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What are key factors to consider when choosing a distribution center in Northern California?

What are key factors to consider when choosing a distribution center in Northern California?

The costs to do business in the Bay Area can be very expensive.  Selecting the right warehousing & distribution center in Northern California is essential to improving your bottom line and optimizing your supply chain. But what factors do you need to consider to execute a successful game plan for storing/distributing your products?

According to an article written by Siu, Antoinette (2017, Jan 25). Port of Oakland begins massive warehouse construction to boost capacity, jobs. San Francisco Business Times. Retrieved from
https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2017/01/25/port-of-oakland-begins-massive-build-out-warehouse.html In 2016, the Oakland port handled some 2.7 million 20-foot containers with all kinds of imported and exported goods.  

If you're importing/exporting, storing or distributing goods, here are some key factors to consider when choosing reliable warehousing and distribution centers in the San Leandro / San Francisco area.

Distance from the port- The distance of the port to the warehousing & distribution facility is crucial for freight offloading — the closer the facility, the lower the transportation costs. According to Wikipedia, The Port of Oakland is now the fifth busiest container port in the United States, behind Long Beach, Los Angeles, Newark, and Savannah. Search for warehousing facilities strategically located minutes away from the Port of Oakland and Oakland airport!

Flexibility- you need a distribution center that can handle various types of products that also offers unique services, including crossdocking/transloading, inventory tracking, kitting, etc. Searching for a company that provides a blend of services and features
www.godependable.com will help save you money and give you more solutions to meet your business goals.

Dedicated Account Experts- many companies offer promotions with storing your products; whether it be online ads, mailers, flyers, etc. But do they have the experts to help manage your products and provide the right solutions based on your supply chain requirements? Research companies that have dedicated account managers that have years of expertise in warehousing and distribution. Having dedicated account managers give you peace of mind and transparency throughout the entire process. After all, this is your precious freight!


Dependable's San Leandro 250k sq. foot warehouse is located in the Bay Area of San Francisco, California, and conveniently located close to the port and airport of Oakland. Contact our experts today and see how we can meet your warehousing and distribution needs: http://www.godependable.com/Services/DDC-Warehousing-and-Distribution/Facility-Locations/San-Leandro-Warehouse

Factors to Consider when Choosing Distribution

Factors to Consider when Choosing Distribution

What are three key benefits to consider when choosing the right warehousing company in Los Angeles?

There are many warehousing & distribution companies to choose from when it comes to storing your freight, but which company is the right fit for your needs? Here are three key benefits to consider when choosing the right warehousing company for your supply chain requirements in Los Angeles.

  1. Square footage- the distribution center has to have the capacity to handle small to large/overweight items in a variety of industries, including organic food products, consumer packaged goods to industrial (raw materials), and light chemical commodities.
  2. Port centric- the warehousing & distribution center in Los Angeles should be close, in fact, minutes away from the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports. Search for a warehouse whose facility is strategically located by the ports to help reduce handling times and meet crucial deadlines. 
  3. Full-service B2B and B2C fulfillment- find a warehousing & distribution center in Los Angeles that does more than store goods, for example, retail fulfillment, date coding and lot controls. Storing, tracking and managing your goods is essential to help improve your bottom line. You need dedicated account managers who understand the complexities of your business to help customize a solution based on your short or long-term needs.

Dependable's largest warehouse facility is 1.5M sq. ft. and located in the heart of Los Angeles, CA, in addition to over 500k sq. ft. in three facilities strategically positioned in the overweight corridor in the city of Carson, minutes away from Los Angeles and Long Beach Ports. Learn more today: http://www.godependable.com/Warehousing-and-Distribution

What are factors to consider when selecting drayage carriers in California?

What are factors to consider when selecting drayage carriers in California?

What are factors to consider when selecting drayage carriers in California?

In today's complex and evolving supply chain, there are many harbor drayage companies to choose from when it comes to your freight. Many companies operate differently, but there are certain factors you should consider when researching the right drayage company to meet deadlines and improve your bottomline- especially when your freight moves into California. It's essential to select a company who can offer a suite of services, whether the company is small or large, but what are other solution-based offerings you should be mindful of? Here are a few factors to consider:

1. Location and proximity to major ports: Select a company that specializes in import/export container drayage to and from all major California ports, including Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland. Companies with years of experience in the industry will strategically position their facilities minutes away from the ports to make themselves more accessible for the handling of your freight.

2. Transloading: Avoid equipment storage and/or demurrage charges! Select a port drayage company that has a proven track record for safety and reliability in international and domestic container drayage, transloading, intermodal rail, and trucking.

3. Overweight Corridor: Do you anticipate moving in heavy or overweight commodities such as raw materials, heavy sacks, food & beverage items, etc.? Find a company whose facilities are located in the Southern California overweight corridor and who can quickly meet any requirement for handling overweight import/export containers http://www.godependable.com/Services/DHE-Harbor-Drayage

4. Warehousing & Distribution: You might need flexible distribution options when your freight arrives into California. Select a company that can handle your dray with prime warehousing space near all the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland, California. Identify a company that understands the complexities of storing your goods, and who can customize a solution based on your short or long-term needs http://www.godependable.com/Warehousing-and-Distribution

What factors do you consider when choosing a drayage company?

What factors do you consider when choosing a drayage company?

There are many factors to consider when choosing and searching for a trustworthy drayage company online: years of experience, size of the company, and more importantly, overall excellent service. Although these are common factors when researching drayage companies on the web, other factors/questions to consider should also include: Other than drayage services, do they provide strategic solutions based on our supply chain needs? Do they have dedicated managers/experts who we can contact anytime during the process?  Can they offer other services/solutions for our customized requirements if needed? Let's take a more in-depth look into these factors. 

 

Drayage solutions: you need a transportation and logistics company that offers solutions based on your specific needs. Services is one thing, but a dependable company will provide solutions based on your customized projects including handling heavyweight/oversized freight requirements within the overweight corridor, transloading freight to avoid equipment storage and/or demurrage charges, providing warehousing or cross-docking solutions to store and move freight to meet deadlines: http://www.godependable.com/Warehousing-and-Distribution. Most companies discover that they need more than just drayage services, and a company who possesses assets and experts within the industry will give customers more peace of mind that their freight is being handled professionally in case other needs arise throughout the process. 

 

Dedicated managers: you need an experienced manager to oversee your supply chain requirements- one contact person, one subject matter expert. Many companies will have a multitude of personnel managing your requirements; sometimes, you are "on hold" waiting to discover where your shipments are, how they are being handled, etc. When you work with one dependable drayage company, you should have a centralized contact who is communicating with you throughout the entire process, whether it be via phone or email. These managers should be able to strategize and provide solutions to their customers based on their unique projects. After all, this is your precious freight; answers should be available to the customer whenever possible! http://www.godependable.com/Services/DHE-Harbor-Drayage

 

Enterprise services: you need a drayage company that also offers a variety of services to help achieve your business goals. After communicating with a drayage manager, you might discover that you also need local LTL delivery services http://www.godependable.com/Services/DHE-Less-Than-Truckload-LTL, warehouse storage for your organic goods, or ocean freight forwarding services- wouldn't it be easier to work with one company that can provide ALL of these services and solutions quickly and professionally? This strategy saves time and money while eliminating numerous calls and emails to other companies requesting information about their services. Having one dedicated manager, one company, and one solution is the key to optimizing your entire supply chain-learn more www.godependable.com.

What are 3 key factors to consider when selecting a California Warehouse?

What are 3 key factors to consider when selecting a California Warehouse?

What are 3 key factors to consider when selecting a California Warehouse? 

 

When selecting a California warehouse company, you should consider 3 key factors: port-centric facilities, "complete" service capabilities and a single "point of contact" for communication. You need a company with subject matter experts within the warehousing & distribution industry who can assist with implementing the right services and solutions to optimize your supply chain and increase your profitability. 

 

1. Port centric facilities: it makes business sense to have your goods handled and transported close to the major ports in California. Find a company whose warehousing facilities are geographically positioned within minutes of the Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland Ports to ensure that your goods are handled efficiently without the hassle of lengthy travel times. This warehousing benefit is also significant when it comes to handling organic/food grade products and goods. 

 

2.  Complete services: find a company who can also provide comprehensive services including dray, warehousing, and local delivery services to save you time, money, and headaches! We've heard the term "one-stop" shops in the transportation industry, and there is a reason for that. Selecting one company with years of experience in complete transportation & logistics services can help you manage your entire supply chain more strategically without the issues of vetting multiple companies. For example, finding "one" company who can handle import/export shipping, container drayage delivery, transloading and cross-docking, and local LTL deliveries can only help improve your bottom line and manage your freight efficiently while making important deadlines.

 

3. Single point of contact: the transportation and storage of your goods are extremely important, wouldn't it be easier and more effective to speak to one "point of contact" versus many other contacts within a company? Time is money, and communicating with one source at a company is crucial when it comes to managing various goods during storage, inventory control, packaging, deliveries, etc. Find a company whose communication process is streamlined, and whose experts are dedicated account managers rather than button pushers and message takers. You will have more peace of mind knowing that your single point of contact is dedicated to helping you effectively manage and store your goods! 

 

Dependable Supply Chain Services include trucking (LTL/FTL), warehousing & distribution, 3PL (third party logistics), air freight forwarding, ocean freight forwarding, and freight transport to and from Hawaii & Guam. Our unique divisions work together to create a seamless total supply chain solution- learn more about our enterprise services today: www.godependable.com