Rainforest Distribution
WAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTION

Rainforest Distribution saves 100 hours weekly with Samsara Route Planning

With Samsara, Rainforest Distribution unified routing, navigation, and compliance on a single platform while improving visibility and enabling more efficient deliveries at scale.

Meet Rainforest Distribution

400 EMPLOYEES
150 POWER UNITS
7 LOCATIONS

The Challenge

Rapid growth strained outdated routing tools and disconnected systems

Rainforest Distribution is a full-service food and beverage distributor serving more than 4,000 retailers across 22 states on the East Coast, with a portfolio of more than 7,000 SKUs in ambient, refrigerated, and frozen formats. The company specializes in high-touch perishables, emerging and local brands, and custom retail programs, and operates a company-owned direct-store-delivery network. Headquartered in Bayonne, New Jersey, Rainforest expanded from two locations to seven in six years, growing organically and through the acquisition of regional East Coast distributors, including Avenue Gourmet, Associated Buyers, and Perfect 10 Foods. The company employs 400 people and runs a fleet of approximately 150 power units.

As the business scaled, its routing foundation struggled to keep up. The team relied on WorkWave, which lacked the integrations and flexibility needed for a multi-location distribution network. Route planning required a lengthy, manual process that frequently broke and slowed operations. “Previously, we had to export data from WorkWave, rework it through a series of steps, and then upload it into SAP—and hope that nothing broke along the way,” said Joel Horst, Safety and Compliance Coordinator. With routing, telematics, and core systems siloed, teams couldn’t connect planned routes to real-world execution, and drivers were left juggling multiple apps throughout their day. “Our routing and ELD systems weren’t connected. We could see truck locations and view planned routes separately, but we couldn’t bring the two together to get a clear, real-time picture of what was actually happening in the field,” said Horst. The planning tools also had no awareness of equipment class. Routes were built without regard to the height, weight, and road restrictions that apply to a specific power unit, which pushed route feasibility onto individual driver knowledge instead of into the plan. As the network grew and lanes changed, that dependence on institutional memory did not scale.

The Solution

Consolidating routing, navigation, and compliance into a single platform

Rainforest Distribution’s investment in Samsara evolved alongside its growth. After first adopting Samsara’s ELD in 2019 to replace an unreliable system, the company later revisited its broader technology stack as routing complexity increased across its expanding network. The turning point came when Samsara introduced its Route Planning and Commercial Navigation capabilities, giving Rainforest a path to bring routing, navigation, telematics, and compliance into one platform. The ability to support real-world constraints, including multi-day routes and equipment-specific restrictions tied to vehicle class, height, weight, and permitted road types,paired with a collaborative product approach, made Samsara a strong fit for its evolving operation.

The rollout focused on unifying systems and simplifying day-to-day workflows for both drivers and back-office teams. Routing, navigation, and fleet data were integrated with SAP, eliminating manual handoffs and replacing spreadsheets with automated workflows. For drivers, consolidating tools into a single mobile app reduced confusion and removed the need to manage multiple logins. “Our drivers went from using separate apps for routing and HOS to a single, unified experience with Samsara. Now, everything they need is in one place,” said Horst.

The Results

Streamlined routing, equipment-aware  navigation, and real-time visibility at scale

With Samsara Route Planning and Commercial Navigation fully integrated into its operations, Rainforest Distribution replaced hours of manual coordination with a streamlined, reliable workflow. Route data now syncs directly with SAP in a single click, saving approximately 100 hours per week across the planners, dispatchers, and customer service staff who previously touched the process. “We used to copy and paste spreadsheets. Now, with Samsara Routing, it's simple—easier to manage, quicker to teach, and without the error-prone workflows we lived with before,” said Horst.

Dispatchers can also instantly link drivers, vehicles, and routes to generate accurate lineup reports, and customer service teams can produce tracking links on demand, significantly cutting down on customer calls. “Samsara takes the guesswork out of 'where's my delivery?' Anyone in customer service can instantly pull a live-tracking link for a specific stop and send it to the customer,” said Sang Lee, Director of Technology.

The largest gain in the field is that planning and execution now share the same view of the equipment. Routes are optimized before dispatch against the size, weight, and road restrictions that apply to the specific power unit assigned to the run, and drivers receive turn-by-turn navigation built on that same profile. Over a four-month period, Samsara routed Rainforest vehicles around roughly 3,000 height- and weight-restricted road segments that would otherwise have been left to a driver-level judgment call. Drivers can confirm a viable route for the equipment they are in without relying on personal familiarity with the lane, and planners can build routes that hold up in execution. The precision matters given the value and sensitivity of the perishable freight being moved.

Beyond routing, Rainforest has extended this visibility into trailers and cold chain operations, using real-time temperature monitoring and trailer tracking to protect loads worth up to $80,000 and maintain quality across long hauls and hot climates.

Ready to team up?

We're ready when you are. Let's talk about what your operation needs.

Check our prices