Lake Success, N.Y., at this facility.
"It was a solid business decision to outsource transportation," Boultier said. Outsourcing can "provide insulation for Fleming on regulatory issues and help it remain in compliance with Department of Transportation requirements.
"Third-party companies also have a lot more efficiencies in the system, which has given us greater productivity and less cost," he added.
The outsourcing agreement, launched Jan. 2, also allows Transservice Logistics to backhaul non-Fleming goods during slow periods, with Fleming sharing in the revenues from these jobs. A similar arrangement exists at the nine other Fleming facilities that have outsourced transportation since 1994. Fleming has a total of 42 distribution centers.
According to Boultier, one of Fleming's other third-party providers at another facili-
ty brought more than $1 million to the table last year with this type of revenue-sharing arrangement.
