Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/614640
BUILDING AMERICA In those early days as an owner-operator "I made so many contacts" talking to folks on docks he delivered to about their areas and taking a soft sales approach with the logistics managers he ultimately approached about potentially doing busi- ness direct, careful to be respectful of noncompete clauses that may have been in broker contracts he was running under. The laid-back sales approach, he says, paid off long-term time and again. "A lot of it's in that sales approach. It's one of those things — do I want to bombard" the shipper? Rather, he chose a different tack: "'Why don't we try out a load a week – for a few weeks.' After I do a fabulous job, later he's calling me when his other carrier falls off to do two loads a week." Things proceed from there. Today, "I would say the percentage of brokered loads we take is so small it would scare you," he says, citing a 1-2 percent fi gure. The small fl eet works lanes both due east and west of its Tremonton, Utah, headquarters, sending loaded trucks out "to get the backhaul" from a direct customer coming back. "We do 15 trucks a week twice out to the West Coast. The other 15 go East of Utah each week. … Typically, our load planners have the reload in [drivers'] hands before they've ever delivered. We're fortunate to have some guys in place [as planners] who've all driven themselves, have spent a lot of time in the truck themselves." F The FREE Truckers Tools smartphone app can help you locate truck stops, fi nd the best fuel prices, track your route, and a ton more to make life on the road just a little bit easier. BROUGHT TO YOU BY | OverdriveOnline.com | Facebook.com/OverdriveTrucking FOR ANDROID: FOR IPHONE: The FREE Truckers Tools smartphone app can help you locate truck stops, fi nd FOR ANDROID: Simplify your life on the road. 14 www.FlatbedTruckingJobs.com January 2016