In The News

Expediter Services, LLC Introduces Never Stand Alone for Owner/Operators

At the beginning of July, Memphis, Tennessee’s Expediter Services rolled out a new program focused on Owner/Operators called Never Stand Alone.  It’s almost unfair to refer to Never Stand Alone as a program, as it’s almost more an extension of their already existing services into a sector of the expediting world they previously hadn’t been. 

This isn’t to say that it didn’t require some work; Paul Williams, Chairman and CEO of Expediter Services, says, “We started working on Never Stand Alone back in September, so it’s been about nine months of preparation.  But really, we’ve been working on the support systems for the program for about four years.” 

Among these support systems: Building a sizable fleet helped to bring down their overall fuel, insurance, and repair costs.  They also spent considerable amount of time training their existing staff in the policies and procedures of the various carriers they serve, as well as the terminology and jargon those companies use to ensure smooth operations between their carriers and owner-operators. 

The expansion of Expediter Services’ scope and the obvious goal of continuing to grow the business aside, what’s the overall vision for the Never Stand Alone Program?  As a facilitator, there are a number of different perspectives.  For the carriers the company represents, the goals more or less stay the same: to keep freight moving and to get those loads there on time.  “For our owner/operators,” says Paul Williams, “the main goal is for them to be as profitable as possible--for them to be more profitable than they otherwise would be.”

With increased profitability for owner/operators as a focus, it’s easy to see the advantages Expediter Services offers with the Never Stand Alone program.  They’re able to improve an owner/operator’s cash flow by around two weeks.  Jason Williams, President and COO, says, “The pay turnaround in the Never Stand Alone tends to be a lot faster than the average carrier.  With some carriers, it could be up to 6 weeks before you get paid.  We usually speed up an owner operator’s cash flow by about two weeks, but it could be more, depending upon the situation.”

Along with the improvement in pay time comes an increase in your bottom line.  Because of their large in-house fleet they’re able to offer reduced rates on fuel--depending upon current prices, this savings can be up to 35 cents on the gallon.  They’re also able to offer decreases in insurance costs, as well as on tires and basic repairs, which can eat up a significant portion of an owner/operator’s profits in the space of a year.  Says Jason Williams, “If your cost per mile is 70 cents, and I can get it down to 50, you’re going to see a 20 cents per mile improvement--for the same work you’re already doing.”

Another thing that affects the owner/operator’s bottom line in a positive way is the reduction in layover time.  With Expediter Services’ software and availability of data, drivers have at their fingertips more load information on a daily basis than “The average owner operator would be able to collect in a year,” says Paul Williams.  What this data and its attached search function offers drivers is a knowledge of the current state of the industry (that is, where freight is moving right now as opposed to a couple days from now, or last month) in such an up-to-the-minute fashion that “Really hasn’t previously been available to them,” says Mr. Williams.

Jason Williams adds that there’s a big, big difference between “Deadheading all over the country chasing freight versus knowing where freight is actually moving.”  This difference in time management and load turnaround could possibly prove to be the most important improvement for an owner/operator, as it directly results in an increase in numbers of loads--and that means more money when you’d otherwise just be sitting in a parking lot waiting.  “I’d estimate that once or twice a month per driver, our system directs them to another city where freight is moving,” says Paul Williams.  The addition of a load or two per month for owner/operators is promising, to say the least, especially in an industry that could, at least during downtime, be characterized as something of a “Hurry up and wait” situation. 

Jason Williams summarizes the Never Stand Alone program quite succinctly: “It’s the only option out there that’s put together from the mindset of the owner/operator.  There’s nothing else out there like it.  The truck owner needs to be business savvy enough to make sure he’s profitable, and Never Stand Alone can help with that--it can make you more profitable.” 

All this said, Expediter Services is looking for a reasonably specific set of owner/operators at the moment: folks driving straight trucks and tractors.  They’re bringing people on according to the requirements of the carriers that they work with.  Speaking of Expediter Services recruiters, you’ll be able to find them at the 2010 Expedite Expo.  They’ll be there recruiting both drivers and owner/operators and will have their software system available for perusal so that owner/operators can see the program in action live and test out the clear advantage of using their data so that they can be in the areas where freight is moving as opposed to sitting around waiting for loads.

For further details about Expediter Services, the Never Stand Alone program and the recruiting process, visit them at booth A1 both July 23 and 24 at this year’s Expedite Expo or online at http://www.expediterservices.com.