Caito Foods is one the nation’s premier distributors of fresh fruits and vegetables. Caito Foods was struggling to implement an Intermodal program, and because of that, they were missing out on the opportunity to realize cost savings, improve environmental impact, and gain valuable capacity.

The Problem

Getting intermodal off the ground

Caito Foods is one the nation’s premier distributors of fresh fruits and vegetables. They were struggling to implement an Intermodal program, and because of that, they were missing out on the opportunity to realize cost savings, improve environmental impact, and gain valuable capacity.

Caito Foods had all the tools to implement an Intermodal program. It just took some additional guidance—and SpartanNash Logistics (formerly BRT) was more than ready to provide it.

The Solution

Making a solid conversion

Leveraging their deep knowledge, experts from SpartanNash Logistics helped Caito Foods select a small handful of buyers, commodities, and lanes to take Intermodal to market, with a commitment to convert 10 loads per week. The business was then taken out to bid to multiple Intermodal providers before selecting one provider to manage the program.

The business impact

An immediate business impact

In the first 9 months of the program, Caito Foods saved $400k. In addition, freeing up 10 trucks per week that were hauling the Intermodal loads before conversion allowed Caito Foods to better level their relationships with the trucking companies. This helped ensure seasonal spikes in volume did not also spike rates. And because SpartanNash Logistics was able to secure expedited rail service, the Intermodal on-time percentage was better by 6 points compared to OTR (over the road).