Logistics Company FAQs

We could go on and on talking about our history and technology, two aspects of our McClain & Associates in which we hold extreme pride, and which make our company unique. Our employees, however, is what really sets McClain apart from standard logistics companies. Not only are our employees dedicated to improving their knowledge of the transportation industry, but they are also dedicated to improving their knowledge of YOUR industry, whatever it may be. Transportation is our passion, which is why we are constantly providing professional development and arming our employees with the tools to make effective decisions regarding your business and your supply chain.

We are not JUST a logistics company; we are not JUST a 3PL: we are your partner.

McClain & Associates is one of the only logistics companies that does not require our clients to sign a binding contract.

We believe in earning your business everyday and as such see no need for contracts.

McClain & Associates is a non-asset based company, however, we do own a trucking company, Brothers Transfer Service, also out of St. Louis, that is asset based.

There are multiple ways in which McClain & Associates clients can track a shipment.

1. Customers with a substantial amount of freight coming into their facility expect their logistics company to provide instant access to their product at all times.
   For these customers, they can be granted a portal with information specific to their business. In this case, clients rarely are calling your employees and forcing them to spend their valuable time tracking freight.
2. Customers who do not have a great enough volume to necessitate a portal, can utilize the search field on the McClain website for instant tracking of shipments by PO, PRO, shipment, or any other associated number.
3. Regardless of the volume, customers can optionally receive realtime updates emailed to them regarding their shipment. In addition, customers can have reports emailed to them on a scheduled or on demand basis with all freight information.
4. Customers also have the option of calling into McClain, providing them with a PO, PRO, BOL or any other number associated with the shipment to receive tracking information.
5. If a customer were to call into your facility, your personnel could quickly and easily log into their portal, and give them the requested information.

McClain & Associates is a logistics company that provides consulting services particular to the supply chain and especially in particular to shipping. McClain is outsourced through full business consulting and supply chain consulting firms to advise on various aspects of their customers supply chains.

McClain & Associates can manage any and all aspects of your supply chain. From a single shipment, to regular shipments with heavy volume , to cross docking, or warehousing, McClain has the expertise to efficiently move your freight.

Yes, McClain & Associates can assist your company with parcel shipping. Our LTL system has a mirrored copy that is intended for parcel shipping.

McClain & Associates can assist companies with shipping freight to Mexico and Canada, however, customs documents must be acquired through a 3rd party customs broker.

There are many ways in which the terms freight broker and logistics company are different. The term freight broker has evolved and surpassed it’s once negative connotations. In the past, the term freight broker was associated with shuffling freight around from carrier to carrier and possibly performing unethical tactics to make money off of moving your freight. While this is no longer the case for most brokers or logistics companies, most have chosen to represent themselves as logistics companies, as this term encompasses multiple modes and service options.

There are various ways in which McClain makes a profit and it each is determined based off of negotiations with each particular client.

Flat Fee Per Shipment-  This is a flat fee charged to each shipment dependent upon volume.

Flat Fee Per Month- This is a flat fee charged once per month and is dependent upon volume.

Percentage Per Shipment- Also depending on volume, this is a percentage of the total shipment cost.

Profit Share – Profits are earned through vendor/carrier compliance, and rebates.

If I’m interested in McClain’s services, what does the process look like, and where do I start?

CLICK HERE

There are no necessary resources that you need to provide on your end to begin utilizing McClain’s logistics services. Our system is extremely easy for both employees to understand and implement. A 10-15 minute demonstration or phone call is typically all that is necessary to train employees. Because our system is web-based, there are no infrastructure costs.

Typically, when implementing McClain & Associates as your 3PL or logistics company, clients are able to reduce freight cost, improve customer service, and improve P&I accuracy and reliability.

When partnering with McClain, your client carrier relationship will not be effected. Our focus at McClain is the put an emphasis on the client carrier relationship. Our goal is simply to put all the information, from all of your carriers in a centralized location.

While you may have great pricing, and a substantial volume, we work with hundreds of companies with various volume cohesively work to increase our buying power. We have long term relationships with an extended network of carriers serving multiple markets.

Your freight service will definitely not falter when partnering with McClain & Associates. our goal is for your service to improve. You will have a final say in all carriers that we utilize. In addition, we will be able to utilize the data we collect on your service to negotiate better rates with carriers.

Transportation metrics such as the following can be analyzed:

• Total Spend
• Average cost per mile, pound, unit, etc.
• Average carrier, vendor, client, sales rep shipment cost
• Outbound freight as a percentage of net sales
• Inbound freight as a percentage of purchases
• Accuracy of transit times
• Vendor and carrier compliance
• Claims as a percent of freight cost
• Employee Key Performance Data

To say that we pride ourselves on our technology would be an understatement. McClain has made massive strives not only as a company, but in the industry due to Kuebix. Kuebix is a technology company out of Boston comprised of IT and Transportation professionals who have taken their respective industry knowledge and combined it to make the most efficient TMS thus far. Built on the Force.com platform

To retrieve your login information, simply email your sales rep and we can have your password reset within 30 minutes.

With McClain & Associates, you are able to track individual line items on each shipment. By integrating with our customers ERP systems when a PO is cut out of your system, a direct copy is sent into our system. This way, you can search by PO# or line item number.

Yes, when partnering with McClain your data will remain completely secure. Salesforce has surpassed all security protocols and enforces strict multi-tenant and multi-layered access.

After partnering with McClain your employees will easily adapt to our system as it is very easy to understand. It will not take more than a 30 minute in person or virtual meeting to get them fully acquainted with our system.

Although you may already have employees in your accounting department who are keeping track of your freight expenses, rarely are they logistics experts, and if they are, without the proper technology this process can be extremely time consuming. Our technology has advanced reporting and analytics that prove to have huge time saving benefits. Using integrations between our system, your system, and your client/vendor systems, we can streamline processes and eliminate manual entry and human error.

McClain & Associates does take credit cards. As the company charges a fee to process payment in this way there is a 3% transaction fee.

If you have a question about an invoice you’ve received from McClain & Associates, you can contact your sales rep, your CSR, or our accountant Donna via the office phone or her email, donna@mcclainltd.com.