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.
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.”
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.
