Last year was the best of times for truckers. It was the biggest freight boom in over two decades and every shipper in town was your new best friend. Most expect demand to last well into 2022. But it’s also been challenging times, as fleets struggle with high costs and shortages of pretty much everything. […]
Category: Trucking
How to hire a sales rep
Fleet owners often ask if I know of any sales reps with a big book of business who are looking for a new home. I tell them all the same thing: they don’t exist. They all became freight brokers. Ironically, the experienced sales reps I recruited away from competitors rarely delivered what they promised. You […]
Big customers carry risks and rewards alike
Every freight sales rep wakes up in the morning hoping today’s the day they close that massive deal — the one that’ll double the fleet size and their commission cheques all at once. But sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for. Big accounts can lead to customer concentrations that put your company […]
When going the extra mile, be sure you’re paid
Some of the most fun I had in my trucking career happened when I moved from the C-suite to the front line at MSM Transportation. At the time we were a growing but fledgling fleet that was having trouble connecting the dots in customer service. I figured a month answering phones and scheduling freight would […]
Prepare for sticker shock in the warehouse market
It’s hard to be profitable in trucking without strategically located facilities. Several large players recently told me they consider themselves to be in the real estate business, not the trucking business. That’s how important dirt is to our sector! If you’re one of the lucky ones who owns your own real estate, the last year […]
Fight the inside jobs of cargo theft
My first experience with cargo theft was one summer during university. I was working the graveyard shift on a loading dock and noticed a co-worker putting boxes of new appliances into a strategically located garbage bin, which only he was allowed to empty. It was obvious he was taking out more than trash. From crimes […]
Add a broker arm to your truck fleet
The freight business is booming as consumers spend all that cash they saved by staying home on stuff they think will make life at home more interesting. The last time rates were this high was 2018, and carriers responded by expanding their fleets instead of building up rates and margins. When those new trucks actually […]
Update your fleet’s sales process in 2021
As Covid-19 rages, the trucking industry continues to do an amazing job pivoting to new ways of doing business and keeping drivers safe. One area where carriers have been slow to adapt is in sales. That’s perfectly logical considering that many fleets are busier than ever and few expected the virus to wreak havoc for […]
With 2020 in the mirror, what does 2021 hold for trucking?
The editors at Webster’s really put a bow on 2020 when they officially added “social distancing,” “rapid testing,” and “asymptomatic” to the dictionary. Voting wasn’t even close when “pandemic” was “honored” as the word of the year. I’m as ecstatic as you are to see 2020 in the rearview mirror. My fingers are crossed that testing and […]
The promise and shortcomings of autonomous tech
Every truck driver knows what to do when they come to an S-curve: take it easy, accelerate gradually through the turns, and then get back up to speed. In technology, the term S-curve represents the typical path of adoption: slow progress at first followed by a sudden, steep rise as consumers and businesses jump on […]