Case study
Sunrun scales clean energy in Hawaii and Puerto Rico with Odyssey
How the largest residential solar provider ensures clean energy reaches island communities
Client background
Shipping to these locations requires careful coordination, flexible freight solutions, and reliable last-mile execution. Sunrun’s logistics manager, Chaitanya Tambi, oversees these high-stakes supply chains. “I manage a logistics budget in the tens of millions at Sunrun,” he said. “We ship from California to Hawaii, and from Pennsylvania to Puerto Rico, multiple times a week.”
Challenge
Shipping to Hawaii and Puerto Rico is notoriously complex. Between limited carrier options, rigid freight regulations, and fragile equipment, the margin for error is small.
Due to Jones Act restrictions, only two carriers — Pasha and Matson — can transport freight from the mainland to Hawaii, and they typically only handle full-container loads. That poses challenges for shippers like Sunrun with fluctuating volumes.
Moreover, after ocean transit, inter-island and last-mile delivery come with additional logistics hurdles. For example, cold chain shipments take priority, which can lead to Sunrun’s solar panels getting further delayed, even when they’re on the barge.
On top of that, solar shipments are fragile glass products. Their batteries also contain hazardous material, introducing additional handling concerns.
Together, these constraints made it nearly impossible to manage the flow of smaller-volume shipments cost effectively.
Door-to-door execution, with no surprises
Odyssey Logistics offered a critical alternative: less-than-container-load (LCL) service with full door-to-door handling.
Odyssey’s ability to offer truly end-to-end shipping across complex lanes gave Sunrun what many providers couldn’t: simplicity.
Odyssey will come pick up the freight, manage all of it, and then do the final mile delivery. For anything LCL, we go to Odyssey.
Odyssey’s full-service approach provided Sunrun with much-needed consistency and peace of mind. “No news is good news to me,” he explained.
With Odyssey, my team knows where shipments are, I get the right level of communication, and I know that they’re doing their part.
Speed, communication, and trust
Because shipping to Jones Act lanes is less predictable than mainland logistics, Sunrun needed a partner who could not only deliver consistent results, but also communicate through disruptions of various kinds. Odyssey gave Sunrun this reliable line of communication, ensuring that they were consistently updated regarding possible delays, and strategies to get around them.
Odyssey does a good job of letting us know if something is at risk. They meet their ETAs. We’ve tried other logistics providers in the past, but they aren’t as consistent as Odyssey.
Steady partnership even at peak times
Sunrun also appreciated how Odyssey was able, despite the complexity of the Hawaiian lanes, to keep up with their peak volumes. Sunrun’s volume spikes in the summer, but Odyssey has never let capacity become a bottleneck.
With installs going up as high by 20% during the summertime, Sunrun, thanks to Odyssey, was able to keep up with demand without massive delays.
“I’ve never heard anyone from Odyssey say ‘no’ to us,” Tambi said.
New technology in a legacy industry
Odyssey also differentiated itself from the competition by embracing modern technology to support tracking and invoicing — a key capacity for tech-forward leaders like Tambi.
With Odyssey, it’s all electronic. The delivery happens, the EDI talks to my system, and boom — it happens automatically.
That kind of workflow fits how Tambi runs things: fast, clean, and to the point.
“If it’s not happening in three clicks, I probably don’t want to do it.”
Proven value
As a logistics manager in a booming industry, Tambi is always looking for two things: high-quality service and competitive pricing. Despite the complexity of the lanes they service, Odyssey can do both.
I compare prices all the time just for the fun of it. Odyssey always turns out to be the most competitive option.
When asked to sum up what Odyssey offers a company like Sunrun in a single sentence, Tambi’s response is simple:
“High-quality service at a competitive price — with predictable results.”
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