"Work in Progress"

These are small but growing firms with a need to minimize costs and stick to core mission and capability while working towards critical business mass and market recognition.

The following are Marleon's views regarding "Work in Progress" firms' issues and needs and Marleon's solution focus.

Business Issues

Growing businesses requires working capital and free cash flow
Shipping strategy (i.e., transportation plan) must be scalable as business grows
Transportation not core competency (e.g., parcel vs. LTL vs. pooled distribution)
Non centralized or focused transportation process / policy
- Hiccups in transportation costs can cause significant margin erosion, impacting pricing flexibility
Lack of business clout to drive preferential rates and tariffs from carriers
- Over-reliance on a few carriers
- Multiple small shipments
Poor visibility into carrier Account Payable
- High assessorial charges
- Incorrect freight classifications

Business Needs

Professional level transportation management without the associated internal carrying costs
- Low cost method to minimize transportation redundancies and customer file maintenance
Simple method to manage shipping related expenses
- Reduce shipping errors related to freight classifications cited on Bill of Lading
  - Eliminates freight reclassification charges
- Optimize carrier routings, tariffs, direct service and coverage
  - Reduces single shipments charges, excessive carrier tariff charges, and non-direct routing fees
  - Provides alternative transportation services for high-cube, low-density commodities

Marleon's Service Solution

Shipping made Simple – helps small firms attain a high level of transportation sophistication without significant cost or time barriers.

Identifies appropriate shipping methods based on freight profiles, shipping habits, and customer requirements
- Develop Truckload, LTL, and Parcel plans
Reduces assessorial charges by aligning freight profiles with National Motor Freight Classifications through freight density studies
Uses Marleon’s transportation management software, providing:
- Access to Marleon’s pre-negotiated rates based on volume purchasing
- Secure and simple system to manage billing and invoicing (audit tracking and reporting capabilities)
- Easy management of national motor freight classifications and product classes
Provides access to Marleon’s brokerage services or dedicated fleet to minimize carrier over-dependency (i.e., risk)
- House brokerage for partial loads
- Dedicated fleet for full truckload requirements