Cut Retail Chargebacks with ODFL’s Must Arrive By Date (MABD) Service
Managing logistics in retail can be a complex challenge. You spend an enormous amount of time and energy in developing your product, as well as building relationships with retailers to score shelf space. When your shipment arrives at the dock, retailers expect it to be on time and damage free, but factors like missed delivery windows and late arrivals can lead to costly retail chargebacks. These chargebacks, penalties imposed when shipments fail to meet specific delivery requirements, often cut into profits and damage vendor relationships.
Even a few missed deadlines can tarnish vendor scorecards, damage retailer relationships, and affect future business opportunities. Your reputation is on the line to deliver on-time and in-full.
Meeting these demands may seem daunting, but fortunately, there is a solution to help businesses stay compliant and deliver on their promises: MABD shipping.
At Old Dominion Freight Line (OD), we understand the costly impact of vendor chargebacks. That's why we've developed MABD (Must Arrive By Date) services to help our customers with the tools to meet stringent requirements, ensure reliable, on-time deliveries and maintain their status as dependable suppliers.
Three MABD Solutions to Eliminate Retail Chargebacks
1. OD Standard LTL that meets delivery requirements normal transit times, minimizing the risk of vendor chargebacks.
2. OD Guaranteed service for shipments due on a certain date (that can neither be late or early).
3. OD On Demand service for urgent, time-sensitive shipments due outside normal transit times or require a specific delivery time.
Our MABD service allows OD to act as an extension of our customers’ business. We see ourselves as a partner who helps them manage compliance demands, avoid costly fines and protect their vendor scorecards. The service model is simple. Customers just have to tell us when their freight has to be there, and our team handles the rest.
For example, one of our current customers, a major snack food company, called us when their former carrier wasn’t consistently meeting expectations. They faced mounting retail chargebacks and poor evaluations on their vendor scorecard due to missed delivery windows. Their product wasn’t showing up for delivery at the right time, damaging their relationship with major national retailers and hurting their sales when consumers couldn’t find their products on store shelves.
After switching to OD’s MABD shipping solutions, they saw dramatic improvements. By streamlining their process and offering real-time traceability, our team saved them hundreds of thousands of dollars in operational costs and vendor fines, which more than offset the nominal cost of the enhanced service.
This transformation not only strengthened their relationships with retailers but also improved their vendor scorecards, providing them with opportunities for greater shelf visibility. This example underscores how the right logistics partner can have a monumental impact on business outcomes.
MABD Tracking and Support for On-Time Deliveries
As a customer, you benefit from real-time tracking data on your shipments to reduce and control claims.
A critical part of reducing retail chargebacks is ensuring complete shipment transparency. With our MABD services, we take traceability to the next level, providing detailed updates for all MABD shipments from a dedicated expedited agent. That means there is a single point of contact throughout the shipping process, ready to handle in-transit changes to meet a modified delivery window, upgrade services and make real-time changes to ensure a delivery is on time.
Combine this with an on-time performance rate exceeding 99.999% and one of the lowest claims ratios in the industry, and it’s clear why businesses trust us to handle their MABD shipping needs.
Protect Your Business – And Your Reputation
Maintaining compliance with MABD requirements is no longer a challenge with OD by your side. By selecting the right MABD service, you can eliminate costly penalties, improve scorecards, strengthen retailer relationships, and become a more competitive supplier. Being a consistent and dependable supplier can positively increase future sales and promotional opportunities.
At OD, we see ourselves as partners in your success. By understanding your business needs, we can help reduce penalties and drive efficiencies to keep costs down. Making our customers look good is the core of how we operate. It’s even in our motto, “helping the world keep promises.” When we deliver on the commitments we make to you, you can make good on your promises to retailers.