3PL / Logistics
United States Cold Storage — Automating Appointment Scheduling with Digital Worker Alan
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United States Cold Storage — Automating Appointment Scheduling with Digital Worker Alan
The Challenge
Purolator International, a 3PL subsidiary of Canada's Purolator Inc., specializes in transportation between the US and Canada. It piloted its first carrier with FourKites in August 2017. Like many shippers, it needed to reduce delays in transit and at border crossings, communicate more effectively with carriers, and improve day-to-day operational efficiency — challenges magnified by frequent cross-border freight movement where detours and disputes were often discovered only after the fact.
Our Solution
Purolator International prioritized carrier compliance and adoption: it adopted best practices from its IT customer-onboarding team, instituted daily load-level compliance in centralized dispatch, and hosted mandatory quality review meetings — driving best-in-class tracking consistency, with nearly 90% of cross-border truckloads to Canada now tracking in FourKites and accessible directly within their TMS. Dedicated customer relationship representatives (CRRs) track loads straight from the TMS, identifying location and ETAs without contacting central dispatch, eliminating unnecessary emails. FourKites also serves as the objective date/time/location record for dispute resolution.
The Result
Compliance built trust in the platform and let Purolator International realize substantial day-to-day efficiency gains, reduce the frequency of in-transit and border delays, and communicate more effectively with carriers. Time spent investigating customer track-and-trace calls dropped to a single click, freeing teams to manage true exceptions.
