How AmerCareRoyal (ACR) avoided costs of inefficient shipping and lowered its carbon footprint with FlockDirect®.

The search for
a fast, reliable shipping solution.

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AmerCareRoyal (ACR) is the restaurant industry leader for quality disposable supplies, sourcing and shipping over 6,000 disposable products to customers and distribution centers across North America. With four facilities across the continent and large national accounts, including restaurant chains like Chipotle, Firehouse, and Wingstop, ACR needs logistics solutions they can count on.

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In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, ACR’s Strategic Logistics Manager, Tom Seagle, was looking for opportunities to manage the company’s mid-sized freight more efficiently.

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The surging demand for disposable products in essential services across the country, along with cracks in the supply chain, was making it difficult to meet delivery obligations and budgetary constraints.

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Huge bottlenecks at the seaports meant product was only trickling into the country. Since ACR still needed to deliver orders, it relied on smaller shipments of 12-17 pallets — loads that were too big for less-than-truckload (LTL) services and too small for full truckload (TL). To complicate matters further, most ACR customers require appointment-based deliveries.

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To ensure shipments arrived on time, Seagle and his team needed to opt for the more expensive TL option, even though it meant they were often shipping inefficiently, or as known in distribution, ‘shipping air'.

An innovative logistics solution addressed escalated customer demand.

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When Seagle first heard about Flock Freight and the patented Shared Truckload (STL) technology that used machine logic to match shipments and fill trucks to capacity, he felt it was a win-win solution.

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According to Seagle, “Flock was creating a pseudo-LTL environment without freight being handled at multiple stops.” Flock’s guaranteed terminal-free STL service, FlockDirect®, was a good fit for ACR’s goals and would work in several of their markets, like Dallas-Fort Worth and Charleston, where shippers are plentiful.

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ACR jumped right in, using FlockDirect® to efficiently route their mid-size freight. Unlike other shippers left scrambling in a tight market, ACR could ship goods as soon as they were ready, skipping the hub-and-spoke system with faster, safer transit than LTL and at less cost than TL.

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With FlockDirect®, ACR remained competitive in a volatile market, met strict delivery appointments, and continued to provide excellent customer service — even when rates and product demand skyrocketed during the pandemic. At that time, with Shared Truckload, Seagle saw savings of several hundred dollars on coast-to-coast shipments, compared to other carriers.

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Today, ACR trusts Flock Freight as a reliable, collaborative logistics partner — and ACR continues to save on shipping costs. Since the partnership began, ACR has avoided upwards of $896K in truckload shipping costs by sharing deck space with FlockDirect®, according to Flock’s internal data. In turn, these measures have enabled ACR to reign-in costs for delivered supplies to its customers.

AmerCareRoyal’s Flock Freight experience.

By moving their shipments via FlockDirect®, the ACR logistics team reduces their environmental impact, meets deadlines, saves on shipping rates and OTIF fees, and lets Flock handle the details.

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On-time and undamaged shipments means high customer satisfaction ↘

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Flock Freight’s guaranteed terminal-free Shared Truckload option, FlockDirect®, uses machine learning to match locations, schedules, and compatible shipments traveling along a requested route.

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Since freight remains on a single truck from pickup to delivery, customers receive intact shipments and ACR avoids fees associated with damage or loss. Additionally, accurate scheduling has helped ACR achieve a 97% on-time pickup and 94% on-time delivery performance rate which keeps customers coming back.

Gaining a partner in sustainability ↘

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ACR partnered with Flock Freight to solve their logistics problems but ended up with sustainability benefits they weren’t expecting.

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ACR keeps a constant eye on sustainability— the company is home to PrimeWare, the leading line of eco-friendly takeout packaging— but going green wasn’t the catalyst for the partnership with Flock. That ACR has avoided 1,857 metric tons of CO₂e by optimizing truckload capacity with Flock... well, that makes the benefits of partnering all the more impressive!

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Seagle is also thinking about the future of trucking and potential driver shortages. He believes Shared Truckload will not only use trucks more efficiently, but will encourage more people to become drivers because they can make more money in the end.

Seamless integration 
for improved efficiency ↘

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While Seagle expected bumps in the road, Flock’s onboarding process was very smooth and integrating with ACR’s transportation management system (TMS) was seamless.



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Now, instead of contacting various carriers and waiting for rates, Seagle can quickly and easily get his shipments on the road. Not only has Flock helped improve efficiency with a streamlined quoting process, but since Seagle knows the carriers have already been vetted by Flock, he can simply choose the best rate.

Enterprise-level support ↘

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Seagle believes trust and good communication between shippers and supply chain partners are essential. Without them, it’s hard to keep the pipeline full, keep drivers moving, and ensure customer satisfaction. He doesn’t have to worry about this with the Flock team. They fully understand the industry and work efficiently in the background. Seagle found Flock’s team flexible and helpful, even in a fast-paced environment where customers need last-minute deliveries.

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Now, Flock Freight is an extension of the ACR logistics team, helping to develop good carrier relationships and manage all the moving parts. If a driver cancels, Flock fills in the gaps (and takes care of tasks like calculating driver hours). Seagle appreciates that with Flock, he doesn’t have to micromanage.