Philadelphia Courier Dispatchers – Servicing Medical Labs by Going Above & Beyond

Keeping pace with the aging of our country’s population has spawned considerable growth among the medical industry in general, and medical laboratories to be specific.  In turn, the companies servicing this industry have experienced increases in their work loads and have inspired creative changes in their delivery options.

When considering changing their standard overnight deliveries to commercial evening flights, one national company specializing in dialysis deliveries calculated that they could have specimens to their labs a full six hours earlier than usual.  This would reduce the pressure and congestion for the morning shift workers and put lab results into clients’ hands much sooner.

With focused determination, this laboratory began searching for the country’s top-notch couriers with TSA (Transportation Security Administration) certification to partner with them in handling the local routed pick-ups and airport deliveries in a wide array of markets.

In a simplistic model of the courier business, driving parcels from Point A to Point B is all it takes.  This really doesn’t define the work of a courier, the details and precision involved, especially for handling medical specimens.  Prior to delivering their first specimen, TSA-certified American Expediting drivers are extensively trained in both OSHA and HIPAA regulations.  They also learn the customized methods required by each client for handling of packing and medical specimens. In the case of overnight blood specimens the drivers are following a specific protocol which includes packing of ice packs in a specific manner and also separating cultures.

The behind-the-scenes operational dispatch crews are following the progress of each specimen from pickup to delivery.  Their tasks entail but are not excluded to confirming specimen counts, alerting drivers to traffic conditions, periodic client updates on delivery status, and confirming out-going flight departures. 

Of course, there are exceptions, instances when circumstances are beyond the couriers control that result in delays, such as the email alert shown below from our Philadelphia dispatch team, and the corresponding testimonial applauding those who went above and beyond to help when an airline cancelled their evening flight.  

TO: Dan@NationalDialysis.com

SUBJECT: PHL to FLL flight 1201 cancelled

We received a call from Terry at Airline cargo PHL @ approx 17:45 letting us know that flight 1201 had been cancelled.  When pressed as to why flight had been cancelled, we were told "weather".  It was later determined that the reason was "air traffic control."

Airlines next available flight departed PHL @ 06:15 5/30.  We immediately began calling all other airlines for any flights direct or connecting to FLL. 

No flights available to FLL from the following airlines: Airline A per Jackie. Airline B per Cheryl.  Airline C per Chris. Airline D per Debbie.  Airline E- no answer, but I was not able to find any flights online.

We determined that the best routing at this point would be our backup plan, National Overnight Delivery Company. We then notified our Westville, NJ office as they also use Airline #1201, and instructed them to ship National Overnight Delivery as well.

Please contact us with any questions or concerns.

Thank You.

PHL Dispatch

Now, the client’s acknowledgement of the extra measures taken by the Philadelphia-based dispatch team:

Nice work. I really do appreciate the extra effort.

This is how it's supposed to be done !

You took this as far as it could be taken.

This is exactly the kind of dedication and excellent service I expect from all of my couriers, and it's nice to receive it. I wish all of my couriers were to put this kind of effort and thinking into action. With your permission, I would like to forward this example onto the rest of the courier teams that service National Dialysis Laboratory Company  in hopes that the 'light will come on"

Thank you again.

Dan

Thank you Philadelphia Dispatch team!  You make us proud.  You help us to  stand out.

We've Got Your Back American Expediting

American Expediting has the backs of many of our customers, 24/7/365. Every day, all yearlong, we help thousands of customers in countless
situations whether there is an AOG (aircraft on ground) delivery to get an airplane back in the air, a replacement heart rushed to a local hospital, or
a critical part required to get computer systems and production facilities back online.

Just last night, the need for backup coverage hit home when an accident to a telecommunications pole knocked out the phones and internet systems at our headquarters. Who came to our rescue? Our own National Call Center in Pittsburgh. Their managers worked through the night helping us
cover the Philadelphia and South Jersey markets. Using our mobile phones, we dispatched
all of our jobs to local drivers and captured critical updates in our Courier Management System software.

While this was a successful, yet unplanned test on our backup, it reminds us, and our customers, of the importance of having a round the clock solution for covering critical deliveries. With over 30 locations coast to coast, American Expediting plans hard for all contingencies.
American Expediting now has four offices operating 24 hours a day:Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Raleigh. Each is staffed with trained dispatch specialists to handle calls from multiple markets, and each has emergency activation procedures to ramp up personnel on a moment’s notice when situations arise. We’ve covered our three Florida locations when hurricanes caused local evacuations; Denver and Chicago sites during snowstorms, and our midwestern locations in Indianapolis and Columbus when recent tornados leveled entire communities.

So today we give a shout-out to our Pittsburgh call center for their excellent job and promise that we’re prepared to do the same in return.

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND - American Expediting Gives Back

In this month’s edition of the American Expediting Company Blog, we will share a story that was run in the Pittsburgh newspapers about our company military support initiatives. In December, we received the Patriot Award from the Department of Defense for Employer Support of Guard and Reserve Organization. Basically, we help those servicepersons who do work on behalf of our company, and their family members who are full time employee’s. It is our belief that it is no accident that our company continues to expand. We offer great service, fair pricing, and find ways to give back to the country.

Read more: Solder's employer gets Patriot Award - Pittsburgh Tribune Review

Since the opening of our office in Boston last fall, American Expediting has continued its expansion. In January we opened our first office in the state of Colorado. Running the Denver facility is Georgia Garcia, a veteran of the air and ground freight industry. Her achievements servicing ground expedited customers for Mach 1, and for air expedited freight customers for major airlines made this a perfect fit for our company. Georgia and her husband more recently transplanted to the Denver area from warm and sunny Arizona, so they can follow their passion for bowling and open up a bowling center.

Also opening up in January is our Portland, Oregon remote station. Finding an increased need for same day and rush moves of critical parts from Portland to Seattle, our manager for the Seattle office, Phil McInerney, began piecing together a game plan for his customers. Since he’s placed local drivers in Portland, we have seen an increase in jobs for Aircraft on Ground (AOG) pickups originating out of Portland and delivering in Seattle (SEA), as well as local Portland-to-Portland hot shot moves for spare parts.

We would also like to introduce our March 1st opening in Rochester, NY. When one of our seasoned dispatchers, Chuck DeLella, came to inform the company that he and his pregnant wife were moving back home to Rochester to be closer to family, we found the opportunity too good to pass up. Having serviced the Rochester area for many years through an agent-partner, we had an already existing base of customers. Having grown up in the area, Chuck has a comprehensive understanding of the market, as well as connections with local drivers and businesses.

As we welcome back our servicemen and women from the Middle East, let’s also welcome Georgia and Chuck to our every expanding courier company. For a full listing of American Expediting Company office locations, or a free cost-savings evaluation, please contact your local representative, or email glenn@amexpediting.com.