W.B. Mason and Ryder A customized fleet for phenomenal growth.

Case Study W.B. Mason and Ryder A customized fleet for phenomenal growth. FLEET MANAGEMENT DEDICATED TRANSPORTATION SUPPLY CHAIN SOLUTIONS

When William Betts Mason founded W.B. Mason in a Brockton, Massachusetts storefront in 1898, he had no idea the company would change the way America viewed the delivery of office products. The iconic brand Who But W.B. Mason was born to embody the commitment to bring an amazing selection of products at low prices, superior delivery and top-quality personal service to businesses of all sizes, and to show that W.B. Mason also brings the fun.

CHALLENGE SOLUTION RESULTS Expand operations into every state, while maintaining industry high customer satisfaction and retention rates through nurturing relationships and delivering products within tight time windows. Delivering on the promise, growing together Fantastic, circus poster-like advertisements depict the mustached W.B. Mason as a classic business super hero proclaiming, Who But W.B. Mason, would stop at nothing to save you money and deliver whatever you need, wherever and whenever you needed it. As W.B. Mason grew to become the largest, privately owned office products dealer in Full Service Lease solution combines several models of uniquely customized and branded trucks including tractors, trailers, reefers and supply trucks - with preventive maintenance service to keep W.B. Mason moving products efficiently, while expanding its operations. the United States, so did Mason s brand. Masonville comprises over 60 locations in the Northeast running north of Massachusetts to Maine and Vermont, south to Virginia and west to Pennsylvania and Ohio. Recently, W.B. Mason has expanded into Illinois and California, with plans to be nationwide in the near future. Flexibility Vast maintenance shop network gives immediate access to fleet management when entering new markets Ability to redesign and add custom features to the truck, allowing delivery of new products offerings, while keeping a unique branded look. Maintenance performed during nights and weekends to keep vehicles and drivers on the road to make deliveries during regular business hours Reliability 2,000 preventive maintenance inspections each year minimize breakdowns allowing products to be delivered on-time more than 99% of the time. Procurement power secures replacement vehicles within two hours if a truck goes out of service, to not disrupt delivery times. 3

W.B. Mason s fleet of more than 700 highly customized vehicles from Ryder travel more than 13 million miles per year. As Masonville continually expands, you can t help but see the W.B. Mason logo nearly everywhere within it. W.B. Mason has built baseball into their brand as the Official Office Products Supplier to the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees and New York Mets. The W.B. Mason logo is prominently displayed in each teams ballparks and on each team s telecast. With additional sponsorships in venues like Madison Square Garden, the Barclays Center and Foxwoods Casino you begin to understand that the W.B. Mason brand is viewed by tens of millions of people each year. However, the most recognizable advertisement in Masonville are the colorfully decked out W.B. Mason delivery trucks. The trucks branding is considered so iconic that they are routinely featured in films and television programs. These delivery icons represent a solid partnership between W.B. Mason and Ryder that began in 1981. Over time, W.B. Mason has depended on Ryder to help fuel its growth to becoming a billion dollar company, most of which has happened in the past 20 years. Working with Ryder has been a huge factor in our being able to grow our business 12 times over in the 1990s and four times over so far in the 2000s, says Leo J. Meehan, III, President and CEO of W.B. Mason. Our ability to execute our nationwide expansion plan by entering 18 markets since 2009 is due in large part to Ryder s exceptionally skilled and flexible teamwork. Whenever we were entering a market, they were very quick to get us there. Ryder also factors heavily in W.B. Mason s repeated ability to earn a top net promotor score, a metric within the industry measured every four years to determine how pleased customers are with a company, Meehan says. We are very proud of our net promotor score of 70 he adds. We provide value customer by customer by tailoring our highly personalized service to their needs. We deliver on our promises, and Ryder is an important part of our ability to do so. A fleet that s always up and running Meehan recalls that the company had two trucks in 1981 when Ryder began to run its fleet. Within the last 10 years alone, the fleet grew from 72 to more than 700 trucks that W.B. Mason leases from Ryder. Ryder s ability to help grow W.B. Mason s fleet as its business increased has been key to its expansion. To keep the fleet continually operating at optimal levels, Ryder performs more than 2,000 preventive maintenance inspections each year. This includes everything from oil changes and vehicle inspections to tires all according to a pre-defined schedule for each vehicle. All of the inspections are performed after hours and 4

on weekends so that W.B. Mason s delivery vehicles are in prime condition to make deliveries every day during business hours. W.B. Mason Senior Vice President of Distribution Mike Meath recognizes how important it is to keep their trucks operational at all times, having trucks that are always up and running has a direct impact on our customers, our ability to provide them with very customized service, and our competitiveness as a company. Our drivers are the difference between us and the competition. The trucks must be the optimum solution for them so they have time to develop customer relationships, Meath says. With Ryder, we never have to worry about our trucks, which allows us to focus on our core competency. As a company focused on solving customer problems with personalized services and customized solutions, W.B. Mason makes a crucial guarantee that often crushes its competition: free same day and next day delivery. Because its drivers can make up to 100 deliveries daily in challenging urban and rural environments, their trucks must be in top condition every day and designed to aid the storage and rapid unloading of all types of products from paper, printers and janitorial supplies, to fresh, refrigerated and frozen break room snacks and drinks. Ryder s top performance in keeping W.B. Mason s vehicle uptime at its best is key as the company travels more than 13 million miles every year making product deliveries throughout the country many of them in traffic-laden urban settings. Over time, W.B. Mason s customer needs have significantly increased and changed. More types of products than ever before are available and their variety requires delivery trucks to be redesigned with each need. Because Ryder maintains the fleet so well and has worked with the company to customize and re-customize its vehicles to work best for its products and drivers, W.B. Mason has the enviable industry record of making deliveries on time more than 99 percent of the time. This success is particularly impressive as 35 percent of its deliveries are same day and over 99 percent of its deliveries are same or next day. The company s customer satisfaction and retention rates are some of the highest in the office products industry. W.B. Mason also has been able to successfully navigate the change in the types and volume of products it provides to not only exceed the expectations of customers, but to grow and enter new markets in the midst of that industry change. Our drivers and trucks are the heart and soul of our company, Meehan says. The difference between us and the competition is that they have trucks we have weapons of delivery efficiency. Customized solutions to stay ahead of change As Meehan noted, these weapons of delivery efficiency were conceived by W.B. Mason and Ryder several years ago when the office products industry was seeing a diversification beyond traditional products in favor of products often considered perks by employees such as break room snacks, sandwiches and drinks. Leo J. Meehan, III, President and Chief Executive Officer, W.B. Mason Working with Ryder has been a huge factor in our being able to grow our business 12 times over in the 1990s and four times over so far in the 2000s. - Leo J. Meehan, III, President & Chief Executive Officer, W.B. Mason W.B. Mason moved quickly to stock thousands of food items in its warehouse, and the percentage of breakroom oriented items is growing fast. The company is proud that this wide selection of top name brand products is part of its superior customer experience. However, supplying these items in addition to traditional office products required trucks to be redesigned to accommodate a greater variety of products; refrigeration and freezing capability; 5

Known for its iconic advertisements, above is a look at W.B. Mason catalog covers through the years. and the ability to facilitate the easy unloading of large and unwieldy products, like multigallon water bottles. Ryder really understood this, Meehan says. They truly want to help make us the best company we can be. The end result was eight different designs of trucks that accommodate varying types and volumes of products, along with the easiest and safest features specifically designed to suit W.B. Mason drivers. Special features include: An air-ride system that provides less height when lowered during delivery to optimize safety for drivers Customized shelving for large water bottles that provide ease in side off-loading Cargo netted shelves so stacked items stay in place Angled shelves for ease in off-loading Reinforced truck bodies for greater load capacity Motion detectors for lighting in the rear of trucks, so battery life is maximized Non-stick floors and extra handrails With incredibly reliable trucks designed specifically for drivers needs as they change, we are very fast and very good at what we do, Meehan says. Instead of focusing on managing the freight with loading and unloading struggles, our drivers can take the time to nurture customer relationships each time they make a delivery. Partnership based on trust and respect Just as customers can trust W.B. Mason to deliver the best supplies in the shortest amount of time possible, the company trusts Ryder to help make that happen. They offer a stellar level of dependability. We can t have break downs and they make sure we don t. We also can t have safety issues and accidents. They make sure we don t, Meehan says. The way they integrate with us is seamless. It s always been about the partnership. Ryder also supports W.B. Mason s need to drive the bottom line in an industry where pricing is highly competitive. 6

They always provide us with solutions that offer the best value, Meehan adds. Ryder s ability and passion for providing solutions that work best for W.B. Mason have earned the company great respect and trust from those working with it, Meath says. Sometimes it takes a lot of time to get us where we need to be when customizing our trucks, he adds. Then again, Ryder can often change a design on the fly. Either way, Ryder always gets us there. Making the trucks as green as possible is also on Ryder s agenda for W.B. Mason. The company is currently exploring a number of options to reduce its carbon footprint including natural gas vehicles. Ours is a solid relationship based on trust and respect, Meath says. So we know that whatever we are evaluating together is very much for the good of W.B. Mason. Growing into the future Key to W.B. Mason s expansion plans is its ability to execute them as quickly as possible. Within the next five years, the company plans to expand locations throughout the Midwest, and exceed $2 billion in revenues. It plans to be operating in every state within the decade. Leveraging Ryder s national footprint will help boost both the viability and the speed of the process. They are there for us in every market we want to go to make Masonville national, Meath says. When we open in a market, we usually don t have a lot of advance notice. Ryder is W.B. Mason s highly customized trucks from Ryder accomodate a greater variety of products. always very quick to get its existing local team contracting of specialty space as needed. engaged so we can focus on getting set up in Meath is confident that W.B. Mason and that market in record time. Ryder will build that and many more solutions together. Building the truck of the future will help W.B. Mason s expansion as well. These will be I see Ryder as extremely supportive. We are hybrid vehicles with more refrigeration units proud to be branded with them on our trucks, that can handle a variety of office product and he says. They are the kind of company that food items including highly perishable ones. helps regional companies, like us, grow. The challenge is to create a dynamic solution for the trucks that allows the expanding and 7