How Lineage helped a poultry exporter increase shipping volume 5x...

For protein exporters, growing demand can bring new opportunities, but getting more product to international markets isn't always straightforward. Shipping restrictions, rising logistics costs and the challenge of coordinating multiple providers can make it difficult to increase volume without cutting into margins.

That was the situation facing one international poultry company looking to expand its exports from the southeastern United States to Asia. The company relied on four separate logistics vendors, and regional weight restrictions limited how much product could be loaded into each shipping container.

Lineage was already handling the company's ocean freight forwarding. With plans to increase shipping volume while maintaining a strict cost per pound, the customer turned to Lineage to explore a better way to manage its export operations.

Weight restrictions and four separate vendors were making poultry exports harder to scale

The company's existing approach had worked, but higher volumes were beginning to expose its limitations.

One issue was how much product could go into a container. Because of regional weight restrictions, the original shipping arrangement limited loads to roughly 40,000 pounds. That left a considerable amount of container space unused.

Then there was the coordination involved. With four vendors handling different services, sorting out a shipment issue could mean making four different phone calls. The company was spending too much time managing those relationships while also paying for services that might be more economical if handled together.

Those challenges mattered more as export demand grew. The company couldn't simply keep adding shipments and expect its cost per pound to stay where it needed to be.

Moving export operations through Houston allowed 50% more poultry per container

Lineage's commercial and operations teams looked at the customer's shipping process and found an opportunity to change where containers were loaded.

Rather than continuing with the original arrangement in the Southeast, poultry would move to Lineage's facility in Houston, Texas. There, shipments could be cross-docked, inspected and loaded into containers before heading to the Port of Houston.

The difference was substantial. Loads that had been limited to approximately 40,000 pounds could now reach as much as 60,000 pounds per container.

That gave the company a way to move more poultry using its available container space, without increasing the cost of shipping each pound.

Bringing transportation, warehousing and freight forwarding together reduced the coordination burden

The new route also gave Lineage an opportunity to bring more of the export process under one roof.

The operation begins with manufacturing and pickup in the Southeast, followed by processing, post-production treatment and warehousing in Louisiana. Shipments then move to Houston for inspection and export preparation, followed by drayage to the port and ocean freight forwarding to Asia.

Instead of managing separate vendors at each stage, the customer could work through one Lineage contact.

That made a meaningful difference. The company now has fewer parties to coordinate when something needs attention and a clearer picture of where their products are in the supply chain.

It also means the customer can take advantage of Lineage's existing network and services rather than continuing to piece together its own logistics arrangements.

Monthly export volume grew from four to 20 containers with no increase in cost per pound

The changes give the poultry company room to grow without losing control of shipping costs. Monthly exports increased from four containers to 20, while the cost per pound stayed the same.

The results included:

• 5x shipping volume: Monthly exports grew from four containers to 20.
• 0% increase in cost per pound: The company maintained its cost model as shipments increased.
• Up to 60,000 pounds per container: Loads increased from approximately 40,000 pounds.
• One point of contact: Four separate vendor relationships were replaced with a single logistics contact.

Getting more poultry into each container was a major part of that success. Just as important was having transportation, warehousing and export services working together instead of operating independently.

A different approach to poultry exports created room for growth

For this customer, the answer wasn't simply finding more trucks or booking more containers. It was reconsidering the route its products took and who handled them along the way.

By using our Houston facility and bringing more logistics services together, Lineage helped the poultry exporter move five times the monthly volume while keeping its cost per pound unchanged.

This example shows how a different approach to transportation, warehousing and freight forwarding can open up opportunities that aren't always obvious when each service is managed separately.