Optimizing horticulture logistics cultivates imported plant supplier's growth
At a glance
An imported live plants supplier tapped McClay’s Logistics to launch its truck program, intelligently cut cross-border transportation costs, grow market share, and expand into new markets.
Client profile
Industry: Horticulture
Company: Global
Impact
- 98% on-time delivery performance, up from 97.6%
- 15.5% YOY Michigan truck program growth in 2025
- Thousands in cross-border transportation cost savings
Business
A leader in the horticulture industry, this U.S.-based company’s vibrant flowers, ornamental plants, and other live plant products have inspired joy among gardeners for more than a century. Getting its start in the wholesale cut flower business, the family-owned enterprise now supports plant research, breeding, production, and distribution operations in 20 countries around the globe.
Opportunity
The company’s in-house supplier of imported, unrooted plant cuttings spotted fresh opportunities to launch a truck program and deliver even better customer service.
But it needed an agile, new logistics partner.
“Temperature control and time in transit are absolutely critical in our business,” says the international logistics manager. “Science happens in that box as soon as we close it; delays will kill our plants.”
The company needed a partner it could count on for responsive communication and carrier resource availability to support its existing refrigerated transportation needs. It also promised its customers a truck program to simplify horticultural product distribution in Michigan.
“We spent two or three months just calling..and calling..and calling,” says the manager of their labor-intensive search. “We were getting nowhere and starting to get nervous that we wouldn’t pull it off.”
Then he recalled a former, trusted colleague had launched a successful 3PL, and they made the call. McClay’s Logistics was the partner they had been searching for.
Solutions
Labor planning is mission-critical for this horticultural company’s customers. Everything is very tightly orchestrated; the work requires lots of coordination and comes with incredible pressure to get the details right.
McClay’s brought the experienced team and cutting-edge tech necessary to boost the company’s operational KPIs.
- Real-time freight tracking
- Highly responsive communication
- After-hours and weekend resource availability
- Expanded asset availability
“We got the carriers and trucks we need,” says the analyst. “Not just sprinter vans but reefers, box trucks, warehouses, and cross-dock facilities. It’s not uncertain anymore.”
Solution: Michigan final mile truck program
The promised Michigan truck program? McClay’s delivered the sprinter vans necessary to launch the final mile service, and their commitment to collaboration improved it.
Kalamazoo, Michigan is host to a high concentration of greenhouses, and the sprinter van driver was routed from location to location to execute deliveries. The greenhouses at the end of the route, however, were getting their product late in the day. Not ideal.
McClay’s worked with the company’s sales rep to transform the 20-drop route into a three-drop route with customers willing to serve as hubs and others happy to pick up their boxes. The result: A week after the initial implementation, all customers were able to secure their product before noon.
Solution: South Texas cross-docking
The horticulture company operates two production farms in Mexico; each a separate shipper—a fact that introduces added transportation costs.
“We’re shipping live plants to the border,” says the manager, “so the USDA has to inspect them and ensure they don’t have any pests or disease. Because of that, we’re shipping half-truckloads from these two farms. We can’t combine the two shipments because if a pest is found in one the USDA will quarantine the entire truck. We just can’t take that risk.”
Once over the border, the company didn’t want to ship partial truckloads to Atlanta. It was on the hunt for cost savings to protect its margins.
McClay’s solved the challenge. Sourcing a refrigerated cross-dock facility in South Texas, it temporarily stored and combined partial truckload shipments onto single trucks for the U.S. leg of the journey.
To launch the new cross-border shipping program without a hitch, McClay’s senior national operations manager, Matt, traveled to the border to better understand the new client’s process.
“That he was willing to come down and spend that time with us, as well as visit the distribution location in Atlanta, has made the process much smoother,” says the analyst.
Impact
Driving business growth and market expansion
Since partnering, McClay’s has helped the company grow its Atlanta and Michigan markets. In fact, the analyst reports that the Michigan truck program has already grown by 15.5% this year.
On the heels of this success, the company is now partnering with McClay’s to develop a similar truck program in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Saving thousands on cross-border transportation costs
The company expects to realize significant transportation savings through McClay’s Texas cross-docking solution.
“We’re watching our costs,” the manager says, “and they work really hard on creating cost-effectiveness. We won’t know how much we’ll save on this program until our analyst does her cost analysis at the close of the season, but we know it’s going to save us money. Definitely thousands of dollars, I have no doubt.”
Boosting customer satisfaction and reducing claims
McClay’s has built robust systems and repeatable processes that empower them to support no-fail shipping customers. And no-fail is definitely the name of the game when moving live perishable products.
“Customers will literally have people standing there waiting to process orders,” says the manager. “If the truck doesn’t show up, certain customers will claim their labor back to us, not just the product. Being able to deliver on time and communicate with our customers is critical.”
With McClay’s, the company’s on-time delivery improved to 98%. Not only does this performance improvement, paired with real-time visibility, boost customer satisfaction, it has also minimized claims.”
Experience
McClay’s cares for its customers like family, bringing humanity to the grind of the supply chain. Rolling with the punches, its people are solutions-focused and customer-driven. The horticulture industry customer sees this philosophy play out in its relationship.
“You can go to them with anything at any time,” says the analyst. “When we do, they’re on it. They always ask what more they can do.”
She notes that her contact, Matt, is extremely easy to work with. They stay in constant communication to work through her logistics challenges.
Before McClay’s, her job was incredibly challenging.
“I had our analyst working Saturday, Sunday, all night long, trying to find carriers going into the week,” says the manager. “She was calling other providers after hours, and they got frustrated. She was also communicating with upset customers when things didn’t go as planned and without visibility into where our shipments were.”
McClay’s brought a commitment to strategic partnership to the table—and sanity to their entire team. Now, they’re empowered to work smarter as they grow.
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