Lone Star Overnight (LSO)

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LSO Flexes Capacity to Meet Productivity Targets, Reduce Lead Times

Lone Star Overnight (LSO) is a regional logistics company in the southwest that saw a massive increase in demand for its services early in 2021. As ecommerce boomed and supply chain issues continued to crop up, the company needed a way to respond to ever changing volume demands. LSO’s Dallas hub had a high target for productivity and was struggling to keep workers. The static method of staffing wasn’t working, as LSO senior supervisor Don Benson shared. His facility’s target productivity level was 110, but they were hovering in the mid 80s.

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When Benson found Veryable, he realized that he didn’t have to keep backfilling his attrition with full-time employees and depending on a rigid staffing approach. Instead, he could find on-demand workers only when they were needed. And best of all, he could base his decisions on his productivity needs in real time. “Last year we started ramping up, getting more volume,” says Benson. “When Veryable came in, it really helped us out by giving us the flexibility of being able to pick our people, maybe even the same day. If I get up in the morning and go, ‘Oh geez, I need 10 more people,’ and post an opportunity for 10 people, I might have 25 people bid.”

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Flexing capacity daily

As Benson sought to influence the productivity of his facility, he brought in the necessary amount of on-demand labor on a daily basis. He added flex shifts to spread out his workers and added on-demand labor to boost productivity to meet daily targets. On days when there was less demand, Benson simply didn’t invite more on-demand workers. That way his headcount was tied directly to output in real time.

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“I think at one point we had 40 people coming in on average. We've ramped that down to about 25, but I can see now it's going to be building back up,” says Benson. “During the day, if I see that we're short, I like that I can make changes.”

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Over time, Benson built a labor pool of on-demand workers who we knew he could count on. These workers had worked in his facility before and performed well, so he added them to a favorites list to create a labor pool with more workers than he would need on any given day. The instant, flexible capacity of on-demand labor enabled LSO to respond in real time to demand.'

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Reaching targets with confidence

With the ability to make changes to labor capacity daily, Benson was able to get the Dallas hub back on target. The facility soon reached its productivity goal and has been consistently achieving it ever since. “I can tell you that since Veryable came in, for the last six months, we've been at our productivity target because we've been able to shift the hours around,” says Benson.

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“It's because of the flexibility I have with Veryable to be able to pick from that big pool of people. It makes it very easy for me. If we're up 30% and I'm using 25 people, now I need 35 people. It's just easier to work the numbers. The pool of people Veryable has just makes it totally easy to meet my goals.” Now, Benson is confident that he will achieve any goals he has in the future because of the flexible capacity he has created. He spread word to his coworkers, and now multiple LSO facilities use Veryable to respond to demand with agility.

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