First Call Success Story: Mitchell Katz LTL Holiday Rescue

Jan 19, 2024

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Key Takeaways

Mitchell Katz Winery required a crucial down-to-the-minute LTL rescue to meet its annual holiday rush for sparkling wine.
The winery’s initial shipping partner failed to pick up or deliver as promised, lacking visibility and communication.
Through First Call, all 88 cases of sparkling wine were recovered and delivered in under 24 hours at a rate lower than the original carrier’s.

When Traditional LTL Goes Wrong: Stranded Freight Puts Mitchell Katz Winery in a Holiday Bind

The week before Thanksgiving marks one of Mitchell Katz Winery’s busiest seasons.

Based in northern California’s Livermore Valley, the family-owned vineyard sees its annual sparkling wine sales spike dramatically just before Thanksgiving, often selling the seasonal favorite by the caseload as patrons seek quality bubbles for holiday parties, elegant table arrangements and last-minute gift-giving.

This year’s rush would be met with added adversity. Since 2020, Mitch — the winery’s founder and namesake — traditionally retrieved the business’ holiday stock himself, thrilling loyal customers with a yearly “Sparkling Six-Pack” promotion. Losing Mitch to an accident over the summer meant acting Operations Manager Peyton LeGate, along with Mitch’s son and now-CEO Wesley Katz, would be left to manage their club members’ demand for holiday bubbles on their own.

“We had run out of our most popular sparkling wine — one of only three wines we don’t produce in-house — a month prior to Thanksgiving,” LeGate said. “I asked the vendor selling the sparkling for carrier recommendations, then reached out to the first one on their list to secure a Monday delivery, which they confirmed.”

Two pallets bearing 88 cases of sparkling wine sat packed and ready to ship just an hour down the road from Mitchell Katz’ home base, with a highly-recommended carrier agreeing to deliver the load in time for LeGate to make menus, restock inventory and chill the wine for tasting all before Wednesday morning.

The Challenge: Resolving Poor Communication, Visibility and Delays

LeGate was understandably surprised by the lack of updates on her cargo’s status by 8:30 AM Monday, even after making several calls to the carrier’s dispatch number to confirm her delivery window.

“There wasn’t any way to track it,” LeGate said. “I finally made it through to the company for an ETA, but after giving my order number I was informed the freight hadn’t even been picked up yet — and now it “should arrive sometime Wednesday.”

—Peyton Legate, Operations Manager, Mitchell Katz Winery

After months of running the business’ tasting room and winemaking operation without Mitch to guide them, Katz and LeGate found themselves grappling with no shipment visibility, limited communication, an ambiguous delivery window and less than 48 hours to orchestrate a solution the week of Thanksgiving.

“We went back and forth over why I wasn’t informed of the delivery date change,” LeGate said. “All I had was an order number and an email chain — I got nothing after being told the order was confirmed. I was told over the phone there was no way to establish an estimated delivery time.”

…“It was a horribly long morning.”

The Solution: First Call’s LTL Rescue Alternatives

“I was stressing about the situation to a friend who referred me to First Call,” LeGate said. “Within a half-hour I was on the phone with Brock, doing my best to estimate the pallets’ dimensions and weight to see if there was a viable rescue option in the area.”

Brock Hubble, one of First Call’s expert LTL logisticians, had until 1:00 PM to line up an LTL rescue before LeGate’s prior agreement would be ruled ineligible for a refund.

“I’m glad contacts aligned for Peyton,” Hubble said. “I could tell she was in a pinch, and at a horrible time of the season. My goal was to let her know everything would be fine — and that we would get this LTL recovery taken care of.”

Hubble found a same-day solution within the hour, when another wrinkle arose — the pickup location, originally staffed for a Friday afternoon retrieval, would have no one present Monday afternoon to sign off on the rescue.

“LTL recoveries can throw a lot of wrenches into the plan, but thankfully we have done enough of these that we’re flexible to different situations. While I deal directly with the customer, I have a team behind me that makes LTL recoveries run smoothly.”

—Brock Hubble, Sales Consultant, First Call Logistics

The Results: On-Time Delivery and A “Sparkling” Holiday

LeGate arrived at work Tuesday morning having received live email updates from FCL’s freight tracker link every 15 minutes.

“The truck arrived on time with a liftgate and a pallet jack as promised,” LeGate reported. “Though with pallets loaded with wine, the pallet jack actually got stuck before we could move it onto the liftgate!”

The winery’s resident forklift operator Adam Padilla was quickly called in to unload the pallets, which he did without incident. In the spirit of the holidays, the truck driver also received a bottle of Merlot as a thank you for waiting to make sure the job was complete.

“If we went with that original company, we had no guarantee of seeing that delivery in time — we’d have had upset customers holding Thanksgiving feasts without any sparkling,” LeGate said. “Because of the First Call team, we were able to guarantee an on-time delivery, and for less than our original shipment would’ve cost even though it was last-minute and before the holidays.”

Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, Mitchell Katz Winery sold 78 cases of the rescued sparkling wine; LeGate reports looking forward to working with First Call again soon.

FCL: Built For Rapid LTL Solutions

The right shipping partner can be the difference between a successful holiday promotion and a disastrous supply chain delay. First Call’s proactive response to Mitchell Katz Winery’s time-sensitive load illustrates the value of a reliable logistics partner, and the potential for cost-efficient solutions even in seemingly dire circumstances.

Don’t let stranded freight jeopardize your business’ crucial shipments. Contact First Call Logistics today to discuss how our LTL rescue services can keep your supply chain running smoothly. Who knows — you could be our next success story!

Simplify your Next Shipment with First Call Logistics

Building and managing cost-efficient supply chains is a full-time job. First Call’s rare combination of in-house assets, expert problem-solving and track record of stellar customer service makes us the 3PL of choice for business partners with a wide range of shipping needs.

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