Workforce Management Program Implementation at United States Cold Storage (USCS)

The client

United States Cold Storage (USCS) and its predecessor companies have provided refrigerated warehousing services for the food industry since 1889. Today USCS is a leading third-party logistics (3PL) operator in public refrigerated warehousing in the United States, with 42 facilities across 13 states and more than 3,000 employees.

At the start of our program with USCS, the company operated 38 distribution centers across 12 states including California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia, with more than 1,600 service professionals.

The challenge

USCS needed measurable performance visibility across its warehouse workforce at multiple facilities. Labor costs were inconsistent across distribution centers with no standardized productivity model in place. Supervisors lacked data-driven tools to manage team performance, and operational decisions were reactive rather than based on objective metrics.

The solution

Divergence supported USCS in optimizing its logistics operations through advisory, training, and implementation of a comprehensive workforce management program. The program included:

Engineered labor standards: Time and motion studies at each distribution center to establish fair, accurate, and defensible standards for all direct functions.

Performance Plus system implementation: Deployment of Divergence’s labor management platform to provide real-time visibility into productivity by shift, function, and associate.

Supervisor training and coaching: Training supervisors to read performance reports, identify barriers to productivity (B2Ps), and apply structured coaching techniques following the COACH methodology (Connect, Observe, Analyze, Coach, Habit).

Change management: Program communication at all levels of the operation. Integration of frontline associates into the standardization process to reduce resistance and build ownership of results.

Results

Metric Result
Productivity 15% increase in units per hour
Labor cost 10% reduction in cost per unit
Return on investment Full payback in 9 months
Facilities completed 20 of 38 planned at the time of this report

Program scope

The USCS program was a progressive rollout that advanced facility by facility. Each location went through the full cycle of assessment, standards development, Performance Plus implementation, and supervisor training before moving to the next phase. This approach allowed each center to stabilize its results before Divergence advanced to the next installation.

At the time of this report, Divergence had successfully completed 20 of the 38 planned installations, including the distribution centers at Lebanon (Pennsylvania), Dallas South (Texas), and Minooka (Illinois).

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