Case Study: a large retailing company reduces detention fees and empty container returns with C3 Solutions

Large Retailing Company - Customer Case Study

a large retailing company faced significant challenges in managing the return of empty shipping containers to port. The manual, Excel-based process was labor-intensive, prone to errors, and led to frequent detention fees for exceeding free time limits and bobtail fees when drivers left empty-handed. This lack of visibility and yard space constraints negatively impacted their operations.

C3 Solutions implemented its Yard Management System (YMS) and C3 Reservations scheduling platform to automate the process. The solution created a new priority ranking system based on free time expiration and detention rates to auto-assign the optimal empty container for drivers to return. This provided full visibility, automated notifications, and eliminated the manual spreadsheet. For C3 Solutions, this resulted in saving four hours of labor per day and significantly reduced detention and administrative costs.