PLS Logistics Services

The strongest link┬áPLS Logistics Services turns logistics into a competitive advantage for its clientsÔÇÖ business through a partnership of people and technology. Pittsburgh Logistics Systems, founded in 1991, started with seven employees and a single metals customer. Two hundred employees and more than 800 customers later, the company has started doing business as PLS Logistics Services in order to better reflect the reach of its expertise and commitment to become the strongest link in its customersÔÇÖ supply chain. PLS manages freight transportation and provides technology-based, custom third party logistics for companies in the automotive, building products, lumber, metals, and nuclear power industries. The company has averaged over 30 percent annual growth since its founding, creating new service offerings for customers, and new growth opportunities and challenges for its employees. One key to the companyÔÇÖs growth is its significant investment in its people. PLS has developed a top notch training program for new employees and insists on continuous training for all existing employees. The company recently installed Learn.com, an online training and logistics management software that is the worldwide leader in on-demand workforce development and productivity. ÔÇ£We chose the Learn.com LearnCenter platform because it will provide us with the ability to do a large portion of our training through online courses,ÔÇØ said Corie Masor, training coordinator at PLS. ÔÇ£We needed a robust platform that could handle all of our needs. We researched a number of different LMSs before finally choosing Learn.com. What it really came down to was customer service. Learn.com was always ready and available to assist us.ÔÇØPLS also gives its customers a wide variety of comprehensive logistics management services and supply chain solutions that improve efficiency and customer service and reduce costs, allowing customers to focus on their core competencies for greater market strength and profitability.The company also offers exclusive web-based software solutions that manage truck, rail and barge shipments, and spot freight management solutions. Also, for wide-ranging strategic and tactical solutions, PLS offers consulting services that optimize all aspects of its customersÔÇÖ supply chain.In 1999, PLS launched eflatbed.comÔÇöa state of the art, innovative, proprietary, web-based transportation management system that, through continual enhancements and investment, enables shippers of all types to optimize supply chain efficiency. Eflatbed.com has allowed PLS access to a nationwide network of flatbed freight, decreasing costs and increasing communication with real-time load information and a single point of contact for a variety of loads.PLS does not own transportation assets of its own; instead, the company works with a network of more than 5,000 independent carriersÔÇötruckers, railroads, and barge operatorsÔÇöto arrange the transportation of its customersÔÇÖ freight.Today PLS ships nearly one million loads annually throughout North America. Its carrier network includes over 8,000 motor carriers with more than 60,000 trucks. The company uses all Class-1 railroads, and all major barge companies.Just this year, PLS has been selected by a number of companies for their logistics needs. Core Furnace Systems, a leader in the design and supply of industrial furnaces, selected PLS under a multi-year agreement to manage the companyÔÇÖs LTL and flatbed truckload moves.Lakeside Steel Corporation, headquartered in Welland, Ontario, has selected PLS Logistics Services in a five-year deal to manage the companyÔÇÖs transportation logistics needs. Lakeside Steel is one of CanadaÔÇÖs most diversified manufacturers of steel pipe and tubing serving the oil and gas, automotive, mining and commercial and industrial pipe industries.PLS will coordinate the outbound truck and rail shipments of finished goods and truck shipments of inbound steel, employing its web-based transportation management system to dispatch and manage load movement, as well as┬á provide onsite coordination, carrier management, invoice audit and carrier payment functions.┬á Fosbel Inc., a world leader in furnace refractory maintenance, has also recruited PLS Logistics Services to manage all the companyÔÇÖs freight activity, including inbound, domestic, and international. ÔÇ£PLS was chosen due to the breadth of their network, and their added value to FosbelÔÇÖs bottom line,ÔÇØ Fosbel vice president of global services, Simon Ellett, said. ÔÇ£While the current contract is concentrated on US domestic inbound and outbound freight, the longer term plan is to use PLS for all Fosbel freight around the globe.ÔÇØ ÔÇô Editorial research by Jason Moore┬á