I oppose any change that would prevent a wholesaler from charging a fee for a viable business cost resulting from increased manpower or delivery costs outside the normal course of business.  For example: a loose bottle order vs a full case order will incur increased manpower costs to staff and pick loose bottle orders. The risk of breakage increases when full cases are opened and loose bottles are individually picked. In addition, added costs for software changes are incurred when continued increases to loose bottle orders require software updates to bottle accumulation lanes and conveyor speeds on warehouse material handling equipment.  Added manpower costs are also incurred when a delivery driver has the check-in loose bottle orders vs full cases. Drivers can have a few loose bottles to hundreds of loose bottles for a single customer.

Breakthru Beverage Group is a family owned business that operates in 16 states across the United States. We have historically charge a Split Case fee to recover certain operational costs.

Thank for the opportunity to express my concerns on this topic.

Sincerely,

Dale F. Farino

President

Breakthru Beverage Virginia