In addition to storage, Commonwealth also provides services to its customers. By utilizing these services, a customer can further simplify and streamline the logistics of their business and ultimately save money doing so. Click on a link below to learn more about the services we offer and how allowing us to handle these aspects of your business will save you money:
By utilizing Commonwealth's efficiencies and experience to reduce your total cost of distribution, your company can focus its time and money on what really matters in your industry instead of wasting valuable resources on logistics.
Getting goods to their final destination safely, quickly, and cost-effectively is a key step in your supply chain. Let Commonwealth take the burdon of researching freight rates, coordinating pick-ups and deliveries with freight companies, managing the associated paperwork, and handling exceptions off your company's back! We work with TL (truckload) and LTL (less-than-truckload) carriers on a daily, first-name basis. This will save your company time - freeing up key employees to focus on more important fuctions. Commonwealth has developed excellent working relationships with major TL and LTL carriers over the last two decades and only contracts with the best of the best. For more information, see the freight
By allowing Commonwealth to coordinate your freight movements you will also save your company money! Thanks to our customer base of over 120 customers, our sheer volume of TL and LTL freight that we manage is very attractive to freight companies. In order to earn our business, they have given us pricing programs that deeply discount the cost of freight shipments. We have established 80%-85% discounts on LTL freight. Furthermore, these carriers have offered Commonwealth a tiered FAK discount program. For products with higher NMFC freight classes, Commonwealth is able to ship your goods at the reduced cost of the lower classes but with the same insurance provisions of the higher freight classes. Your company can take part in these savings by contracting with Commonwealth! Contact us for a free freight analysis to see how much money we could be saving your company on its freight shipments.
Rail
Commonwealth's Cincinnati facility is served by the IORY short-line, part of Rail America's network. Rail America interchanges seamlessly with all major Class-1 rail roads including CSX, NS, BNSF, UP, and Canada's CN. Commonwealth is located close to the main yard in Cincinnati which is one of the largest rail yards in the US. Being on Rail America's IORY short-line is actually advantageous due to their ability to provide daily multiple switches and overall flexibility.
Commonwealth is experienced in unloading and loading rail cars. We have fork, roll clamp, squeeze clamp, and carpet pole attachments for our lift trucks allowing us to handle just about any type of commodity. Our rail doors are insulated and curtained, allowing for unloading and loading in any weather condition. Currently we unload roll stock paper, wood pulp, lumber, steel, and super sacked goods. Contact us for more information on our rail services.
Ocean Containers
Every year the United States imports millions of shipping containers from overseas. Commonwealth currently works with over a dozen companies whose goods arrive at our warehouse shipped in 20' or 40' ocean containers. We coordinate the pick-up of the container from the Cincinnati rail ramp, the delivery of the container to our facility, the unloading of the goods, and the return of the empty container to the port. We have an excellent working relationship with local draymen who have provided us discounted dray rates due to our large annual volume.
Commonwealth can even unload floor-loaded (unpalletized) containers quickly and efficiently. Typically these loads are unloaded by hand, sorted by SKU, palletized, and stretch wrapped for security before being placed into storage. To ensure count accuracy, our warehousemen perform a blind receiving report of all goods then our clerical staff compares this report to the advanced shipping notice (ASN) or packing list. If a descrepancy is found we immediately notify our customer. This method prevents inventory errors and short-shipping.
Choosing Commonwealth to unload, store, and route your ocean containers is undoubtedly your company's most efficient and cost-effective route. Our staff is more skilled, more reliable, and more cost-efficient than hiring temporary labor to unload your containers. Our facility is set up for speedy unloading and container turnaround time. Our preferred draymen are prompt and reasonably priced.Let Commonwealth take care of your containers and save time and money.
Parcel Distribution
Does your company receive bulk quantities but ship smaller quantities? Commonwealth can manage this type of business. Many of our customers receive truckloads, ocean containers, or LTL shipments of goods but ship out individual boxes or even individual items to distributors or end consumers. Commonwealth has a dedicated area in its facility for such customers equipped with specialty roller rack, boxing & packing materials, digital scales, and print stations specially designed for parcel distribution. Below are a few different methods of pick & pack which we currently perform from simple to complex:
Receive pallets of cases → Pick individual case(s) → ship
Receive pallets of cases → Pick item(s) from case(s) → package → ship
Our state of the art warehouse management system (WMS), 3PLink, has the ability to inventory and manage thousands of individual SKUs and multiple packaging formats... so no account is too complicated. All packages are weighed and labeled for parcel shipment either in UPS WorldShip or FedEx ShipManager. Due to our large annual volume of parcel freight, both UPS and FedEx have given Commonwealth a volume discount from which your company can benefit. Expect savings of up to 21% for commercial shipments and up to 15% for residential shipments. Lastly, we have daily pick-ups from both UPS and FedEx to ensure your products ship on-time.
Freight Management
You may be able to save your company a lot of money by allowing Commonwealth to coordinate your freight shipments. Thanks to our client base of over 120 customers, our sheer volume of TL and LTL freight that we manage is very attractive to freight companies. In order to earn our business, they have given us pricing programs that deeply discount the cost of freight shipments. We have established 80% - 85% discounts on LTL freight. Furthermore, these carriers have offered Commonwealth a tiered FAK program which especially benefits customers whose goods have a high NMFC freight classification. A tiered FAK program allows us to ship higher rated goods for the price of a lower freight class while still providing the insurance coverage of the higher freight class. Your company can take part in these savings by choosing Commonwealth. Contact us for a free freight analysis to see how much money we could save your company on its freight shipments.
Value-Added Services
Commonwealth performs a wide variety of value-added services at the request of its customers. We are set up to palletize, apply labels, barcode goods, stretch wrap pallets, repair damaged boxes, steel or vinyl band/strap pallets, or even perform complex kitting or packaging jobs. Since each business has its own unique needs, please contact us to discuss your particular job in greater detail. No job is too big or too small.
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