Dollar Shave Club’s new way to solve old shipping problems

Before shipping with Flock Freight, Dollar Shave Club was testing new carriers. The company was searching for an attentive, always-on customer service team, on-demand data and analysis, and another way to reduce its carbon footprint.

“We were preparing for a transition because we wanted to ensure we were receiving competitive pricing,” says Ryan Wuerz, fulfillment warehouse manager at Dollar Shave Club. He adds, “We also wanted to find a solution with 100% on-time, in-full performance and a damage-free rate of 99%.”

The standard less-than truckload (LTL) method, which uses the hub-and-spoke model, zigzags shipments between hubs and terminals during transit, increasing:

• Handling (and damage as a result)
• The probability of delays
• Greenhouse gas emissions

Because the hub-and-spoke model works best for smaller shipments, the LTL mode has stringent size constraints. To avoid paying higher costs for LTL service that accommodates larger loads, shippers — like Dollar Shave Club — with freight that exceeds size constraints often end up buying truckload (TL) service.

Here’s the problem: A large percentage of truckloads move less than completely full. This inefficient use of resources significantly impacts shippers’ bottom lines; shippers spend a great deal of capital every year shipping air. Plus, moving underutilized trucks leads to unnecessary fuel emissions. To summarize, the LTL and TL modes waste shippers’ resources and cause undue environmental harm.

Dollar Shave Club discovered a better option: shared truckload service. While existing shipping methods don’t know how to handle Dollar Shave Club’s loads, Flock Freight’s shared truckload solution, FlockDirect, is built for them.

Knowing shared truckload shipping could alleviate Dollar Shave Club’s pain points, one of Flock Freight’s sales managers got in touch with Ryan. As a high-tech and forward-thinking company, Dollar Shave Club liked the idea of partnering with a like-minded business that’s using technology to reinvent an industry. 

“We started to use FlockDirect to move shipments around the country because the zero cross-docking proposition was intriguing to us. It’s been a really good experience so far.”

Since joining Flock Freight in June 2020, Dollar Shave Club has found immense value in shared truckload’s ability to optimize loads that measure 8-44 linear feet and up to 36,000 pounds. A few highlights have been:

• On-time pickup performance
• Tracking data
• Flock Freight’s customer service
• The Flock Platform
• Increased sustainability

Since ramping up with shared truckload service, Dollar Shave Club has seen average on-time pickup performance of 98%.

In addition, the company has experienced better shipment tracking. “Flock Freight’s ability to quickly send us tracking data is impressive. Other carriers take much longer to send shipment information,” shares Ryan. Because Flock Freight moves shared truckloads via TL service, tracking is simpler than it is for traditional LTL shipping. As a result, FlockDirect offers better visibility than the hub-and-spoke model.

Ryan cites Flock Freight’s customer service and reporting as further examples of superior communication.

“Flock Freight’s customer service is superb. Tim and Alisa go above and beyond, responding very rapidly when we have issues with our freight — even after hours. You can’t get that with other carriers. Plus, Flock Freight’s quarterly business reports show us numbers that no other carrier can.”

The Flock Platform is another bright spot of the partnership. Ryan notes, “My Logistics Coordinator says the Flock Platform is the best she’s ever used, and she has four or five years of experience. We book all of our Flock Freight shipments in the app.”

Dollar Shave Club points to speed and accessibility as highlights of the quoting process within the Flock Platform. “Compared to other apps, Flock Freight’s is the easiest to use,” explains Ryan. For Dollar Shave Club, booking large volumes of shipments in Flock Freight’s app just makes sense. 

An unexpected benefit of shipping with FlockDirect? Sustainable freight service. By choosing shared truckload for a vast majority of its shipments, Dollar Shave Club has been able to skip over 200 LTL facilities and reduce fuel emissions by an average of 33%. According to Ryan, “Unilever (the company that acquired Dollar Shave Club in 2016) is big on improving global efficiencies. We have many initiatives to reduce impact and boost sustainability.“

For Ryan’s team, seeing the fuel emissions savings in their monthly and quarterly decks goes a long way toward helping Dollar Shave Club understand its impact and make decisions that align with company values.

In conclusion, Dollar Shave Club has increased on-time pickup performance, enhanced shipment tracking, and deepened supply chain sustainability with FlockDirect. By choosing shared truckload shipping, the disruptive male grooming company has also leveraged Flock Freight’s dedicated customer service and found a better way to book loads: the Flock Platform. Ultimately, Flock Freight is helping Dollar Shave Club guarantee customer satisfaction by streamlining freight transportation.

-Quotes from Ryan Wuerz, Dollar Shave Club Fulfillment & Logistics Manager