Sarah Baker, MacFarlane Pheasants, Inc.’s Mature Pheasant Sales Coordinator, and Chris Theisen, Logistics manager have a system in place for our deliveries with many steps to plan a well-organized delivery. If you contact Sarah at 608-314-3461 she will be able to take your orders.
Sarah will ask you some basic questions like how many birds you will need and when do you need them? Many customers are repeat customers so truck deliveries are planned for different areas of the country, in advance. When a new customer requests a delivery, it is easier to give them a specific delivery date because their orders can be sent in the same truck. For example, beginning in September a truck is going to the Northwest states every other week. By mid-October, we have a trailer leaving for that area every week.
There is only one big truck leaving per day. We fill our trucks with multiple customers’ orders so by the time we leave Wisconsin it could be that some customers will receive their deliveries at night. We work with our customers to develop a time-frame for their deliveries. We try to get all orders from a specific region on the same truck. It takes a great deal of planning and working as a team with customers to make it work. This partnership with our customers is an important element of our deliveries.
Once the truck is organized for all deliveries along the route, Chris and Sarah work on time of arrivals for the customers, and all customers are called so they are well informed. The deliveries are organized based on having birds in crates the least amount of time possible and getting deliveries to customers at the planned delivery time. We have some loads with several customers to coordinate, and some that are a designated load directly to one customer. Coordination with our drivers is of key importance as they are hauling live birds.
Catching a whole semi-truck of pheasant requires a lot of organization for the guys catching the birds. For the timing of the deliveries to stay on track, the truck must be loaded and ready to leave at a specific time
Drivers need a clear and concise delivery plan. They meet with Sarah and Chris before each trip to go over what happens at each drop. They are also given a typed copy of the plan. They also get a load map telling where each delivery is located on the truck. Chris, Sarah, and Keagan Strange are always on call when the semi is on the road in case there are questions or concerns.
We have a free manual called “The Set Up and Care of Adult Game Birds.” Please download this manual with our compliments.