Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/485023
50 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | MARCH 2015 achievement were and remain varied. In the fi rst month after acquiring the company, its new owners lowered all tractor speeds from 75 to 65 mph and mandated electronic logs for all company-owned tractors and owner-operators. "While many bulk carriers claim that e-logs are unneces- sary, we simply believe that it's a better way of doing busi- ness, particularly in an age when customers can be held fi nancially liable if their carriers aren't up to safety standards," Holden says. "We further enhanced our operational procedures relating to the logging of hours to ensure we can better document full compliance." A&R also has developed an extensive driver training and onboarding program, and it's not only driving where the com- pany insists on safety. Drivers perform- ing pretrips on their tractor, trailer and tires also must check their trailer's bulk cargo equipment, as they are responsible for loading and unloading the variety of loads they haul. Also, safety gear is required to be worn at all times while handling hoses and transloading material. The company has training silos in Morris and Highlands, Texas, to provide hands-on training for new employees and keep veterans posted on the latest technologies and techniques. A&R compensates drivers well for the extra hassles of strict hours and safety compliance and bulk hauling demands. Holden says the company's driver pay ranks in the industry's top 10 percent. To improve the effi ciency of its day- to-day operations, A&R has upgraded its warehousing and packaging technology across the nation. The company's railcar facility in San Bernardino, Calif., is staffed by its own rail technicians who track all daily inventories of transloading activities, electronically verifying and physically inspecting the cars to improve productiv- ity and enhance safety. A&R works with many of the largest dry bulk product producers to educate them on the difference between paper logs and electronic logs; hours-of-service compliance in general and related vicari- ous liability exposures; and loading and unloading processes for product such as plastic resin, which results in two hours of driver time on each end. The company logs its actual loading and unloading times and not an industry- held standard, which Holden says is gen- erally about 25 minutes to load and the same time to unload. If a company goes by that standard and is using paper logs, it unoffi cially gains more than an hour of driving time on each end. "Our goal is to set the standard in safety and compliance in the dry bulk transportation industry," Holden says. "We are working closely with industry leaders to ensure safety standards are fully understood and consistently applied by all carriers and shippers. We take safety and compliance seriously and believe we help our industry set the standard." Holden says A&R's scores in the Unsafe Driving BASIC were 28 percent lower than the previous year when the com- pany fi rst achieved its best score since CSA's inception. "You only see this type of year-over-year record-setting improve- ment when you have an organization and a safety culture that is dedicated to chasing perfection," he says. "We made the decision to put safety ahead of profi t, and we see it in our safety results. We're very pleased with our progress, and our customers are very pleased." Continued growth If A&R has proven anything since its acquisition three years ago, it's that it's never satis- fi ed with its past and current accomplishments. With its safety initiatives entrenched and goals continuing to be established and achieved, the company posted record rev- enues of about $220 million in 2014, Holden says, and it now is setting its sights on future growth, both organically and through acquisitions. "Houston is the largest originat- ing region for bulk liquid chemicals," he says. "Houston is the chemical capital of the world, and that's where the majority of our customers are headquartered. These customers are encouraging us to expand into the liquid business." To those ends, A&R now is spec'ing and considering the purchase of new liquid chemical trailers with the latest technologies, and it also is exploring the acquisition of companies with annual revenues between $25 million and $100 million. Smaller companies that A&R would like to acquire may be more willing than in previous years to enter into a deal because of a regulatory environ- ment that is becoming more stringent every day, Holden says. "We are seeing a number of family- owned businesses evaluating their op- tions about continuing on or selling their company," he says. "The new regulations for trucking companies are more compli- cated and expensive for liquid transport. Our size and scale can benefi t us. We can invest not only in technology to help ad- dress regulations, but we also can invest in people." CC J I N N O VATO R S profi les carriers and fl eets that have found innovative ways to overcome trucking's challenges. If you know a carrier that has displayed innovation, contact Jeff Crissey at jcrissey@ccjmagazine.com or 800-633-5953. A&R Logistics has training silos to provide hands-on training for new employees and keep veterans posted on the latest technologies and techniques.