PrivateFleets.com

Not long ago, private fleets were just that–private. As with everything else in this world, things have changed. Today, America’s best run private fleets are competing directly with contract carriers for backhauls in order to improve their freight balance and improve load optimization.

Fleets that excel at these so-called “blended” operations have some of the most efficient and service-oriented fleets on the road. But they’re not immune to the same challenges facing contract carriers. Right now one of the biggest challenges is overcapacity. With freight volumes at a 7-year low, every carrier seems to have more trucks and drivers than loads in their system on a daily basis.

Recently I sat down with one of the best-run contract carriers, C.R. England, to find out what they are doing to improve their operations in this overcapacity market. Some of the strategies they are deploying would seem to fit well with private fleets looking to solve their own problems with freight imbalance, particularly on the backhaul side.

Earlier this year, C.R. England implemented a sophisticated suite of driver and load optimization tools from Manhattan Associates. The tools it uses include Driver&Load for matching drivers to the best possible load combinations and Drop&Swap to evaluate possible driver and load combinations across its network.

Experts would not recommend that fleets should implement this type of software if they operate fewer than, say, 200 trucks. Even smaller carriers can learn to adopt some of the techniques for increasing efficiency that this software can do automatically.

1. Keep cost-per-mile figures up to date. C.R. England has taken steps to ensure that its software has the most current information to make optimal driver-load matches. The company’s fuel cost per mile is updated weekly to Driver&Load, by fuel market. Keeping this information current enables the software to use an accurate cost for deadhead miles. As fuel costs rise, therefore, the software automatically stamps down on deadhead mileage because it costs more to allow it.

2.  Think globally. Because optimization software matches drivers and loads on a global scale, human barriers such as regions and divisions within a company are torn down. Opportunities to match or swap loads en route between regions are brought front and center.

3. Target certain load and driver types where opportunities exist to increase efficiency.

One of C.R. England’s priorities is to use optimization software to remove slack time from its network. The company uses a metric called Scheduled MPH to capture what the speed on a load is at the time it is scheduled. For instance, a 480-mile load with a pickup time on Monday at 7 AM that delivers on Wednesday at 7 AM, 48 hours later, has a Scheduled MPH of 10.

Another metric, Final MPH, captures the time from pickup to the actual delivery time. On the same load if a driver is able to run the load straight in and deliver Tuesday at 7 AM, the Final MPH is 20.

C.R. England uses its software to flag opportunities for certain driver types, such as teams, that can be assigned to certain load types to increase Scheduled MPH and Final MPH.

“We’re working to encourage our scheduling staff to increase the Scheduled MPH on the loads before they are even sent to the drivers, and then incentivizing our driver manager staff to increase the MPH even higher for the final MPH by pushing thier drivers in earlier,” says John Coyle, production coordinate for C.R. England.

Many private fleets do not have the resources  or size to justify the use of optimization software to match and swap drivers and loads. Even so, there are many ways to fight overcapacity in this market. There are many ways that private fleets with “blended” operations can increase their efficiency and cut costs by improving their backhaul operations.

I am currently doing a study to find the best practices among private fleets that have backhaul operations and move freight for backhaul customers. If you would like to contribute to this study by answering some questions–with the assurance that your name and company’s name will be kept anonymous–please let me know if I can contact you. I can be reached at ahuff@rrpub.com. I will make sure to share the results with you when I am finished.

Amid the economic storms circling the transportation industry, many private fleet managers and other business leaders turned out to the National Private Truck Council’s annual meeting this week in Nashville

Although I was not able to attend personally, the feedback I received from my friends at LaneLinks who attended was nothing but positive. Most of the conference sessions were centered on ways that fleet managers are being proactive to cut fuel, packaging, deadhead and other costs and what measures they are taking to further justify the private fleet.

Besides squeezing more cost out of their fleet operations, companies are looking to justify the fleet through more creative measurements for customer service than just on-time percentage.

One presenter, an executive from the fleet of a major retailer, correctly noted that perception is reality. To this end, how do you translate customer perception into metrics you can manage?

Customers may only remember the last time you screwed up, not the 95 percent of the time you don’t. So, to manage the expectations of its customers, the retail stores the fleet services, this particular carrier conducts a customer service survey by phone after every delivery. The fleet also conducts surveys for deliveries made to external customers as well–consignees in the backhaul lanes it services for brokers and other shippers.

Like most fleets, this company has always emphasized cost. But more recently it has added new ways to measure and improve the impact its operations have on customer service. For example, going to a shorter delivery cycle means more LTL deliveries, and thus higher cost, but the fleet has found that shorter delivery cycles mean the customer is satisfied more often.

The comments I received about the focus at the NPTC conference closely mirror other industry conferences I have attended recently. Back when times were good, management teams tended to lull themselves into thinking that the initiatives they were taking would always work. When times are bad, everything is open for re-evaluation.

Challenging economic times are forcing companies to change their perceptions about how money is made and how to justify the fleet. Cost, cargo damage and on-time delivery are not enough to justify a fleet anymore. Perception is reality.

Anyone who works for a private fleet does not spend much time or effort marketing the fleet outside their corporate walls. The fleet’s operations are kept tightly under wraps to the outside world.

Occasionally, however, someone is allowed to speak up and share their successes. I recently spoke with Bennie Cassetori, U.S. Foodservice’s vice president of fleet management.

U.S. Foodservice is one of many private fleets today that haul freight for third parties when it has the opportunity. While this portion of its business accounts for only a small fraction of its total revenue, a fleet this good should be sought after by any shipper.

U.S. Foodservice is a premier foodservice distributor with over $19 billion in revenue. Its private fleet operates 5,400 tractors. In the past year, the fleet has implemented new driver policies, business processes and truck technologies to improve its operational efficiency and reduce emissions from its delivery fleet.

These aggressive fleet strategies have saved the company millions in operating costs. During 2008, U.S. Foodservice cut $8.2 million in fuel costs and avoided 22,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions–the equivalent of more than 4,400 cars–by improving the efficiency of its fleet in terms of gallons/ton of product moved by more than 4 percent compared to a 2007 baseline.

Central to this effort is the monitoring of all speed and idle time, Cassetori says. The company was able to save over $2 million in idle cost alone last year. This year, U.S. Foodservice plans to further improve fleet productivity by scaling up successful initiatives, including driver awareness programs, automatic idle shutoff, maximum speed controls and assessing and implementing new initiatives such as improved trailer cooling practices and other technology solutions.

The fleet is maximizing use of technology to be one of the safest fleets on the road as well. Cassetori says the fleet has added automatic transmissions, traction and stability control to its vehicles. And soon, the fleet will be adding in-cab navigation with spoken, turn-by-turn directions for additional safety benefits.

The company also is using information from engine diagnostics and tire inflation systems to monitor vehicle and driver performance.

Its driver awareness programs include idle time, speeding violations, rapid decelerations, and DOT violations. Last year when the company began to rank its drivers using this information, 40 percent of drivers did not fall within the 90th percentile of performance, Cassetori says. Today, 33 percent of drivers are in the 90th percentile.

In the foodservice business, today’s orders are delivered tomorrow. Soon, the fleet plans to implement dynamic routing and route optimization tools to its mix of technology to improve efficiency by a “double digit percentage,” Cassetori says. Route optimization is more complicated than most carriers’ operations in that U.S. Foodservice’s customers like to have the same driver deliver their freight each day. And, no matter how much a load fluctuates in volume, the company will send a truck out to deliver freight the next day.

The continual improvement efforts at U.S. Foodservice not only benefit the company and its customers. They will benefit any shipper the fleet does business with. You’ll probably never hear about these initiatives, however, unless you’re fortunate enough to be reading this blog.

From the moment I started this blog, my goal has been to maintain, as best I can, an independent voice to educate private fleets and shippers about private fleet backhaul. I am thankful for a comment I received the other day from someone who works for a company called Private Fleet Backhaul. I appreciate the cordial way he set the record straight that there is more than one company out there that is focused exclusively on working with private fleets and shippers to utilize available capacity on private fleets.

He writes:

“Sir, I would compliment you on your consistent efforts to create dialogue related to the tremendous potential private fleets have in finding a marketplace for their backhaul capacity, however i would ask that you consider your continuous statements that your group is the only company that focuses on working with private fleets in their efforts to develop and grow their backhaul program. We have been focused on this niche for nearly one decade, work with over 800 such fleets and have over 20 Fortune 500 shippers as our customer base. Based on my reading of your blog postings, I am confident you are interested in reporting the facts as you know them, thus this email. Perhaps this has been an oversight, however i would encourage you to Google on ‘private fleet backhaul’ and surely your results will provide you ample feedback to discontinue your position on that issue. Best of luck and continue success.”

For private fleets to successfully fill their backhaul capacity, they will need multiple third party logistics firms who partner with them to put their needs first and develop lanes. I welcome the firm Private Fleet Backhaul as an important contributor to this industry and to the ongoing dialogue of this blog.

“Apparently there is nothing that cannot happen today.” Mark Twain

Just as Twain noted about life in the 19th century, those of us involved in the trucking industry today are seeing changes happen that we may have never thought possible. Every day customers continue to ask for better service at lower costs. Competitors are cutting rates at every corner. These may seem to be constants, but these and other events really happen at random, and more and more its may seem like you find yourself pulling your hair out trying to plan your next move.

Like a lot of people who are responsible for making decisions that impact a company, Doug Sandvig has spent some time contemplating how to put today’s state of affairs in perspective. Sandvig, the president of Smithway Motor Express (SMX), recently spoke at a software users’ conference that was held by Innovative Computing Corporation.

Comparing business to the natural world, Sandvig said that in business there is never equilibrium. Just as in nature, there are winners and losers and the consequences are just as serious. In business, customers are the food; costs are the predators; and brokers are the parasites, he said. Above all, to survive you must adapt to change faster than your competitors.

“The economy is not going to kill your company. Your competitors will. You must become the fittest company (to survive),” he said. You must realize that the game is never finished, he went on to say. The only option is to keep running.

As the president of a for-hire carrier, Sandvig may have a different perspective than, say, a transportation manager at a private fleet who may only have one customer or source of food to fight for. With an increasing number of private fleets that are doing third party backhaul to stay competitive, the similarities between the challenges faced by for-hire and private fleets far outweigh the differences.

Being the fittest company does not mean being the best company in the best industry. Rather, it means that given your present circumstances, you are doing whatever it takes to be the best you can be, Sandvig said. Becoming and staying fit for survival is all about making small changes.

During a panel discussion at the Innovative Computing users’ conference, three fleet executives gave some suggestions from their own fleets about what small changes they’ve made to become more fit in these trying times.

Cutting deadhead mileage must be at the top of everyone’s list. This is one cost that is entirely within your control by leveraging more backhaul opportunities and avoiding the type of brokers Sandvig had in mind when using the term “parasite.” For example, I know of only one broker, LaneLinks, that works exclusively with private fleets to create successful backhaul operations for shippers and fleets alike.

One of the panel members, Dean Troester, the chief financial officer of Crete Carriers, said that a lack of freight does not mean that your deadhead miles have to increase. It will just take more work to keep it low. All of the panel members said their deadhead mileage was in the 10 percent range.

Reducing fuel costs is the primary target for staying fit for survival. All three panel members agreed that cutting truck speeds, using auxilliary power units to reduce engine idling, and closely monitoring driver behaviors is saving their fleets significant fuel.

In this environment, cutting drivers’ wages is a last resort. Drivers are already losing miles because of less freight, Troester said. Similarly, reducing office wages is also a last resort and will not make a significant difference anyway, as office wages are a minimal percent of total costs. All panel members also agreed that the success they’ve had at reducing accident and insurance costs is first and foremost a factor of who you hire and how firm your processes are for safety and compliance.

While business will continue to change and, at times, your ability to survive may seem to be in question, remember Sandvig’s advice to just keep running faster than the competition and stay fit by cutting costs and continuing to make small changes. It may seem obvious, but it’s really the only choice you’ve got

It’s common practice for shippers to use their own private fleets for loads with high service requirements, such as when moving just-in-time loads to their factory’s production line. The cost of stopping production or of lost sales due to delayed shipments is too high. The impact of damaging customer relationships also is too severe.

Private fleets, therefore, are a custom fit to meeting the just-in-time and other high service requirements–at least for their primary customers. Because of the service they are designed to offer at the front end or for head hauls, some fleets are reluctant to commit capacity to any third party — as in other shippers or brokerage/logistics providers — for their backhauls.

For private fleets that do third party backhauls, the needs of the parent company and/or primary customer still come first. On the other hand, this does not mean that private fleets are less likely to provide the same level of customer service to other companies for their backhaul lanes.

Last week, someone forwarded me an e-mail from a shipper who said, rather bluntly, that “I can’t compromise our service requirements to fill some private fleet backhaul needs.” This particular shipper was under the impression that a private fleet is looking only to find loads that meet its constraints for taking a backhaul, so as to not disrupt the service commitments the fleet has with its primary customer.

Understandably, if this were always true, this shipper would be correct when he went on to say that he is concerned with using private fleet because his freight is time critical and failure to deliver could shutdown major manufacturing facilities. His point is well taken but I believe he could change his perception if he were willing to give private fleet backhaul a chance.

This is not the first time I have heard this. A few years ago I was researching how shippers would respond to someone offering private fleet backhaul capacity as a solution. One supply chain manager told me that he believed private fleets would view him as a “cash cow” and not as a customer whose needs took priority.

What some people do not realize is that customer service and on-time delivery is ingrained in the very fabric of private fleets. And where problems with service do exist in backhaul lanes, these can be overcome by finding private fleets to service a lane with multiple trucks. If one truck in the lane is not available for whatever reason, such as making an unplanned backhaul with returned or damaged goods, the fleet could have multiple other trucks available to take the load that would otherwise return home empty.

If a brokerage or logistics provider truly understands the needs and operations of the private fleets they work with, the company will know whether or not one or more of its fleet partners can handle time-sensitive freight for important customers. The company would know, for example, to only commit to hauling one load per day for a customer from point A to B if they had identified a private fleet that had at least 10 trucks dedicated to that lane

For any private fleets who might be reading this, I would like to ask if you have ever been in a situation where you committed backhaul capacity to a shipper or logistics provider to haul time-sensitive freight? Was there a situation where you were not able to follow through with this commitment? If so, what types of rules have you set in place to make sure the situation did not repeat itself?

I promise not to use any company or personal names if you have a second to respond. I would like to make a point to some doubters out there that private fleets can meet very demanding service requirements on both ends.

The trucking industry has always had middlemen, though we call them by different names–brokers, 3PLs, intermediaries, non-asset logistics providers, etc. Whatever term we use ourselves or hear others use is often preceded by a negative perception.

In fairness, any shipper, carrier or private fleet that has ever done business with brokers in the past may have had an experience or two that they have carried forward and tend to apply liberally to brokers in general.

One of the most common perceptions is that a broker is only in business to maximize its spreads for the day. Like any business, a transportation broker has to generate a margin. And, truth be told, some brokers are in business for no higher purpose than to get a healthy margin. If this means a broker should just use online load boards to find a distant carrier willing to haul one load at the lowest rate for the day, the end customer–the shipper–never knows what carrier will show up at its docks to pickup or unload freight.

In addition to the service issues shippers may have experienced in working with brokers, the typical transaction with a brokerage business is shrouded in secrecy. Brokers tend to keep their lips sealed about what margins they are making. Unless a shipper knows what a broker is earning in margin, how will it ever be able to accurately benchmark the transportation costs in its freight network?

Ideally, shippers would negotiate directly with carriers to minimize their transportation costs and maximize their control and visibility over service. Likewise, carriers would be able to maximize their revenue by having an active sales force to call on customers in each lane and cut out the middleman.

The real world is not so simple. Unless you have a very large and well-known fleet–which is definitely not the case with most private fleets–your sales force is lacking and probably incapable of filling many of your own backhaul lanes. Also, were it not for brokers, shippers would not have the time or resources to find and evaluate thousands of fleets who could fill their lanes with backhaul rates. Furthermore, shippers simply do not have the time to acquaint themselves with the intricacies involved in private fleets backhaul.

I believe that the right type of intermediary could become a critical partner for both shippers and private fleets. The key is for this intermediary to approach shippers as the exclusive sales agent for a well-defined group of fleets that are hand picked for the characteristics they offer that are in high demand, but relatively unknown. These characteristics include having a stable and well-trained driving force, a stellar safety record, competitive rates and consistent capacity in certain lanes.

These characteristics are exactly those that define private fleets. Until now I have not seen any third party–other than LaneLinks–focus exclusively on offering shippers private fleet backhaul as a logistical solution. The exclusive relationships that LaneLinks has developed with private fleets and its countless hours spent understanding the operations and value of private fleets is essential in what it can offer shippers.

During the time I’ve spent serving on the board of directors for LaneLinks, I’ve seen a company that is committed to transparency in its business model and in its dealings with both private fleets and shippers. One of the difficulties that we’ve encountered, however, is dealing with the negative perceptions and resistance that some shippers seem to have with brokers in general.

Eventually, I hope shippers will change their perception just as I’ve changed my own by taking the time to understand how much work–and value–is inherent in bringing private fleet backhaul to the forefront of the trucking industry.

This past week I spoke with a high ranking official in the procurement department of a major foods manufacturer, which I will refer to as XYZ Company. From the perspective of a for-hire carrier, this particular person is on top of the food chain, so to speak.

The decisions made in the procurement department are passed on to the planning department which develops the carrier routing guide. The process flows down to the execution group to tender loads to carriers and gather information back from the field.

As the person responsible for driving cost out of XYZ’s supply chain, he was proud of what he has been able to accomplish by collaborating with private fleets.

Many of the carriers that he does business with are private fleets that belong to his customers. For example, he mentioned two by name: the private fleet of a major pharmacy store and food service provider.

Besides the inherent cost advantages of shipping with private fleets to fill what would otherwise be empty miles, he mentioned additional benefits from the goodwill and publicity generated as a result of helping the private fleets of XYZ’s customers. For example, the drivers for XYZ’s own private fleet are well received when they arrive at the shipping and receiving docks of its customers, as a result of what XYZ Company has done for its customers’ private fleets.

“We are now reaping the benefit on our customers’ docks,” he said.

With the state of the economy the way it is, there is only so much freight available and plenty of carriers to choose from. Instead of opening up the company’s business to new carriers, my contact said he is taking a surgical approach to lowering transportation costs.

He may consider looking for a new carrier to haul the “non-gravy” freight that is less desirable. For the high density traffic and key shipping lanes, he has narrowed his list down to nine carriers that transport his company’s freight. Within that network he is looking to lower costs by using network solutions to reward more freight to the core group of carriers in areas that lower overall transportation costs.

Private fleets are a key part of this core carrier strategy. In fact, the company promotes collaboration with private fleets as one of its service offerings. The company is looking to work with more private fleets, as it considers work in this area to be complimentary to what the company is doing.

Specifically, when looking at how to get products to the market, his preference is to look in areas where another company–preferably a customer or supplier–is operating a private or dedicated fleet to fill empty miles. If the private fleet can submit a bid for a backhaul rate, XYZ Company will share its own cost savings with its customer.

“We promote these things with the customer,” he said. “We allow (the customer) to benefit by utilizing backhaul from its shipper of choice.”

These practices have evolved over the last three years, he said. Overall, XYZ company has had nothing to lose by working with its customers’ private fleets to exceed customer expectations.

The reason I write this blog is to share ideas and provide insight into ways that shippers with private fleets can collaborate to reduce cost and improve supply chain performance.

This week I had the chance to experience first hand a collaborative model in the trucking industry that, I believe, private fleets should take note of if they are to find continued success in a very difficult economic environment.

An innovative collaborative model called the Reliance Network is a good example for how shippers that operate private fleets can get past their competitive differences and learn to save money and resources.

I arrived in Minneapolis on Thursday to interview Pete Martin, president of Lakeville Motor Express, a successful less-than-truckload carrier with regional operations in the Midwest. When I arrived, Pete gave me a tour of the office, introduced me to employees and explained how the company is organized.

Noticeably absent from the office on this day were computer programmers, sales staff, and other key office administrators. It wasn’t merely a coincidence that so many people were gone from the office on the same day. This day had been in the works for the past three months. A large group of Lakeville employees had traveled to Chicago, Martin said, to iron out the details of operating joint service centers with another LTL carrier, Averitt Express.

Who in their wildest dreams could imagine that two competitive LTL carriers that operate in the same city would be sharing resources, real estate and even market intelligence? Why would they do this?

Starting in March, 2008, Lakeville Motor, Averitt Express and four other regional LTL carriers got together to form the Reliance Network. The partner carriers work closely together to guarantee fast transit of shipments anywhere in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The recent project in Chicago for Lakeville Motor and Averitt Express is one of several examples that showcase the committment and trust that Reliance Network partners have in the collaborative model for transportation.

In Chicago, Lakeville Motor was already operating a single facility to serve customers in the area. For 2009, the company had laid plans to open another terminal in the north of Chicago to expand its service area. Meanwhile, Averitt already maintained two facilities–one in the north and one in the south–to serve a large market area. This weekend, Averitt and Lakeville have consolidated what would have been four separate service center operations into two service centers.

Rather than have four service centers and four “carbon footprints” as they say, both companies will only have two.

Putting together all of the IT (information technology), operations and administrative details to merge these facilities has been a significant task, Martin said. Lakeville employees will be on site with their Averitt counterparts to coordinate pickup, delivery and linehaul efforts of freight moving into and out of Chicago.

“By doing this we reduce our carbon footprint tremendously. We have created operating synergies and are driving improved efficiencies and productivity for both companies at Chicago with a single overhead investment as opposed to a dual overhead investment,” Martin said.

The consolidation of Chicago operations is just one of many examples of the collaboration that exists among Reliance Network partners. Executives from the partner carriers teleconference every two weeks and hold face-to-face meetings each quarter. Each company has also assigned representatives from admin, IT, claims, operations and service that hold conference calls every two weeks to establish and review benchmarks for improving performance of the Reliance Network in each category.

I believe that the principles that guide the innovative Reliance Network model that were developed by Lakeville Motor Express and other partner LTL carriers could work for shippers with private fleets.

Take a look at private fleet backhaul, for instance. All private fleets have empty miles they are looking to fill either with more internal freight or from third parties. Private fleet backhaul should be the starting point for private fleets to collaborate with other shippers that operate private fleets to establish benchmarks between companies.

As I said last week, shippers could start by measuring what impact their current practices are having on the environment and their own pocketbook by NOT moving their freight onto private fleets–even fleets they would consider direct competitors–that have spare capacity.

Private fleets will be in certain lanes, regardless of whether their return trip is empty or loaded. When a shipper uses a truck from a commercial carrier in a lane where there is already a private fleet truck that has empty miles, you have a situation where a truck is on the road that doesn’t need to be (that would be the truck belonging to the commercial carrier). The net result of shipping a load using private fleet backhaul is the fuel conservation and elimination of one carbon footprint.

To facilitate private fleet backhaul operations among multiple shippers and private fleets, LaneLinks can manage the relationships among partner carriers as well as the administrative, sales and technological requirements for the model to work.

As I noted last week, trying to sell transportation in today’s economy is not an easy task. Trying to fill an empty lane or backhaul is like trying to hunt flying geese with a rifle while shotguns are blazing all around you. Dozens and even hundreds of other carriers and logistics firms are calling on the same traffic managers that you are, looking to sell the same thing–an empty truck.

One sales strategy that I believe will make a difference is for carriers to demonstrate and document how their shipping methods are more “green” than competitors. Many carriers are seeing a lot more “green” interest from their customers. Shippers are asking about environmental policies. Bid packages often include questions such as “Are you a SmartWay member?”

Being certified by the EPA’s SmartWay program is a good start, as it demonstrates actual results and a fleet’s continued commitment to improving fuel efficiency and reducing emissions. There are numerous other ways fleets can show customers that they are doing everything possible to reduce waste, improve efficiency and transform themselves into a leaner, greener and more competitive business.

Despite the widespread use of “green” and other eco-friendly terms by shippers and carriers, let’s get real. Customers asking about green initiatives not just because they are interested in protecting the environment. They want to feel good that you are doing everything you can to keep costs low for you and them. Green is the color of money.

Second to cost savings, green initiatives are perhaps the most powerful advertising and marketing tools a carrier has. So, as a private fleet who might be looking to fill some empty miles, how can you market yourself to your own company and to potential third-party customers as having a greener solution?

Take private fleet backhaul, for instance. The term shouldn’t just mean more work and more revenue for the private fleet. It should be a way for the industry to benchmark and measure what impact shippers are having on the environment and their own pocketbook by NOT moving their freight onto private fleets that have spare capacity. Let me offer one suggestion how this could work:

Private fleets are already the leaders in safety, service and cost savings for the lanes they operate in. As such, private fleets will be in certain lanes, regardless of whether their return trip is empty or loaded. When a shipper uses a truck from a commercial carrier in a lane where there is already a private fleet truck that has empty miles, you have a situation where a truck is on the road that doesn’t need to be (that would be the truck belonging to the commercial carrier).

You might ask, “Why would my company care if someone else’s truck is running empty in its shipping lane?” The fact is, a shipper can reduce carbon output through eliminating one-way moves on common carriers by moving its freight to another company’s private fleet. Therefore, the net result of shipping a load using private fleet backhaul is the fuel conservation and elimination of one carbon footprint.

Marketing the value of private fleet backhaul in this way might open new doors. Instead of calling a traffic manager to ask for loads, private fleet backhaul is a concept that can be sold directly to the upper echelons of a company including the CEO as a solution to the company’s green initiatives. It’s time to be bold.