(upbeat music) - What's up guys? Welcome to Q&A Mondays. I'm Thad Barnett. Today we're looking at
the shipping process for Sheffield Metals from start to finish and everything you need
to know as a customer. So help me out. I've got Mike and Kamara
from Sheffield Metals. Thanks guys for being here. Let's start with just an overview. Give me a 30 second, quick overview of what the shipping process
is like for Sheffield Metals. - [Kamara] Basically the
first step is to determine the best shipping me
method for your order. So that'll be determined based
on how large your order is. We'll do a custom quote for you and then it'll be produced
and packaged by our ops team and then load it on a truck
and shipped out to you. - So can you define those different shipping options for customers? What do all those mean and kind of how do they get involved in the shipping process that way? - Yeah, so when you hear somebody talk about an LTL, that stands
for less than truckload, it's your smaller shipments. You know, a full truckload is
about 45,000 pounds or less. So when you're looking at a
shipment less than that, eight, 10,000 pounds, you're gonna
be using an LTL to ship, that less than truckload. That's your common carriers
like UPS, Old Dominion, you know, AAA Cooper,
Southeastern Freight, things like that. The common carriers you see on the road, that is an LTL truck. That is not a point A to B shipment. That's the trucks that go
in and out of terminals, regional terminals and
then deliver that way. For larger shipments,
say over 10,000 pounds, up to about 15,000 pounds, you
can use a hotshot delivery. So a hotshot delivery
is typically gonna be a gooseneck trailer pulled
by a dually pickup truck. That's a point A to B shipment. It's considered a dedicated
truck and like I said, it ships up to about 15,000 pounds. We utilize those a lot
for job site deliveries or heavier shipments that we're concerned about getting damaged on LTL carriers. Think of that as like just a step under a full truckload or a flatbed. So over 15,000 pounds, especially
when you're shipping a lot of flat sheets, that's when we'll go ahead and start talking about
doing a full truckload, which for us, is typically
a flatbed shipment, up to 45,000 pounds. Again, that's a dedicated truck so it's usually a point A to B. It doesn't stop in terminals
or anything like that. And when we ship on a flatbed that is a tarped load, so it's protected from the elements, it
doesn't get rained on. We also, from time to time can utilize what's called drive vans. So that's an enclosed
trailer that looks very much like your typical common
carrier, but we can we can book those as as
dedicated trucks as well. So if a customer has a loading
dock and say 40,000 pounds of coils they would like
delivered, we can ship it in what's called a drive
van as a full truckload. - So what are the typical
lead times when it comes to Sheffield's products and what
kind of effects those times? - Yeah, so our standard lead times, typically three to four business days. So we, we call it three
days plus 10:00 AM. If you place your order before 10:00 AM, we quote a three business day turnaround for production and shipping. If you place your order after
10:00 AM, it's gonna be, it's gonna fall on the fourth day. So that'll be four business
days, turnaround shipping and of course, you know,
exclusions apply, right? So if stock is not on the floor, if there's a back order
situation, it can affect that. But as a standard rule of thumb, three to four business days
to process and ship an order. - So who actually does the
shipping for Sheffield Metals? - So each of our branches has someone that's a shipping coordinator, that's gonna be the point
person that interacts with the freight companies,
kind of acts as the liaison between the freight
companies and the customers. And they're the ones
that book the shipments, arrange the paperwork such as
bill of ladings, packing lists and they also work with
the brokers to get flatbeds and dedicated truckloads secured. Pretty common misconception is that that we're running our own trucks or we have a Sheffield trucking line. So especially with regional
shipments, a lot of times if we tell a customer, "Hey,
this is shipping out today," they may think that that
means it's gonna deliver within an hour or two if they're close by. And that's a pretty common misconception. So we do not run our own
trucks, we don't have our own dispatches running
our own trucking line. We work with a a lot of
partners nationwide who vary from common carriers to actually
domestic freight brokers. And the freight brokers are great partners for us because they allow us
to shop different options, different truckloads, different pricing going to different locations. So when, when we secure
a truck for a customer, it's not a Sheffield truck,
it's a third party asset owned by a brokerage or owned
by a common carrier. - Let's move on to talking about when a customer receives
material or accessories or an order from Sheffield. What are the steps customers need to take
when receiving products when it comes to
inspection, safe handling, proper storage and those kind of things? - So first and foremost,
you know the biggest thing with accepting a delivery
from us is you wanna make sure that you're not accepting
damaged material. When we ship on a common carrier, it's not a point A to B shipment. So it's gonna go into a terminal where it
may be there overnight and then it's loaded onto another truck and
go out for delivery. So things can happen, as we all know, when material passes
through these warehouses they can be hit with
forklifts, dropped, et cetera. So you wanna make sure that
you're not signing free and clear for some damaged material. So first thing you do when
a truck hits your dock, you're gonna want to inspect everything. With coil deliveries it's gonna be a little bit
easier to identify damage. They're usually packed
high to the sky on a skid and you can kind of
inspect the coil easily to make sure it's not
dented, damage, dropped. A big concern for us is
shipping flat sheets. It is a lot easier to conceal
damage on a flat sheet skid, so they're usually packed with
cardboard corner protectors and a cardboard piece over top. So you may not necessarily be able to look at the skid and say, "Hey,
this has got damage." It's very important to try
your best to examine the skid, make sure you don't see
anything outta whack and if you do have concerns,
it's best practice to go ahead and open that skid while
the driver's still there and make sure that the
sheets aren't damaged. If you find that product is damaged, and they're wanting to
deliver the material, probably the easiest thing to do as far as the claims process is
concerned is to reject delivery. So if you reject the shipment
for the freight carrier due to damage, they're
going to return it back to the point of origin and
it's gonna make it a lot easier for us to file a freight claim with the comp the freight company. If material is usable but
you still have concerns that it might be slightly damaged, the next best thing is to go
ahead and take as many pictures as possible and note the
damage on your paperwork. Do not sign free and clear
for a damaged delivery. So you see some concerns, you still wanna accept the material because you think it's
usable, you must note on the bill of lading that
you're accepting damaged material and take as many pictures as possible. Well, we need everything we can so that if we have to go back to a freight company and file
a claim on that material, we need as much ammo as possible. So document, document, document. - So speaking of you
know, protecting material during shipment, what does
Sheffield do ahead of time? You know, loading coils,
flat sheets, packaging, things like that to protect the material? - So we actually have a lot of things in place to try
to protect this material. We use extra banding. So we have recently implemented, especially if there's
multiple coils on one skid, like if it's smaller cuts they
have putting extra banding in to make sure they're all secure. We have purchased heavy duty skids for like Mike was mentioning,
our flat sheets usually, cause the most issues
because they're four by 10. So we make sure that we package
those on heavy duty skids. They have the cardboard edge
guards like Mike mentioned. We've also implemented as a
branch to use metal edge guards in some circumstances when it is going LTL and going to be handled
by multiple people. We put down wax paper on the skid before we put the coil on
to protect for any moisture or wetness that might
possibly hit the coil. We make sure that every shipment that
leaves this building is tarped, so that you know, to protect
from any weather damage. And then also recently we've
implemented using insurance through the carriers. We have a few carriers
that offer insurance and we can put that on,
especially when, like I said, it comes to the larger four by 10 skids. So there, if there is damage we should be able to file
that claim and get reimbursed. - When it comes to communication, what types of information
do you provide to customers? How important is that communication between Sheffield and customers
during the shipping process? - The communication's
probably the biggest component of the logistics process. So there's so many different scenarios for deliveries that we've
gotta capture ahead of time so that we know how to
book the freight appropriately. You know, is it a job site delivery? Is there a point person
at the site that needs to be contacted in advance? Is there a loading dock available? Are there forklifts available? So there's so many
factors that go into these deliveries that we try to
capture it all upfront. The more information we
can get from the customer, the better off we are when
we try to secure a truck. It makes identifying the type of truck or the the carrier much easier for us. - Also, the communication
is very important for the notes that we put
on the bill of lading. Once again, if there's
specific receiving hours, we can list that on the bill of lading and that way the driver gets a copy of that bill of lading when they pick up and they're able to see if
they have to call one hour before delivery, if they have
to schedule an appointment, if there is a lift gate required. So that communication and being able to relay that information on the bill of lading really
helps the delivery go smoother. - What types of potential risks and challenges can customers face during the shipping process? - Well, just like anything,
Fad there, accidents happen. So we've actually had
scenarios where trucks get into an accident on the way to a delivery and material
doesn't deliver on time. In the construction world,
that could be a big deal. A lot of this stuff is time sensitive, especially when you're
talking about somebody tearing off a roof and expecting material to come in so that they can roll form panels. So that's always a concern for us. We wanna make sure that
when we ship material and tell a customer that their
materials out for delivery that that actually happens. So things like weather,
traffic, vehicle accidents, things of that nature can definitely be a big
concern for those deliveries. - How do you handle
situations where a customer needs to change their shipping
requirements or schedule? - So ideally, like we spoke previously, having that communication
upfront is very helpful but if something needs to be changed or added after it is
shipped, the best way to do it is to contact your
Sheffield Metals rep and then we will reach out to that carrier and add
that information such as the appointment is
needed or or whatnot. So, you know, we definitely
wanna do whatever we can to accommodate our customers, make sure that the deliveries go smooth and work with our carriers. - And I do think also
it's important to note, if you're making changes to your delivery after a shipment has already
gone out, we can do it. But that involves a reconsignment
with the freight company. And so when you change like a delivery address
with a freight company, and it's reconsigned to a new
address, it's best to keep in mind that that does add
lead time to your delivery and it's gonna add additional
cost to your shipment. So yes, we can make changes
after material has already left, but there is cost and lead time involved. - What else haven't we covered
that you know is important for a customer to know
about the shipping process? - I think just to
reiterate, Mike touched on, if you are receiving damaged
material, take pictures, that's the key. So, and then reaching out to the, your Sheffield Metals rep
also right away so that way if you refuse it, we can
file that claim right away if you accept it, but
notice that some material is damaged after the fact, take pictures. We can then file a claim on that. We wanna make sure that you get the best quality
material that you can. So if we need to send out replacements, we wanna do that in a timely manner. So take pictures, reach out to us and we'll get it corrected for you. - Not only is damage important to note but things like skid count. When you look at your bill of lading, it's gonna tell you how many skids, it's gonna tell you who
it's being shipped to. And those are big things
because you could be getting somebody else's
material by mistake. You could have a delivery
that includes eight skids and you could be signing for six skids, which means you're missing two skids. That's a pretty common problem. If you don't count the skids
you're signing for and find out after the fact, well
technically you've signed free and clear for a delivery. So as far as the freight
company's concerned, the paperwork says you got it. So that makes it kind of hard to track down your missing skids
if it's been signed for. - That's a really, really good point. Once again, if, if you get
the bill of lading, or I mean, if you get the delivery
receipt and you need to make a special note on that,
that you are one skid short, any information that
you can provide to put on that delivery receipt is
recorded in the carrier system and that really helps with the process. - And if you have questions, you, your best bet is to reach out to Sheffield before the
driver leaves your dock. If there's any question at all as far as what the process should look
like or what you should do, pick up the phone and call Sheffield and we will be able to kind of direct you on how to handle that. - So the bill of lading and so what they can do is
they can sign it and accept it but they can say one skid short. - So what about products other
than metal coils and sheets? You know, what kind of shipping options are
there for accessories? - So what we usually do when
people order clips and screws and other accessories along
with the coils and the sheets, we can actually put it inside the coil or on
top of the sheets skid. So what that does is it saves you shipping on those accessories. There are also times
where people will need they'll find out that they're short on tub of screws or they're
missing a box of clips or they need something. We have overnighted clips. We can do that. We have overnight UPS, we have two day. So if you are in a real jam and you need an accessory
as soon as possible, we can help you out on that. - All right. Well, Mike, Kamara, thank you very much for the information you've shared about the Sheffield
metal shipping process. If you have any questions, comment down below or reach out to
your Sheffield Metals rep, they'd be happy to answer
all your questions. Subscribe here to the
Metal Roofing channel. As always, I'm Thad Barnett,
we'll catch you next time. (upbeat music)
