Case study: Carrier relations improve transportation spend and service
AFS SERVICES:
Hatco’s journey into hat making began in 1927 as Byer-Rolnick and made the name change in 1938 when they opened their factory in Garland, Texas. They manufacture more than one million hats a year, including designs for western wear, law enforcement, dress hats and helmets. Hatco doesn’t just meet expectations for quality and reliability—they consistently raise the bar.
“The freight industry is complicated and complex. Being a strong, big brand company, we needed to control our shipping costs. Partnering with AFS makes it easier to improve service to our customers while maintaining our shipping spend.”
After AFS identified all potential cost-saving opportunities, Hatco was ready to shift to their least-cost carriers. While service and savings should align, that wasn’t always the case. Carrier relationship challenges soon surfaced, putting their operations at risk. At the same time, a new warehouse management software rollout created automation issues—forcing employees to manually compare LTL and parcel rates.
AFS implemented a customized savings plan to provide Hatco with the transportation industry’s best-in-class pricing. Upon hearing of the strained carrier relations Hatco experienced, AFS’ team immediately met with carriers to facilitate better service to go along with the discounted pricing. AFS also initiated the API development between systems in order to feed LTL and parcel rates into their ERP.
Hatco’s shipping costs were lowered by 20% year-over-year. Partnering with AFS has saved Hatco 33% on their shipping spend. What attracted Hatco was the savings—what has kept them is the trusted support and insight AFS continues to provide.
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