Case Study
$2B North American Freight Transportation and 3PL Provider Upgrades Its Operating Model, Delivering $39.9M EBITDA Improvement Through Network Optimization and Asset Utilization
$39.9M
Annualized EBITDA Improvement
Strategic Imperative
To drive the transformation and implementation of a new operating model based on network optimization and asset utilization to provide customers with door-to-door logistics solutions
Client Background
- Leading North American freight transportation and 3PL provider serving end-user customers through two complementary operating segments
- Asset-intensive intermodal network required disciplined capacity allocation, equipment deployment, and lane-level utilization across evolving customer demand
- Intermodal services included rail brokerage, double-stack rail, and local cartage with ramp-to-ramp and door-to-door options
- Logistics services included highway brokerage, international shipping, non-vessel-operating common carrier, freight forwarding, and supply chain management
- Loss of a longstanding railroad agreement reshaped the intermodal market and required a door-to-door service model
- Future competitiveness depended on balancing network capacity, equipment utilization, yield, and end-to-end customer service
Key Issues & Barriers
- New senior management faced resistance from long-tenured employees culturally embedded in the legacy business model
- Commercial front-end sales organization remained geared toward order taking rather than proactive business acquisition
- Sales teams assumed container capacity would be found after orders were accepted, weakening network planning and fulfillment reliability
- Territory and customer management lacked forecasting requirements for volume, margin, and yield by salesperson
- Network decisions lacked profitable-lane analytics to optimize capacity, contribution, and equipment utilization
- Order cancellations, lost revenue, and elevated SG&A per volume constrained profitability and customer service performance
Key Implementation Components
- Defined position-specific responsibilities, linked profiles to cascaded goals, and aligned performance-based compensation with commercial strategy
- Developed strategic and tactical business-acquisition plans across 12-month, three-year, and five-year horizons
- Redesigned the commercial process from prospecting through ongoing account management to strengthen acquisition, retention, and account expansion
- Redesigned territory and customer management around forecasts for volume, margin, and yield by salesperson
- Applied origin-destination pair analytics to establish profitable lane footprints and improve network and asset utilization
- Implemented a Sales Force Effectiveness System for Managing with activity plans, targets, measures, and revenue-yield reporting
Benefits & Results
$39.9M
Annualized EBITDA Improvement
21%
Intermodal Asset Utilization Improvement
18%
Order Cancellation Reduction