Dial 911 for Delivery

How much does it cost a major automotive manufacturer to stop an assembly line? It can run into the millions. That’s dollars per hour, by the way, not annual losses. The cost of shutting down a plant makes the cost of emergency shipping look like chump-change. It’s no wonder that some folks are prepared to pay big, big bucks to ship a can of paint or a handful of springs. The type of vehicle doesn’t matter; it could be a panel-van or a tractor-trailer, as long as it gets there in time.

The expedited trucking sector is all about smaller trucks and lesser loads, with delivery schedules that make “get it here yesterday” sound too slow.

Auto parts and materials related to automotive production are still the mainstay of the expedite business, but that’s changing. As more and more industries slash their production inventories, the expeditors are finding more new markets. As the customer base expands, so too do the list of destinations. Anything from a Rolls Royce jet engine to a seat cushion for a Ford Taurus can wind up on an expedite truck. It all depends how badly somebody needs the freight.

Somewhere between FedEx and a 53-footer lies the realm of the expeditor, an industry sector largely centred in southern Ontario and the northeast United States. It’s mostly straight trucks and some panel vans, but tractor-trailers get into the game occasionally as well. The key to expedited trucking is flexibility. These guys don’t run on schedules the way the couriers do, and they don’t tell the customer they’ll have a truck in the area in a day or two. Their stock in trade is rapid response — like right now — and a firm commitment to deliver.

That means expedited carriers have very specific service commitments and they have all the insurance policies in place to ensure the loads get there.

Chris Gleason, president of Lions Delivery Service in Richmond Hill, Ont., says he has service agreements in place with several truck rental firms and tire service companies to make sure the freight gets rolling again as quickly as possible if trouble crops up.

“The customer isn’t paying to have his freight delivered when it’s convenient for us,” he says. “The key is keeping the customer informed. They know problems arise: it’s up to us to help them make alternate arrangements.”

The demand for time-sensitive delivery of small quantities of freight has given rise to a relatively new concept in trucking: the over-the-road straight truck. These folks aren’t by any means limited to medium-duty machinery, but the typical expedite truck is a class-6 or -7 cab and chassis, fitted with a 20- to 24-foot box. Many owner-operators have successfully modified a class-8 tractor to accommodate the cargo box. They’re still traveling in style, but without the aggravation of dragging a trailer around. Talk about the best of both worlds.

Some of these mid-range trucks are spec’d with full walk-in sleepers, top-of-the-line seating and interior packages with all the toys one would expect to find in a heavy-duty big rig. The engines may be a little smaller, but so is the payload. A 250- to 300-horsepower engine does a fine job with a gross weight of less than 50,000 pounds, and, we’re talking double-digit fuel economy numbers as well.

The environment at an expedited carrier is not much different than that of a police station. The name of the game in both cases is quick assessment and response.

For example, it’s the night before the U.S. Thanksgiving, and Ocean Spray calls and says they need enough cranberries to feed New England immediately. Jeff Laforet, operations manager for Windsor, Ont.-based TST Expedited, explains the procedure.

“When the call comes in it’s our job to identify what the requirement is. The customer doesn’t necessarily say ‘I need a truck.’ What they say is ‘I have this freight in Alabama and it’s got to get to Detroit right away.’ Well, we have to identify what ‘right away’ means, because it means different things to different people.”

A time for delivery is then nailed down, and the customer is given options. If it’s going to be an over-the-road haul, the dispatcher establishes routing, speed of the truck, and prices the haul accordingly. “If that’s not good enough, we then give them the air freight option, through TST Air, and price it to that.” Laforet says.

But with no backhaul, at what point does a contract become too expensive, and the return not worth it? “It really doesn’t matter to us. Everything is built and priced to the customer’s demands,” Laforet explains.

Once the method has been settled on, the order is passed on to the load planner, who starts building the load, determines how many drivers are needed, and contacts the appropriate personnel via satellite. Within minutes from the original call, the parameters are relayed to the driver, who goes to pick up the freight. The entire run is carefully monitored by both TST and the customer.

That whole process has become even tighter in the last six months. It took 9/11 to make Laforet realize what 911 really means.

“When Sept. 11 happened our world came upside-down,” he says. “Being located at the largest border crossing, we were stuck there anywhere from six to 12 hours. When you’re supposed to be moving just-in-time freight, and you’re not moving it, you’re going out of business.”

What the event did, however, was force the company to look at new ways of moving the freight while the lineups slowly shortened. They mapped out different routes, and utilized barges and other border crossings. Somehow, they got the freight where it needed to go. Internally, the company had no choice but to work harder. All documentation and paperwork needed to be meticulous, dispatchers became more pro-active, and problem-solving became even more immediate. Those safeguards are now in place if and when the next unexpected event occurs.

“We sure learned a lot — we learned just how quick things can change,” says Laforet. “It kept us on our toes.”

When 90% of emergency freight is unexpected, an expedited carrier is by nature built to be prepared for anything. But Laforet knows there are some things you just can’t prepare for. You just deal with them as they happen.