Con-way Freight announced that it has been named LTL Carrier of the Year by Whirlpool Corp., a manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances. With more than $18 billion in global sales, Benton Harbor, Mich.-based Whirlpool builds and sells a wide range of home appliances under brand names such as Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Brastemp, Consul and Bauknecht.

Con-way Freight has been a primary carrier for Whirlpool since 2007 and handles thousands of LTL shipments for the company annually, says Kevin O’Meara, Whirlpool’s senior director of logistics operations. As part of its overall supply chain quality process, Whirlpool annually conducts an evaluation of its transportation service providers. The effort measures and ranks carriers in areas such as on-time service percentage, driver professionalism and safety performance, equipment quality, EDI compliance, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency SmartWay score, invoice accuracy and claims. The program also considers feedback on carrier performance from Whirlpool’s internal as well as end-user customers.

“Con-way Freight scored at consistently high levels across our key measurement criteria, particularly on-time service percentage,” says O’Meara. “When our carriers deliver Whirlpool products to our customers, they represent a critical part of the service experience. With its proven ability to deliver reliable, efficient service, Con-way Freight ranked highest among all our LTL carriers in contributing positively to customer satisfaction. That performance earned them distinction as Whirlpool’s LTL Carrier of the Year.”

“This is a tremendous honor for our company and validation of what we strive for every day – a safety-first work environment that delivers exception-free on-time service and provides the fastest transit times against the industry’s toughest standards,” says Greg Lehmkuhl, executive vice president of operations for Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Con-way Freight. “On behalf of our entire organization, I want to thank Whirlpool for this significant recognition. I particularly want to thank every Con-way Freight driver, dock and customer service employee and their managers who helped make our service for Whirlpool a success. It’s because of our employees and their commitment to excellence at every step in the customer experience that we have been honored with this award.”