Freight claims are a headache for both shippers and carriers. Hercules addressed the issue of claims for less-than-truckload shipments by chucking out the typical LTL breakbulk/hub-and-spoke model. 

The company is a fast-growing less-than-truckload motor carrier and customs brokerage, specializing in U.S.-to-Canada and intra-United States shipments. 

Hercules’ "no breakbulk" structure allows for nonstop shipments, reducing opportunities for damage by limiting the number of times freight is handled, as well as reducing transit times.

“Claims are a shipper’s worst nightmare,” says Lorenzo Marrone, logistics manager for Hercules’ longtime customer Fleurco.

“It upsets the client for not getting their goods on time, it upsets the carrier as it reduces profitability, and it strains the shipper’s inventory,” he says. 

“In nine years of working with Hercules, we’ve only had one claim. Whenever I use other carriers, we have a large number of claims per year,” says Marrone.

Fleurco specializes in high-end shower glass doors and other products for creating dream bathrooms and has been shipping with Hercules for more than a decade.

“Our products are fragile and need proper handling,” Marrone says. “Hercules travels from one terminal to the end destination versus every other common carrier that stops multiple times to get to one little location. Less handling means less damage.”

Hercules' Beginnings: Capitalizing on a Niche in Trucking

Hercules got its start in the early 1980s when it saw a niche it could capitalize on, explains Marie-Christine Bourque, the Hercules account manager who works with Fleurco.

At the time, there was no carrier that was doing cross-border where it was just a single carrier, she says. 

“It was either a Canadian carrier giving to a U.S. carrier or the opposite. And that's how Hercules saw a niche.”

For example, she said, Hercules might pick up in California and go to Vancouver with a switch in Seattle – but it was just the driver that switched. The trailer continued on, rather than freight being unloaded at a cross-dock facility and loaded into another trailer for the next leg of the journey.

“Very quickly, we realized that much, much, much less damage was happening.” 

Big electronics makers became interested because traditional shipping was resulting in a lot of damaged televisions.

On top of that, faster, more consistent transit times have allowed for better on-time delivery, improving customer satisfaction while reducing fines associated with late deliveries. Hercules’ no-breakbulk structure consistently provides faster transit times compared to other LTL carriers that make multiple stops when transporting a load. 

A Long-Lasting Partnership Helps Shipper and Carrier Grow

In 2014, Fleurco chose Hercules to transport LTL loads from its New Jersey distribution center to its Montreal facility. 

Marrone explains that at the time, the advent of mandatory electronic logging devices was making it hard to find carriers to serve its distribution centers in New Jersey, Chicago and Los Angeles. 

“Hercules, luckily for us, had centers in all three locations for us. And when we heard about the driver switch, instead of terminal switches and unloading of products… The more handling, the higher risk of damage you have. We found this to be a perfect fit.

“So we worked out where we can give them about 30 feet of freight every day to go to different terminals. And it's worked out great for both of us.”

FLEET SNAPSHOT

Who: Hercules

Where: Vernon, California, and New Westminster, British Columbia

Fleet: More than 1,000 pieces of equipment

Operations: No-breakbulk less-than-truckload

Fun Fact: Claim ratio is just .0026.

Opportunity: Filling a cross-border less-than-truckload niche that doesn’t use traditional breakbulk LTL strategies. 

From there, the two companies grew together.

From a single lane, Fleurco expanded the partnership to include distribution to its facilities and customer locations in California, Illinois, Texas and the Pacific Northwest.

“The way we operate, we don't know how much space we're going to need the following day till 2:00 the day prior,” Marrone says. “Working with Hercules it's like okay, by 2:00, we promise to tell you how many feet we’re going to need so they can do their planning, too.

“Everything just meshed well, for us to grow within their business model.”

But Bourque says Hercules has been conservative in its growth.

“In order to keep our no-breakbulk structure, we need to grow more terminals. But we do it at a pace where we're not in debt.”

Marrone says Fleurco doesn’t have to go shopping for carriers these days unless it needs more than 30 feet. 

“Otherwise, the operation is so streamlined that we don't have to worry about the import-export part of it.”

New LTL Freight Classification System Scheduled for July