Ready for the Surge: Proactive Capabilities

Oct 1, 2025

Unexpected events, seasonal and fluctuating demands, and economic surges that a shipper may experience all require a transportation partner with flexible surge capacity solutions or will risk falling behind for their customers. We asked our Vice President of Operations, Jeremy Carmichael, and Managed Transportation Operations Leader, Ben Brown, about the steps their teams take to ensure operational capacity isn’t overwhelmed for their customers by scaling our operations and utilizing our own assets, while executing proactive processes. Learn how Ruan handles surges in the supply chain seamlessly with both our Dedicated Contract Transportation and Managed Transportation solutions.   

Dedicated Contract Transportation with Jeremy Carmichael 

What sets Ruan’s dedicated solution apart from others, specifically during heightened peak times?

We pride ourselves on deeply understanding our customers’ businesses and anticipating their unique needs. This insight, combined with our “Yes and How” approach to creating tailored solutions, sets us apart in the industry. We don’t just excel when operations are steady and predictable - we thrive when challenges arise and expectations are at their highest. 

What steps does the Ruan team take to prepare for customer surge activity? How do you work with customers to ensure a successful surge season? 

Ruan Transportation Management Systems ensures retail surge success through a unified strategy that combines collaborative planning, flexible dedicated fleets, advanced technology, and a trained workforce. By partnering closely with customers, optimizing routes and capacity, leveraging real-time visibility tools, and maintaining strong communication, Ruan delivers efficient, reliable, and cost-effective surge solutions – while continuously improving and supporting sustainability goals. 

Key elements of this strategy include:

Collaborative Planning
  • Partnering with customers to align on surge goals and forecasts. 
  • Using historical data, sales trends, and market analysis to anticipate demand spikes.
  • Providing tailored solutions for routing, scheduling, and carrier coordination.
Flexible Dedicated Fleets
  • Offering customized fleet and driver capacity that scales to meet peak retail demand. 
  • Adjusting schedules and equipment to ensure reliable deliveries during surges. 
  • Leveraging retail expertise for efficiency across distribution centers and stores.
Proactive Workforce and Equipment Management
  • Maintaining a robust driver pool and large, versatile fleet (power units, trailers, equipment).
  • Preparing drivers with training for high-pressure scenarios. 
  • Using safety-focused technologies like collision-avoidance systems to maintain performance.  
Technology-Driven Optimization
  • Employing real-time tracking, route optimization, and freight audit systems.
  • Enhancing supply chain visibility and responsiveness for customers. 
  • Using workforce management tools to ensure compliance and accurate scheduling.
Strong Partnerships and Communication
  • Fostering long-term customer relationships built on transparency and trust. 
  • Engaging customers through daily interaction, safety forums, regular updates, onsite leadership, and ride-alongs. 
  • Ensuring alignment and coordination across all surge-related operations. 
Continuous Improvement and Flexibility
  • Reviewing post-surge performance to identify opportunities for optimization. 
  • Using both asset-based and non-asset-based solutions for adaptability. 
  • Driving operational improvements that enhance future surge preparedness.
Sustainability and Cost Efficiency
  • Prioritizing fuel efficiency and late-model equipment to reduce costs.
  • Using data analytics to balance cost savings with high service standards.
  • Supporting customers’ sustainability goals while maintaining profitability.  

Things change from year to year. How does the Ruan team react when things don’t go as originally planned? 

In logistics, things can change from year to year – and sometimes from minute to minute. That’s why we place such a high value on truly understanding our customers’ businesses through strong, lasting partnerships. For some, that partnership spans decades; for others, just a few months. What remains constant is our commitment to delivering solutions tailored to each customer’s unique needs. 

At Ruan, we believe success comes from being present - onsite, communicating, interacting, and executing with excellence. These aren’t stand-alone actions but the results of many things done well, working together to ensure our customers’ supply chains run smoothly no matter the challenge. 

Share a successful surge story that’s stuck with you through your years at Ruan. 

At Ruan, we know that logistics demands can change in an instant - and surge seasons put that reality into overdrive. Over the years, we’ve built a reputation for stepping up when our customers need us most, often on short notice and always with a focus on safety, service, and execution. A few recent stories stand out: 

  • Standing Up a Fleet Overnight 

    • A longtime customer faced a critical challenge when another provider backed out just before the holiday season. In a matter of hours, we mobilized a 15-driver fleet with the necessary equipment to support their primary growth engine for 10 weeks - ensuring uninterrupted service during one of the busiest times of the year. 

  • Stabilizing Yard Operations 

    • During another customer’s peak season, disruptions in three of their yard operations threatened to impact the broader supply chain. Ruan quickly deployed resources to stabilize operations and maintain consistent, reliable service, preventing further delays and keeping their network running smoothly. 

  • Scaling Capacity in a Tight Market 

    • In a booming market, a customer came to us needing more than 25 additional drivers to support a quarter-long growth initiative. Despite the tight labor environment, we met their request in full - delivering without a single service issue or customer concern. 

These surge success stories reflect what sets Ruan apart: strong partnerships, open communication, and flawless execution. With our retail customers, we regularly support 15–25% growth during surge seasons – consistently delivering world-class safety, service, and solutions that go above and beyond expectations. 

Managed Transportation with Ben Brown

What steps does the Ruan team take to prepare for customer surge activity? How do you work with customers to ensure a successful surge season?

Ruan takes a proactive, collaborative approach with our customers. From the very beginning of each partnership, we build strong relationships with key stakeholders and maintain regular communication through strategic engagement sessions, forecasting discussions, and site visits. These touchpoints provide deep insight into each customer’s supply chain cycles, helping us prepare for volume ebbs and flows. 

As surge volumes approach, we hold planning meetings to align expectations, assess capacity requirements, and coordinate execution strategies. During peak activity, Ruan increases communication frequency, enabling us to monitor performance in real time, gather feedback, and make adjustments to ensure success. 

What sets Ruan’s managed transportation solution apart from others, specifically during heightened peak times? How does the Ruan team react when things don’t go as originally planned?

Ruan thrives when challenges arise. Our deep understanding of each customer’s business enables us to respond quickly and effectively, even when plans change. We also leverage advanced technology, including Ruan Freight Exchange, which gives us visibility across our entire network and helps us identify and utilize available capacity where it’s needed most. 

Our transportation specialists ensure daily execution, while our extended operations team provides seamless coverage after hours, on weekends, and during holidays. Because this team is trained on each customer’s requirements, service remains consistent, reliable, and aligned with customer expectations no matter when the need arises. 

Share a successful surge story that’s stuck with you through your years at Ruan.

2017 was a historically severe hurricane season. One of our long-standing customers – a private-label bottled water company – was called into action multiple times over the summer. The demand for water was extraordinary, and Ruan partnered closely with the customer to ensure critical shipments were delivered to those in need. Meeting this demand required significant creativity and adaptability, including coordinating with FEMA, delivering to temporary sites without docks, and planning alternate routes around storm-damaged areas. 

In one powerful example, Ruan and the customer worked together to deliver three shipments of bottled water free of charge with a company driver. These drivers encountered some unworthy road conditions and even had to be escorted in by National Guard and FEMA, but they were not going to stop until the job was done. 

This story reflects what truly sets Ruan apart: strong partnerships, a commitment to safety and service, and our Guiding Principle of putting people first. 

Interested in learning more?

Contact us!

 

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