Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Independent Shipping- How We Do It

Wenonah Canoe, Inc. and it's brands Wenonah Canoe and Current Designs Kayaks are set apart from other companies in our industry in many ways. One example is the way we ship our boats from our Minnesota-based factories and warehouses to our retail partners. Since it's inception, Wenonah Canoe has managed and controlled its own logistics department. Today, nearly all the boats we ship are shipped on our own trucks and trailers by Wenonah Canoe employees. This ensures safe handling of our composite boats without cross-docking and never involves fork lifts! This approach completely eliminates the dreaded Canoe-kabob - a canoe pierced through the hull by an unknowing forklift and driver.

Our fleet includes specially outfitted, heavy duty trucks with auxillary fuel tanks and racked trailers specially designed to all but eliminate shipping damage. Our largest trailers and fully racked trucks can carry 46 canoes or over 80 kayaks and canoes together.

Our peak shipping season is early October through early summer. In these times, multiple loads depart every week to destinations all over North America including Canada and Alaska. The same logistics team is also responsible for our international shipping program that utilizes a containerized freight approach to ship Wenonah Canoes and Current Deisigns kayaks throughout the world.

Managing a vertically integrated logistics function from factory to retailer is a huge undertaking. We accept these challanges because it ensures the integrity of our product quality until it reaches our customer.