Shipping That Makes Sense

Zumiez does a booming business around the globe selling products for skateboarders and the snowboarding lifestyle. So when the company learned that by using the Bellevue-based startup Enroute Systems software-as-a-service product it could save up to $2.5 million a year, the firm was sold on the idea.

Enroutes software allows companies to operate a single dashboard to manage all its package deliveries using the most cost-efficient combination of carriers, regardless of whether they deliver by train, airplane, ship or truck.

Instead of sending a package directly from point A to point B via a global carrier like FedEx, a company can often save money and still deliver on time by putting the last leg of the parcels journey on a regional carrier like OnTrac, which ships only in the western United States and often has more trucks serving parts of the region. Clients can also set parameters that their shipments must meet. Seattle-based Theo Chocolate, another Enroute customer, for example, selects only carriers that can keep its chocolate stored at the right temperature to maintain quality.

Our solution downloads in about a minute and takes about an hour to customize, CEO Keith McCall says. We can meet with customers and have them start shipping packages right away.

Enroutes staff of a dozen employees also provides continuous service to its clients, analyzing shipping data every week and making sure the company is still saving the most money possible.

In the local economy, Enroute is competing in a crowded sector. The Port of Seattle makes Washington state a major hub for logistics and a home for shipping giants like Expeditors International. But McCall says Enroutes ability to mix and match the most cost-effective service makes it unique in the industry.

Enroute plans to expand into Europe and Asia during the next two years. Although it has focused on parcel shipping up to this point, Enroute is now shifting to include freight options.

Its taken 10 years for e-commerce to get to the levels where a solution like ours makes sense, McCall says.