5
Distribution centers in markets
80%
majority uptake on shuttle utilization
89%
of employees using the service at least once
"Swoop helps us enormously with our overflowing parking lot by shuttling our team to their place of work, so they can arrive feeling productive and free from parking worries."
While multinational retail corporation, Walmart is providing essential items to customers all over the U.S. and beyond, they need to take the pressure off their employees.
We've all heard of the mighty Walmart and the work they do, so we can well understand that they need to employ thousands of hard-working staff. The sheer size of their distribution centers means they need to work smarter, not harder, regarding traffic flow and parking for their teams.
Until they called us for help, their parking lots were filling up fast – this is a significant pain point for Walmart’s distribution centers around the world and they needed one, consistent company to manage this issue end to end.
Swoop was happy to help with this overflow of vehicles to alleviate the volume of cars, take parking stress away from the team, and fulfill their wish to be in the Business of Better through the adoption of reliable employee shuttles.
Here is the story of how Walmart partnered with Swoop to transform its corporate transportation.
Founded by brothers Sam and James Walton in Arkansas in 1962, Walmart is an American retail corporation that heads up hypermarkets as well as department stores and grocery stores with franchises all over the world from India to South Africa.
A fact that staggers us here at Swoop is that Walmart is the world’s largest company when it comes to the size of its revenue and it employs 2.2 million people internationally.
As a result, it is the go-to store for millions of American households, so products need to be moved quickly and efficiently out of the various distribution centers and into the stores.
Because of the nature of Walmart’s challenge -- to alleviate their parking lots by providing a corporate shuttle service for employees based in diverse locations -- Swoop needed to strategize drivers’ journeys and make the whole process super efficient for everyone involved. Walmart has a gigantic workforce and every team member should experience convenience, comfort, and punctuality on every trip.
Swoop became Walmart’s preferred transportation partner to provide shuttle drivers to and from distribution centers in 5 markets. We helped them to achieve a 80% majority uptake on shuttle utilization, with 89% of employees using the service at least once.
What was the action plan?
A customized process was necessary for each city – some of them international – and Walmart needed someone to oversee the movement of each private shuttle service. Walmart couldn't be expected to enroll any of their already busy team in this task, so they needed someone whose sole job was to coordinate the shuttle services for them.
After in-depth discussions with the client, Swoop now provides between three and ten 56-passenger charter buses at each Walmart location, and there is an onsite coordinator for each of the centers.
We scouted each location one week before the launch to ensure seamless logistics and used our 'heat map' technology to understand the location of every employee, which allowed us to create routes that made logical sense to everyone involved.
This meant that we could provide a comfortable and enjoyable employee experience where the team could book a seat of their choice and, importantly, they could send us updates in real time to adjust their journey where necessary.
As we've already outlined above, Walmart's workforce is... BIG. The sheer size of their distribution center teams meant that a system was necessary to verify that passengers on these specially tailored corporate shuttle services were indeed employees!
By liaising with Walmart's HR teams, Swoop created a system to verify that all passengers are employees, through a series of steps linked to our unique central system. The drivers who work with us are all trained and confident in not only their own abilities but in the crucial technology we all use. No room for error here.
Not only that, but we also check that the teams are following necessary CDC guidelines, meaning we must stay up to date with local legislation and follow through on these guidelines robustly.
Walmart has strong values and they believe in "fostering a culture where all associates are engaged to achieve their potential and deliver on our customer mission". This means no one should be at a disadvantage when it comes to working for this company, no matter what their socioeconomic status, geographic location, or abilities as a human being.
But how could Walmart fulfill its vision through an employee shuttle service? Here's how…
Companies that provide their workforce with an employee shuttle, rather than asking them to rely on public transportation, show a deep commitment to employee well-being. Purpose, autonomy, excellence, and collaboration can only happen when the team feels taken care of by their employer.
Swoop’s employee shuttle services carry a happy Walmart team from home to work with care and consideration. This leaves them fresh and ready to be productive, not to mention providing them the chance to make fulfilling personal connections with fellow passengers during the journeys.
With so many distribution center employees based in different locations, Walmart needed to know they could trust their transportation provider implicitly. While some employee shuttle services might offer some of the solutions, it can be hard to find a company that relishes the responsibility of getting everyone to work on time, every time.
The client needed experienced drivers, who know their local area, including residential areas and the transport hubs, drivers who are tech-savvy enough to provide updates and cope with real-time adjustments regularly, and a company that can provide them with cost-effective answers to all their questions.
Let's break it down into the delicious morsels that make up a great shuttle service:
Experienced drivers
The daily commute doesn't have to be stressful. Walmart's employees now enjoy a slick, professional journey in our thoroughly checked and insured vehicles (big enough for large groups), with journeys the guys back at base can track, thanks to super-intuitive GPS technology and drivers who are screened, qualified, and experienced.
Dedicated coordinators
From the off, our team listened to the client's needs and challenges to build a flexible and dependable service. This ensures employees feel less stressed, have more security, and enjoy a productive working day.
Cost savings for the team
A sure way to make a day start on the wrong foot is for an unhappy employee to arrive late and out of pocket. By investing in a corporate shuttle service, Walmart's employees now save on gas, vehicle maintenance, and parking stress/ costs, which in turn increases financial relief and job satisfaction.
A smooth journey
Walmart has the choice of vehicle size and type, including perks like Wi-Fi and power outlets, reclining seats, and wheelchair lifts. Their service means the team can avoid driving through traffic congestion in a vehicle with all safety measures in place, in comfortable transportation that can only improve employee productivity. Not only that, but Swoop has a network large enough to provide all this to a nationwide network of 20 distribution centers.
Walmart needed nothing less than to partner with a company that could check all boxes – comfort, well-being, flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability – with a team that would be there to help at any time.
The partnership between Walmart and Swoop is a special one and more than just about business. We share positive economic, cultural, and environmental values that are at the heart of both of our companies, creating a partnership for the future.
Swoop recognized that Walmart, as a prime example of a modern, large-scale company, needed a transportation company with one eye firmly on tomorrow. Not just a company that provides a basic service, but that strives to improve its service in a future-facing way – even when things are performing well.
Swoop works hard every day to envision the future and provide for it now. We hope that with these strong foundations and our new partnership, our journey with Walmart will continue for a long time to come.
Whether you have a handful of team members or a thousand employees, an employee shuttle program can make all the difference to your and your company's working day. Swoop will work out all your logistics according to your unique needs. We have a whole range of vehicles available, from executive SUVs and transit vans to sprinter vans, mini-coaches, and motor coaches.
With Swoop, your team will have a comfortable and productive journey thanks to conveniences like secure WiFi and USB charging ports. For a little extra luxury, we can also offer vehicles with reclining seats, air conditioning, and PA systems to rock out to or relax with.
To keep things easy and intuitive, when you contact Swoop, you will receive a dedicated employee shuttle service account manager and support 24/7. Not only do we schedule everything for you in the beginning, but we regularly review ongoing performance through our data collection feature. If there's a new improvement or way you can save money, we'll suggest it!
And to make sure this hard work all pays off for you, we can even help you develop a compelling launch plan to maximize employee engagement.
We are so happy that the team at Walmart trusted Swoop to take care of business and made the most of our visionary approach, customer-centric services, and consistent dependability.
Swoop is an all-in-one transportation solution for all your transportation needs - from commuter shuttling, executive VIP transportation, and large-scale events.
© 2024 Swoop. All rights reserved.
