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The Family Dollar Transportation Department is composed of Domestic & International Transportation, with Associates working at the Corporate Headquarters and nine Distribution Centers.
Domestic Transportation
Domestic Inbound Transportation: Family Dollar utilizes a state-of-the-art web-enabled Transportation Management System (TMS). Vendors electronically release purchase orders, based on purchase and ship windows created by our merchandising team. Utilizing our TMS, we bundle shipments and then run an optimization, resulting in freight tenders being sent electronically to the most cost effective carriers and the Company's private fleet. Tendering, tracking, and tracing are done centrally at the Corporate Offices. Family Dollar utilizes national & regional TL, LTL, and Intermodal carriers, as well as Consolidators to move product to our Distribution Centers.
Domestic Outbound Transportation: Family Dollar currently enlists the services of several top transportation companies throughout the United States as well as our private fleet to service our store network. Dedicated fleets offer Family Dollar a cost-effective means of providing service to the nearly 6,500 stores located in 44 states.
Family Dollar Trucking, Inc. (FDTI):
Family Dollar Trucking, Inc. (FDTI), a private fleet with "for-hire" authority, is an indirect subsidiary of Family Dollar, Inc. Family Dollar trucking primarily services Family Dollar Stores located in southeastern states with localized operations at the corporate fleet offices. FDTI is a highly respected private fleet, consistently capturing top awards in highway safety. The organization was judged, based on performance, as the safest fleet in North Carolina for seven of the last nine years, placing as first runner-up in 2003 and 2005 by the N.C. Trucking Association. FDTI has been honored by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) for its programs and the commitment to the public service and safety, and the fleet is often used as working examples by FMCSA. FDTI holds memberships in the American Trucking Association, the Commercial Motor Vehicle Association and the N.C. Trucking Association where the Management Team holds numerous positions and offices.
International Transportation
Letters of Credit are opened each year to purchase apparel, shoes, toys, electronics, house-wares, giftware, seasonal goods and other merchandise from all over the world. A large majority of imported merchandise is manufactured and shipped from East Asia, while the balance comes from a variety of countries throughout the world. We utilize several major steamship lines, as well as an NVOCC to meet our international shipping needs.
As with domestic shipments, import shipments are also tracked utilizing the web-enabled Transportation Management System. This allows for better visibility, control and reporting of shipments from the point of departure at the foreign ports all the way up to the point of merchandise being received at one of our nine Distribution Centers. The event-based nature of our software, provides exception based management, allowing Family Dollar to concentrate its resources where needed, while allowing the remaining shipments to seamlessly flow through the supply chain.
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