Rather than configuring delivery routes based solely on geography or sales routes, and expecting one equipment type to serve a variety of needs, Crescent Crown Distributing’s Phoenix-based operation assigns specific vehicle types to meet its customers’ service pattern requirements, building its routing plan around similar delivery windows, SKU mix, customer types and volumes.

In-depth analysis of delivery requirements has allowed the company, which distributes Miller and Coors brands, as well as numerous import and craft beers and energy drinks, to reduce its reliance on traditional side-load beverage bodies, moving to more flexible/efficient bulk trailers.

According to Rich Marchant, Crescent Crown’s VP of operations, “Over 90 percent of our deliveries are on bulk trailers. We deliver the majority of our convenience store volume at night rotating approximately 25 percent of our tractor trailer combinations.”

Organizing routes with common delivery parameters to maximize the productivity of each truck has helped the company reduce overall fleet mileage at the same time that its customer base has dramatically expanded. “We were able to reduce our overall miles by 7 percent in 2007 after growing at over 20 percent annually the previous four years,” says Crescent Crown’s logistics manager Dan Ambrose. “Due to the reduction in fleet miles and utilizing varying types of equipment, we were able to reduce our overall fleet by 15 vehicles.” Logistics Supervisor Troy Drown indicates that “keeping a highly accurate and frequently updated database of delivery location parameters is critical to enabling the company’s routing strategy.” Another key component of Crescent Crown’s efficient delivery operation is the use of UPS routing/loading software to build its delivery routes and optimize truck loading configurations. Later this year, the company plans to incorporate Nextel/UPS MobileCast technology that will add real-time positioning
and status reporting to the existing logistics software.

In contrast to the use of cutting-edge strategies and technology, the distributor has local roots stretching back to its founding as a produce warehousing and delivery company in 1911.

Operated by the Pearce family for more than nine decades, the company was acquired by Louisiana-based Crescent Crown Distributing in early 2004, creating a combined operation that delivers more than 26 million cases annually, throughout its distribution territories in Louisiana and Arizona.

With an existing warehouse location just east of downtown Phoenix well-placed to serve customers in the city’s core, Crescent Crown is currently in the process of adding a second warehouse in the rapidly-growing northwest quadrant of the Phoenix metro area.

Beyond merely adding to capacity, the new location is expected to cut the fleet’s overall delivery mileage by as much as 600,000 miles per year. Based on diesel prices currently in excess of $4 per gallon, Marchant expects the two-warehouse strategy to save approximately $1 million per year compared with a single central facility.

Although the Phoenix location includes a repair garage, all repairs, maintenance and the operation of that garage are contracted out to Kelley Fleet Services. A fixed-price arrangement that covers everything but crash damage and extraordinary repairs virtually eliminates uncertainty in the fleet’s maintenance budget.

Because Kelley has a financial stake in preventing unnecessary/unplanned repairs, it works closely with Marchant’s team to choose the most effective equipment, parts and supplies, as well as ensuring that drivers are trained to use the equipment properly. Kelley’s on-site fleet manager, Dominick Sposeto, stresses the importance of solid communications and cooperation among his maintenance team, Crescent Crown’s management and the drivers, to make this type of business partnership mutually successful.

In addition to having good strategies, technology and facilities, good drivers also are a key element of Crescent Crown’s success. The company employs a total of 18 operations trainers, 16 that are assigned directly to delivery teams and two exclusively dedicated to new hires.

“This enables us to quickly and efficiently react to any training needs that arise,” explains Crescent Crown safety manager Barry King. “We have an in-house CDL training program that produces nearly 100 percent of our new truck drivers. Merchandisers are trained for driving positions while working with an experienced driver. This results in employees who are better trained for all aspects of our business.”

From Beverage World July 15, 2008