05 Dec 2024
Old World Industries (OWI) was founded in 1973 by Tom Hurvis and Riaz Waraich. Today, the company’s 50-year legacy of innovation, quality and customer service has made it the number-one supplier of antifreeze, coolant and diesel exhaust fluid, as well as the number-one supplier of headlights to the U.S. professional installer market.
OWI Director of Transportation and 25-year industry veteran Tom Hablewitz leads a dedicated team backed by global partnerships that deliver outstanding customer service. “At the end of the day, our job is getting products to customers,” said Hablewitz. “From national automotive parts retailers to major mass merchandisers, these are leaders in customer satisfaction, so we have to hold up our end of the deal to help make that possible.”
Arrive’s mission — We Deliver, So You Can.™ — conveys the same sentiment, and this shared North Star has been the cornerstone of our partnership with OWI since 2019. In this customer story, we’ll discuss how our mutual commitment to relationships, service and execution excellence has supported OWI in delivering for its customers and kept our partnership going strong for over five years.
OWI recognizes that strong carrier relationships pay dividends and is meticulous about selection. “It’s not easy to get in as a carrier with us, and that’s by design,” said Hablewitz. “Our customers have rigorous standards, so we value proven partners that follow through on commitments and don’t compromise on service.”
Arrive Enterprise Partnership Representative William Hennessy said his team’s ability to establish trust through consistent performance earned Arrive a place in OWI’s network.
According to Arrive Senior Vice President of Enterprise Partnerships Todd Birman, demonstrating that reliability helped build strong relationships across OWI’s network, allowing the Arrive team to work proactively and improve with every load. “Working directly with OWI’s planners, vendors and customers gives us valuable insights into the network and how to optimize our role within it,” said Birman. “This enables us to think strategically and find opportunities to enhance our efficiency and service.”
Birman also credited our shared success to OWI’s commitment to being a “Shipper of Choice” by providing carriers with clean freight, timely payments and safe working conditions — a strategy that further strengthens carrier relationships and directly supports the next two pillars: service and execution.
Arrive is committed to service and execution excellence, and Hennessy said delivering it comes down to trust and effective collaboration with OWI. “If a same-day load needs to move, OWI’s planners know that we’ll respond fast with a fair rate and deliver great service,” he said. “But we’re only one part of that equation — the partnership between our operations team, carriers and the OWI team enables us to execute well even on a tight turnaround.”
Technology is critical in execution, too. ARRIVEnow, Arrive’s proprietary TMS, further enhances efficiency by leveraging data-driven workflows to match OWI loads with carriers that deliver optimal pricing, strong service and reduced deadhead.
Arrive’s carrier network development strategy also drives execution and service by prioritizing deep relationships with private fleets and midsized carriers (7-999 units) that are interested in becoming a Core Carrier. These proven partners have been with Arrive for an average of over four years and move at least 15 loads per week. Today, 88% of Arrive’s freight moves with this elite group, enabling shippers like OWI to quickly scale capacity in any market without sacrificing service, access equipment for drop pools, reduce cost volatility and even mitigate the risk of fraud and theft.
Finally, the partnership between OWI and Arrive thrives on our mutual dedication to continuous improvement. To that end, Birman and Hennessy visit the company’s headquarters for regular business reviews that facilitate open discussions about how to strengthen the partnership. Arrive Vice President of Market Intelligence David Spencer also attends these meetings to deliver vital freight market insights that help OWI stay ahead of emerging trends that could impact their business.
OWI and Arrive navigate countless complexities together on any given day. By prioritizing relationships, service and execution excellence in our partnership, we stay aligned on what matters most: Getting OWI’s products into the hands of customers who count on them.
