CF Customer Service Earns ISO-9002 Certification.

Business Editors

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 6, 2000

Consolidated Freightways, which invested heavily in customer service initiatives last year, was awarded corporate level ISO-9002 certification in the high-impact administrative support areas of delivering transportation services to its clients - customer service, ratings, invoicing and pricing.

ISO-9000 is a quality-based system of standards that can apply to any company or industry and is recognized worldwide.

Consolidated Freightways (CF) was awarded certificates Jan. 28 at each of the company's four administrative locations that perform direct customer service functions. The locations are corporate headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif.; the Leland James Center in Portland, Ore.; the Customer Resource Center in Dallas; and the CF Rate Center in Boise, Idaho.

In 1998, CF's El Paso, Texas, gateway facility on the U.S.-Mexico border became the nation's first major national LTL terminal to receive ISO certification.

"To receive ISO accreditation for corporate customer service underscores our commitment to the highest possible standards," says Pat Blake, president. "ISO accredited services are exactly the kind of activities that directly impact our clients. And standardizing these procedures helps assure multinational clients that they will receive consistent high quality service worldwide."

With $2.4 billion in revenues, CF is one of the world's largest transportation organizations with an array of supply chain products and services, including integrated management services in logistics, expedited air and ground delivery, JIT solutions, two-day regional service and time-sensitive inventory management.

CF's 22,000 transportation professionals are based in 400 locations in 80 countries worldwide. ISO certification is an ongoing process with audits required annually. CF employees have been trained as internal auditors, ensuring CF's ISO procedures are carefully followed and maintained.

The ISO certificates awarded CF in January were for corporate customer service and related support involving domestic and international distribution and LTL transportation via land, sea and air.

Designed as a comprehensive international measurement of quality assurance, ISO 9000 was created to promote standardization within business practices and to create a structure for optimizing the overall management plan. Continual procedural reviews and vendor certification are key elements that help to establish performance and quality service standards for businesses worldwide. Successful ISO 9002 companies comply with 18 specific elements and criteria that relate to delivering consistent, reliable service.