How This Growing Shipper Cut LTL Freight Costs by 35% with Coyote
About BBQGrills.com
BBQGrills.com is a small, rapidly growing business specializing in premium BBQ grills, outdoor kitchen equipment and other outdoor living products.
They ship from their network of five U.S. warehouses, as well as direct from manufacturers. Most of their freight is e-commerce, shipped direct-to-consumer via LTL.
Coyote Services They Rely On:
Challenges & Results
BBQGrills.com’s Challenge:
Finding a reliable freight provider that could make LTL shipping easier while still offering competitive pricing.
Results with Coyote:
With Coyote’s dedicated LTL operations team, BBQGrills.com was able to support their growing freight volumes and spend less time focused on shipping, all while reducing cost and improving service.
- Reduced shipping costs by 35%
- Reduced damage claims by 75%
Firing Up a Small Business During a Pandemic
Ryan Maltbie has been working in the barbeque grill industry for over 15 years. During that time, he’s seen supply chains undergo massive transformation as more and more businesses started shipping grills direct-to-consumer via e-commerce.
But Ryan felt something was missing. He wanted to create a better e-commerce experience for people when they were looking to upgrade their backyards.
In January of 2020, he founded BBQGrills.com, with a focus on sourcing premium products, providing excellent customer service, and shipping fast and on-time.
His strategy paid off, and as more people looked to turn their backyards into a staycation (driven by the COVID-19 pandemic), BBQGrills.com took off, netting over $1 million in sales during its first year.
But rapid growth meant more shipments, and the business quickly outgrew its shipping operations.
“Launching a business can be a roller coaster of emotions — doing it in 2020 was a roller coaster x15.”
– Ryan Maltbie, Founder & CEO, BBQGrills.com
Managing a Nationwide LTL Supply Chain in a Growing Business
As an e-commerce focused business, BBQGrills.com has to support shipping to customers across the country, and providing quick, reliable transit is essential to its success.
To support its supply chain, the business uses a network of warehouses, including locations in Louisiana, California and Texas.
Ryan also leverages his deep industry relationships to source and ship product from dealers and manufacturers directly to the customer, so BBQGrills.com shipping origins can change just as often as the destination.
As is often the case for entrepreneurs, Ryan oversaw all of the transportation operations, as well as marketing, bookkeeping, customer service, and everything else that a quickly scaling business needs.
Long story short, Ryan needed some support.
He needed an LTL provider with nationwide coverage, responsive service, the expertise to make his life easier, and reasonable pricing to protect his bottom line.
How BBQGrills.com Outsourced LTL Operations & Cut Costs by 35% with Coyote
Going into 2021, Ryan’s main goals was to pull himself back from daily operations so he could focus on marketing and growing the business.
When his Coyote rep David asked him if BBQGrills.com’s current LTL provider…
- Gave them an operations team to support all shipments?
- Generates BOLs?
- Tracked PRO numbers?
- Handled all the logistics from pickup to delivery?
…Ryan saw an opportunity to make shipping easier.
He made the switch, bringing all BBQGrills.com’s LTL network over to Coyote.
BBQGrills.com LTL Solution from Coyote
We built a solution that gave the business the scale, flexibility and support it needed to service its customers. Here’s how it works:
- An order comes into BBQGrills.com’s system.
- BBQGrills.com determines optimal warehouse location or vendor and sends order to their Coyote team.
- Coyote team creates pricing and carrier options for Ryan’s review & approval.
- Once approved, Coyote team books carrier, generates BOL, and coordinates with the warehouse.
- Coyote team tracks and manages the entire shipment, from pickup through delivery.
“When price is the main aspect, you’re going to lose a lot of things on the back end, like communication, freight damage and freight claims.
With Coyote, we can take shipping off of our plate and pass it over to them.”
– Ryan Maltbie, Founder & CEO, BBQGrills.com
What’s Next for BBQGrills.com?
As more people look to upgrade their backyards into an oasis, BBQGrills.com will continue to grow.
So far, they’ve more than doubled sales in their second year.
In the coming months, Ryan is expanding the supplier base, adding dozens of new premium brands to their distribution network.
He is also building more relationships with architects for custom build-outs, and expanding the product line into fire pits and more premium backyard products.
More growth means bigger orders. As Ryan continues to cultivate relationships with manufacturers, full truckload shipments are on the horizon.
Fortunately for BBQGrills.com, they are already working with a dependable 3PL with a diverse, multi-modal solutions portfolio.
Spend Less Time Managing LTL Operations, More Time Growing Your Business
Leverage CoyoteGO®, our digital freight platform, to get instant LTL quotes, select carriers, build shipments, get real-time tracking, and manage payments — all for free, and all on demand.
If you want to learn more about how Coyote operations can make shipping easier for you, talk to one of our LTL specialists.