2021 Shipper of Choice profile: TreeHouse Foods

Continuous monitoring of dwell times helps keep truck drivers happy

TreeHouse Foods manufactures and distributes a variety of private-label packaged foods and beverages. (Image: TreeHouse Foods)

Presented by FreightWaves, in partnership with ArcBest, the Shipper of Choice award recognizes the manufacturers, distributors and retailers who do the best job of keeping the American economy moving by fighting driver detention, providing accessible facilities and understanding what it takes to remove inefficiencies from the supply chain.

Among the Top 25 Shippers of Choice for 2021: TreeHouse Foods

About TreeHouse Foods

New York Stock Exchange tickerTHS
HeadquartersOak Brook, Illinois
2020 revenue$4.35 billion
2020 net income (adjusted)$154.6 million
Shipper of Choice history2019 (Top 25), 2021 (Top 25)

Nomination notes for TreeHouse Foods

“TreeHouse Foods recognized years ago how important it is to be a location carriers want to serve,” Kraig Sankey, TreeHouse Foods’ director of transportation, told FreightWaves.

“With the current market conditions, we understand now more than ever how critical it is to keep dwell time low. We track dwell and loading times at each of our major shipping points. We monitor and make adjustments as needed to keep the numbers at an acceptable level. At the end of the day, we do what we can to make sure each driver is treated with respect and turned as quickly as possible.”

The 2020 holiday delivery season was “very different from prior years, as freight markets tightened significantly and COVID-19 surged across the country,” the company pointed out in its most recent annual report. To deliver the food and beverages needed to keep customers’ shelves stocked, the company strengthened carrier capacity by bringing on additional standby drivers in the event that scheduled carriers did not show up on time.

“The end result was over 100 shipments that made it to our customers on time, which would have otherwise been delayed for the holiday season,” the company stated.

Sankey said that over the past several years TreeHouse Foods has made many improvements at its manufacturing and distribution sites to enhance the driver experience.

“We have streamlined the check-in process. Improvements have been made in some of our sites adding driver bathrooms or updating existing facilities to be more accommodating. A number of our locations offer overnight parking. Shipper of Choice is a process at TreeHouse Foods. We will continue to look for ways to improve it in a safe and efficient manner.”

About Shipper of Choice partner ArcBest

With a relentless focus on meeting customers’ needs and unique access to guaranteed transportation capacity, ArcBest creates solutions to even the most complex supply chain challenges. The company focuses on providing the best customer experience possible with seamless access to a broad suite of logistics capabilities, including truckload, LTL, ocean and air, ground expedite, managed transportation, and warehousing.

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John Gallagher

Based in Washington, D.C., John specializes in regulation and legislation affecting all sectors of freight transportation. He has covered rail, trucking and maritime issues since 1993 for a variety of publications based in the U.S. and the U.K. John began business reporting in 1993 at Broadcasting & Cable Magazine. He graduated from Florida State University majoring in English and business.