Company Report: Accellatrans Warehousing and Logistics, Inc.: Up and Running
Up and Running Despite the economic collapse, Accellatrans Warehousing and Logistics, Inc. has established itself as a key transportation and distribution partner in Savannah, GA in little more than a year

Founded just months before the economic collapse last fall, Accellatrans Warehousing and Logistics, Inc., faced a business climate far from ideal for a fledgling company trying to carve out a niche in the competitive market of transportation and distribution.
Now, more than a year later, the mother-daughter team at the helm of Accellatrans concludes there was indeed demand for a full-service logistics provider in Savannah, Ga.
In fact, the company is planning to build a new warehouse of five to 10 times the size of its leased 100,000sf space, a mere 1.5 miles from the Georgia Ports Authority Garden City Terminal. Another boost came in April when Accellatrans received certification as a Women's Business Enterprise by the Georgia Women's Business Council, a regional certifying partner of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council.
"With her background and my experience, the sky is the limit," says President Vickie Brown of the company's prospects with her daughter, Stephanie Wagner, as Vice President.
Their hands-on approach to the business - they are more often seen on the warehouse floor than behind a desk - set the tone for the company's customer service. It was also that call for service among the clients of Falcon Transport, Inc (Supply Chain Digital's June article on Falcon Transport), an intermodal transportation company serving the Port of Savannah and now close partner of Accellatrans, which spurred Brown and Wagner to found the company.
Brown, who began her career 30 years ago, acts as an agent for the Pennsylvania-based Falcon Transport through her own company, Seabreeze Express, and noticed clients often complained about warehouses in the area.
"We've always strived on the trucking side to be very service-oriented," she says. "We've got a proven track record and we're proving that again with the warehouse where we continue to provide a service to the customer so they feel like they are the only one we have. We provide as much detail as we can and keep them abreast of everything that's going on with their cargo. While it's in our hands, it's like it belongs to us."

BUILDING ON REFERRALS
Among the company's range of 3PL services such as contract and public warehouse storage, freight consolidation, cargo distribution, and rail and port drayage, customers especially look for transloading and the stuffing and stripping of containers. All cargo is photographed and even the slightest transit damage is documented and reported.
Meticulous documentation is part of the company's strategy of building long-term partnerships by expanding the customer base by referrals. It requires satisfying customers 24 hours a day, because, Wagner notes, a negative review goes a lot further than a glowing testimonial.
"We know that everything we do is a reflection of us and we'd never give someone a bad pallet," Wagner says. "I don't go back and ask someone for $5 because I underestimated how many pallets it was going to be. We don't nickel and dime. If I fail to ask a question and the job is more complicated than expected, then that's my problem."
Wagner applies her knowledge as a Six Sigma Black Belt to analyze the warehouse process and eliminate potential errors and omissions. She received the certification, a business management strategy to define anything that could lead to customer dissatisfaction, during her eight years with General Electric Co.
As an engineering graduate, she also puts her knowledge to use as she evaluates technology for the warehouse, a certified food grade facility with a state of the art Inventory Tracking System with online access and bar coding capabilities.
The debt-free Accellatrans takes a conservative approach to new investments and technological upgrades are no exception. "We want to take growth slowly and understand how the technology will fit in with our process," Wagner explains, "We don't want to spend money on something we don't need for the client base that we have right now, but we are always looking for methods to improve our productivity and reliability in a cost effective way."

FOCUS ON PROCESSED FOOD
As a consequence of the economic crisis, the company focuses on customers that tend to maintain steady sales even as other industries falter. Processed food is at the top of the list and Wagner intends to capture an even greater number by obtaining more advanced food certifications. The strategic plan also calls for adding products still in customs control to the company's customer base of tile, paper products, machinery, and non-hazardous chemicals, as does building a warehouse within the next five years.
"One of the struggles we've had is that business has been sporadic, one week we have so much we can barely keep up and then next week is really slow," Wagner observes. "By targeting certain customers, we can ensure that we've got continuous volume which makes it easier to manage."
Customers come from all over the United States and the world, such as Brazil, India and China. Falcon Transport plays a pivotal role in bringing cargo and containers from port to warehouse, enabling Accellatrans to provide turnkey service for the two companies' common clients.
"The partnership helps us have control over cost issues as far as transportation," Brown notes. "We don't have to rely on another transportation company to load and unload. We do it ourselves."

GETTING AHEAD
The certification as a Women's Business Enterprise also serves as a unique marketing tool in a male-dominated industry. After a thorough three-month review of every aspect of the company to prove that it is, in fact, owned by women, Accellatrans may, in some instances, have an edge on the competition in obtaining government contracts and attracting companies that have filed diversity programs.

"In this economy, everyone is trying to do everything they can to get a step ahead," Wagner says. "We certainly don't want to be awarded business because we're women; we want a fair chance to compete like everyone else, and I'd hope that, given a chance, the fact that we have the certification may help us."

"We look at ourselves as everyone else trying to get a job done," she continues. "We don't let it define us in how we operate day to day."

FACTS AT A GLANCE:

Company Name: Accellatrans Warehousing and Logistics, Inc.

President: Vickie Brown

Operations: Full-service logistics provider offering a single source solution for a wide range of value added services in the warehousing and transloading arena.

Established: 2008

Employees: 10

Revenue: $5 million (includes partner Seabreeze Express)

www.accellatrans.com

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