Freight visibility: A wine and spirits distributor’s competitive advantage

Reputation is everything.

Wine and spirits distributors eyeing sustainable growth, like you, must not only develop strong partnerships with producers, but build trusted relationships with retail customers to get those California wines and Kentucky Bourbons to market, as well.

That’s where innovative freight visibility tools can deliver a competitive edge—helping you protect your business from cargo theft, create operational efficiencies, and deliver superior service. But getting there? It’s no easy feat.

Legacy tech and proprietary systems throw up massive obstacles for many. There’s the time and expense, of course, and migrating massive data stores is inherently complex. Then, you have training rollouts to consider, potentially massive IT department layoffs, and data retention compliance.

When one wine and spirits distributor expanded its footprint through acquisition, each of the companies it brought under its umbrella was on a different platform. Migrating to a single, modern system took them 15 years.

So, you can hardly blame those who take an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach.

Layering in visibility—and, most critically, real-time tracking—to your freight consolidation program, however, is critical.

The good news: A modern freight consol partner can help you bridge that gap and beat the competition. And to be absolutely crystal clear—not every brokerage offers this level of visibility.

4 key benefits of freight visibility for wine and spirits distributors

1) Protect against rising fraud and cargo theft

Risk analysts at Verisk CargoNet have reported unprecedented levels of cargo theft in 2024. From double brokering schemes to burglaries and trailer theft, all were elevated—especially in known cargo theft hotspots, like Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, and New York City. Unfortunately, the firm expects the threat to rise in 2025.

The simple fact is this is an arms race. As brokers, shippers, and carriers ratchet up their security, crime syndicates find increasingly sophisticated ways to stay two steps ahead of them. They’re continuously evolving their methods and targeting to exploit supply chain vulnerabilities.

That’s where telematics come in. With real-time shipment tracking, track and trace teams can monitor freight movements, spot red flags like route detours and unauthorized stops, and intervene while there’s still time.

What does this look like in the wine and spirits consolidation space? In our case:

• Intermodal loads are tracked through railroads signals, which are visible through our customer portal
  
• OTR shipments go out with trusted carriers who deliver real-time tracking via ELD logs; carriers we’ve developed deep relationships with which also protects against fraud and identity theft

2) Prioritize hot orders

It’s critical that alcoholic beverage distributors, like you, are able to tap as close to real-time information as possible. Not only does it empower you to make better, faster decisions, it helps you cement your reputation as a reliable retail partner.

Let’s say it’s Tuesday, and you have an order that simply has to get on a Friday truck. You can key in your PO to see where it is in the timeline and, if it hasn’t been picked up from the producer, you can flag it as an urgent or hot order. Without even having to pick-up the phone, you can alert your logistics partner to your new prioritization. Ultimately, this helps them get your most time-sensitive orders onto the next outbound truck to your destination.

That’s not something that can be easily done when the data isn’t right at your fingertips.

3) Deliver proactive customer communication

Exceptional customer care is how you strengthen relationships and set yourself apart from the competition. Visibility tools help you deliver.

If a customer calls to check on the status of their order, you can share the precise location of their shipment and offer an accurate ETA without ever having to play phone tag with your broker.

Or, let’s say you’re moving cases of Napa Valley wines over the road for delivery in New Jersey on a Thursday. If the driver encounters a snowstorm in the Rockies, the conditions could force them to park their truck. A track and trace team that’s carefully monitoring your load through these same visibility tools can alert you that the order will be delivered on a Friday. While certainly not ideal, this advanced warning allows you to proactively communicate with your clients.

4) Create operational efficiencies (and peace of mind)

Freight consolidation involves a lot of moving pieces. When you’re picking up 80 cases of Bourbon in one location, bringing it back to a dock and loading it on a truck with 14 other POs, there’s a lot of extra handling involved—and that creates added room for error.

A modern customer portal gives you visibility right down to the truck and order level, so you have confidence that your freight consol partner will deliver the right case count. When everything is counted, weighed, and confirmed against your retail orders, your logistics partner can even send it to you in a report.

At the end of the day, this helps ensure your customers don’t encounter stockouts on items you’ve promised them.

How do we approach visibility?

We recognize that every customer has different needs. So, while we leverage the industry’s leading TMS and our wine and spirits distribution partners share how easy our customer portal is to use, we also customize our reporting to fit your requirements.

Want portal access? Great. But not everyone does. For those who prefer a simple, daily report, we’re also happy to share updates via an Excel sheet. That’s the beauty of our process and system. They’re fully customizable, so we can provide visibility into your orders in the way that works best for you.

At the end of the day, this visibility helps you burnish your reputation and grow your business.