Cold Chain Summit: Perishables e-commerce to keep growing despite delivery challenges

CEO of Perishable Shipping Solutions says higher-than-normal delivery issues with ground-parcel carriers require workarounds with customers

This fireside chat recap is from FreightWaves’ Cold Chain Summit.

FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: How e-commerce is changing the cold chain.

DETAILS: Founded in 2016 and based in Youngstown, Ohio, Perishable Shipping Solutions (PSS) provides warehousing and distribution services of perishable foodstuffs to support manufacturers’ online sales and marketing strategies. PSS operates two warehouses, one in Youngstown and the other in Sacramento, California. It offers two-day ground transit times to the end customer. The service reaches roughly 93% of the U.S. consumer population.

SPEAKER: Mark Nelson, CEO of Perishable Shipping Solutions

BIO: Nelson has been with PSS since 2017. Before that, Nelson, a serial entrepreneur, was COO of XanAdu Inc. where he led the development and launch of a SaaS mobile training platform for employees to access their training materials on-the-go. From 2010 to 2014, he was COO of Revelstone, a company he co-founded to  help local governments operate more efficiently. 

KEY QUOTES FROM NELSON:

“The big brands aren’t using e-commerce just to grow the top line. But they’re using it as a marketing channel. They are providing a one-on-one customer experience they can’t get at a grocery store.”

“FedEx and UPS’ networks have been stretched. … When you’re shipping ice cream or cheese, and it shows up on a third day, you have a problem. … We are seeing a higher-than-normal error rate from the carriers. We can’t change that, but we work with our clients to build `insurance’ into our solutions.”

“Today, delivering two-day for specialty foods is perfectly adequate. … But we are adding more warehouses to drive one-day shipping for our largest customers. … I even see same-day shipping in the larger cities.”

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Mark Solomon

Formerly the Executive Editor at DC Velocity, Mark Solomon joined FreightWaves as Managing Editor of Freight Markets. Solomon began his journalistic career in 1982 at Traffic World magazine, ran his own public relations firm (Media Based Solutions) from 1994 to 2008, and has been at DC Velocity since then. Over the course of his career, Solomon has covered nearly the whole gamut of the transportation and logistics industry, including trucking, railroads, maritime, 3PLs, and regulatory issues. Solomon witnessed and narrated the rise of Amazon and XPO Logistics and the shift of the U.S. Postal Service from a mail-focused service to parcel, as well as the exponential, e-commerce-driven growth of warehouse square footage and omnichannel fulfillment.