Capital Logistics Uses Descartes Solutions to Help Grocery Retailers With COVID-19 Driven Volatility

Descartes Systems Group, the global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, announced that White Plains, NY-based Capital Logistics, a full service logistics provider with extensive expertise in domestic temperature-controlled transportation, is using the Descartes MacroPoint™ real-time freight visibility solution and Descartes Aljex™ transportation management system (TMS) to move and track loads for national grocery customers, which have dramatically increased as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As our customers focus on keeping food supply chains functioning, having real-time visibility into the status of critical freight has increased our ability to keep pace with the unpredictable demand grocery stores are experiencing,” said Greg Ackner, Vice President at Capital Logistics. “In one case, we went from moving 2-3 truckloads of milk per week to distribution centers serving multiple states to 50-60 truckloads per week. The Descartes Aljex solution also helped us maintain exemplary service while shifting seamlessly to a work-from-home environment to keep our employees safe.”

Descartes Aljex is a cloud-based TMS designed for freight brokers. It automates planning, tendering and dispatching, as well as back office functions including accounting, invoicing and reporting. The integration with Descartes MacroPoint provides real-time freight visibility to automatically track loads, greatly reducing the manual efforts for track and trace teams. Descartes Aljex receives real-time predictive alerts from Descartes MacroPoint, so users truly manage by exception and can be more proactive in serving their shipper customers.

Given the desire to do more to help during the COVID-19 pandemic, Capital Logistics was able to leverage Descartes’ solutions to successfully participate in the Million Gallons Challenge, an ambitious project launched in Peekskill, New York, to bring the restaurant industry together to help feed those in need. Capital Logistics along with its partner Conri Services of Hawthorne, NY volunteered a solution for refrigerated shipping and storage to support the program’s distribution needs.

“We’re honored to enable Capital Logistics to keep critical grocery shipments moving for their customers and help their community during these challenging times,” said Brian Hodgson, SVP Industry Solutions at Descartes. “By ordinary standards, moving perishable cargo requires comprehensive transportation management, real-time visibility, and the flexibility to respond effectively to disruptions—all of which are significantly more important now.”