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From Home Furnishing Business
Schneider Enhances Middle Mile Capabilities
April 23,
2019 by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry 
Transportation and logistics services provider Schneider (NYSE: SNDR) has announced the broadening of its middle-mile configuration to include its Van Truckload and Intermodal owned assets, optimizing the movement of freight through its 24 terminal networks across 48 states.
With its acquisition of Watkins & Shepard Trucking in 2016, Schneider became a leading provider in First to Final Mile delivery of over-dimensional goods for omnichannel retailers and manufacturers.
The company now capitalizes on the full force of its broad network for the middle and final mile, with access to more than 10,700 trucks, 22,000 intermodal containers and a suite of technology tools for comprehensive freight management.
Throughout this process, Schneider is able to fully apply its proprietary network optimization system to freight within the middle mile to enhance consistency of the engineered network. An engineered network determines required departure and processing times, expected delivery times and regulates workflow through the terminals. Schneider’s engineering management tools apply data-driven recommendations to optimize operations and manage the movement of freight through the middle mile. The overall engineered network will also contribute to standardizing pricing and transit.
Full incorporation of the company’s assets into the middle-mile service offering will reduce the number of freight handlings through the terminal network, ultimately reducing product claims. This optimization will also improve driver efficiency and increase consistency in service standards and delivery times.
Schneider is also implementing a standardized delivery day for ZIP codes, creating predictability. Customers will be provided with the exact transit flow of their shipment, as well as a projected day and time for delivery from ZIP code to ZIP code for a holistic, end-to-end scheduled solution.
“A seamless delivery experience – whether it’s the first mile, the last mile or the miles in between – means there’s a consistent, reliable network working hard for a customer’s business,” said Rob Bulick, SVP and general manager of First to Final Mile. “Expanding our middle-mile strength to include Schneider’s owned assets and data-driven network optimizations ensures we’re constantly meeting the high expectations for final-mile delivery that customers and consumers can depend on and trust.”