Lakefront Cargo
In-depth Tracking and Visibility

Logistics is no longer just about pickup and delivery, considering the plethora of information that needs to be extracted from various resources. The improvement of traceability and transparency in the supply chain enables dynamic and flexible relationships between multiple stakeholders. Gone are the days when customers patiently waited for their orders to be delivered, and a single “out for delivery” text was enough to appease them. Well, that’s a tale of the past now. Consumers want more visibility, updates, and delivery satisfaction. They demand to be aware of ground-level delivery processes at the exact time of their occurrence. Especially in air freight, if a customer inquires about air freight, they want to know if the entry has been filed and completed or the airplane’s schedules in real-time. “Customers nowadays demand detailed tracking data and we provide them comprehensive information,” states Tommy Crawford, CEO of Ohio based Lakefront Cargo, a local family-owned logistics firm. With over 13 years of expertise, the company specializes in air freight, TSA consulting, emergency exports, and ground expedite.

The Genesis
It is no surprise that home garages, dark basements, childhood bedrooms, and college dorm rooms are where some of today’s most successful companies were born. Similarly, Tommy and LeeAnne established Lakefront Cargo in their basement and initially provided consulting services. They gained much reputation through word of mouth, and after a couple of years, they entered the freight forwarding business. Today, Lakefront Cargo is a multimillion-dollar logistics company, and it has maintained steady growth since its inception. Last year Lakefront Cargo was ranked seventh on the Inc. 5000 list as the fastest-growing company in the Midwest. “We are small but we have the resources of the larger enterprises,” adds Tommy.

The Track It Platform
Being on the smaller side grants Lakefront Cargo the advantage to provide more personalized and quick customer service, while if a customer calls FedEx, they have to interact with many people in different departments before they can receive the essential information per their inquiry. Tommy is a licensed aircraft dispatcher, and he has leveraged his decades of customer handling experience in the air charter and cargo industry while building the Track It platform.

Therefore, the Track It platform is interfaced with a third-party website that sends flight and weather information in real-time. Accordingly, Lakefront Cargo’s Track It platform entails a unique feature that analyzes weather reports and provides accurate information in cases of delays due to weather or limited crew. The report includes a screenshot of the weather report, an email conversation with the flight vendor, and flight rebooking details, if any. There is a major cost benefit for clients as they receive charter-level customer service at air freight price.

The Track It platform consists of both automatic as well as manual updates.

The basic information is automatically updated, but a dedicated staff works 24/7 to update details such as position updates of a driver manually.

The particulars such as a flight’s take-off or touchdown updates appear as Milestones on the platform, including small details like the freight picked up from the shipper or the package being dropped at the airport, among others. These Milestones update automatically, and Lakefront Cargo is currently taking it to the next level. The platform will soon provide more intricate details, such as the flight is being unloaded or the driver having arrived to pick up the shipment. The Milestones feature is customizable, and each customer can choose the number of updates as per their requirements. Similarly, the Track It platform can be tailored to as much information or as little information a customer wants. “We believe in 100 percent transparency in providing our customer with updates as often as they want,” asserts LeeAnne Crawford, President of Lakefront Cargo.

100 percent Transparency is Our Motto
Lakefront Cargo always focuses on maintaining transparency even in case of any issue that may arise. For instance, if a shipment is delayed, the company ensures to proactively approach its client even before they inquire about such issues and provides them with updated flight information and a backup plan created beforehand for such scenarios. It demonstrates that Lakefront Cargo delivers a personalized service and builds trust with its clients while enabling a seamless experience.

Lakefront Cargo has a plethora of customers, mainly those that need high visibility, like a cargo airline requiring AOG parts. For instance, a client deals in power generating equipment, and their customers have power plants all across the US. They shut down at various times for maintenance. In cases when they are not scheduled to be offline, but they have to, the client always approaches Lakefront Cargo for urgent delivery of equipment.

Customers Nowadays Demand Detailed Tracking Data and we Provide them Comprehensive Information

The client is well-aware of the visibility and transparency that Track It platform provides, and they prefer viewing those regular updates for their high priority items. Lakefront Cargo has built custom milestones as per the client’s needs and offered position updates almost every hour. As a result of this long-term collaboration, Lakefront Cargo today has dedicated lanes at the airline and vendors, which almost guarantees on-time delivery.

Moreover, Lakefront Cargo’s extensive local and international pickup and delivery agents facilitate the entire shipping process.

In another interesting scenario, the company set an example by showcasing its agility on short notice when the initial shipment of a client in Cleveland turned out to be faulty, and Lakefront Cargo sourced the parts from Miami and delivered it for the client within the same timeframe.

The firm has also served high-end customers such as NBA players and shipped fragile and expensive household items for them.

Our Employees are What Make us Work
Lakefront Cargo boasts of its highly knowledgeable and trained staff members who are the real brains behind the whole operation, and the firm believes that a right mix of technology and human workforce is essential to deal with any issue head-on. Therefore, Lakefront Cargo aims to add more talented and skillful staff as full-time employees to oversee the operations and IT department while evenly spreading the workload and not burning out its existing employees. Flexibility and a positive work environment are the key aspects that Lakefront Cargo banks on to support and value its employees. The firm maintains an open-door policy and the entire staff works as a team ensuring there are no boundaries of hierarchy.

Into The Future
For a couple of years, Lakefront Cargo has been focused on improving its platform functionality, but now it is working on giving the Track It platform a facelift in terms of design and overall appearance. The company will also enhance its features by incorporating automated weather reporting and National Airspace System (NAS) statuses. The firm’s ultimate goal is to bring forth the most user-friendly platform with as many resources and tools as possible. Lakefront Cargo plans to streamline and make backend operations easier for its employees. While the other players in the industry are more inclined towards their growth trajectory, Lakefront Cargo is in no hurry to climb the ladder of success. The company is more focused on building trusting relationships with its clients and moving ahead slow and steadily. “We always intend to pour more effort into our platform so that we can keep up with what our customers want and be competitive,” concludes LeeAnne.