National Retail Systems, Inc, a leading provider of logistics services to U.S. retailers and manufacturing companies, announced this week it has been selected by automotive aftermarket service and retail chain Pep Boys to provide loading, unloading and trucking services for products coming into the Port of Savannah.
NRS will haul Pep Boys container imports from Georgia Ports’ Garden City Terminal to the NRS facility, four miles away in Pooler. There, they will be transloaded, crossdocked and trucked to the Pep Boys distribution center near Atlanta.
As opposed to a boxy, cavernous distribution center, a transload facility is a loading and unloading hub — a long, narrow building where the goods in a container are broken out and divided to go to different destinations.
Cross-docking is the practice of moving arriving goods from an incoming container to an outbound trailer with little or no storage time in between.
NRS’s facility is specifically designed for high-speed, high-volume transload, which reduces logistics costs by transferring freight from ocean-going containers to larger and safer over-the-road trailers.
The 85-foot-wide, quarter-mile-long cross-dock, located on 52 acres off Dean Forest Road, has 88 bay doors on each side, 40,000 square feet of special project warehouse space and a full maintenance and repair shop.
NRS is integrating the new import transload operation into an existing U.S. East Coast logistics program that it operates for Pep Boys. That system, with dedicated fleet and store delivery services, has helped Pep Boys improve efficiencies in the logistics chain, with significant mileage reductions and a drop in the percentage of vendor freight in the total cost of goods sold.
The new transload operation in Savannah is expected to offer additional savings.
“Partnership is a concept often touted in the logistics industry but more rarely executed in practice,” said Stuart Rosenfeld, vice president of distribution for Pep Boys.
“NRS has continually delivered on its promises to Pep Boys, and we look forward to further success in creating logistics efficiency in Savannah.”
Pep Boys operates more than 750 stores and approximately 7,000 service bays in 35 states and Puerto Rico. Along with its full-service vehicle maintenance and repair capabilities, the company is one of the leading sellers of replacement tires in the United States.
“Having access to efficient transload facilities close to ports is a significant competitive advantage for retailers in this consumer environment of lower inventories and faster turn times,” said Michael Luffy, director of dedicated fleets for NRS. “The Savannah transload solution for Pep Boys lowers cost and also reduces the supply chain’s carbon footprint.”
It just makes sense to locate the operation here, said Curtis Foltz, GPA executive director.
“With the most comprehensive list of global carriers on the East Coast, ample ‘near port’ distribution center space and close proximity to the fastest growing region in the nation, the Port of Savannah provides a clear win for this partnership between NRS and Pep Boys,” he said.
NRS performs a full array of retail logistics services at its Pooler facility, including trucking to and from the port, container transload, store delivery and such special project retail services as ticketing, marking and labeling.
Mary Carr Mayle covers the ports for Savannah Morning News and savannahnow.com. Reach her at 912-652-0324 or mary.mayle@savannahnow.com.
SHIPPING SCHEDULE
The following ships are expected to call on Georgia Ports’ Garden City and Ocean terminals in the next week. The schedule is provided by GPA and is subject to change.
TERMINAL SHIP ARRIVAL
GCT JENNIFER RICKMERS Today
GCT ZIM CALIFORNIA Today
GCT APL AGATE Today
GCT DALLAS EXPRESS Today
GCT GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE Today
OT SPIEGELGRACHT Today
OT STAR KIRKENES Today
GCT EVER DIVINE Saturday
GCT CMA CGM SWORDFISH Saturday
GCT CSAV LLANQUIHUE Saturday
GCT APL ATLANTA Saturday
GCT AL-SABAHIA Saturday
GCT ARTHUR MAERSK Saturday
GCT ST LOUIS EXPRESS Saturday
GCT MSC STELLA Sunday
GCT MSC LUISA Sunday
GCT NYK REMUS Monday
GCT BARCELONA EXPRESS Monday
GCT NYK NEBULA Monday
GCT MSC NERISSA Monday
GCT NYK JOANNA Monday
OT CLIPPER MARISSA Monday
OT BALTIC PANTHER Monday
GCT MUSTAFA DAYI Tuesday
GCT MSC TORONTO Tuesday
GCT MSC BARBARA Tuesday
GCT MOL ENCORE Tuesday
GCT BREMEN BRIDGE Tuesday
GCT ZIM CONSTANZA Wednesday
GCT YUEHE Wednesday
GCT SEA-LAND MERCURY Wednesday
GCT STADT LUNEBURG Wednesday
GCT YM BUSAN Wednesday
GCT RANJAN Wednesday
GCT HANJIN PRETORIA Wednesday
OT FIGARO Wednesday
OT STAR HERDLA Wednesday
GCT MAERSK WISCONSIN Thursday
GCT HS COLON Thursday
GCT ISLANDIA Thursday
GCT CSAV LUMACO Thursday
GCT ZIM BARCELONA Thursday
GCT CSCL BRISBANE Thursday
OT TAIKO Thursday