PrivateFleets.com

For the past week, I’ve been working on writing a “white paper” about the advantages to shippers who use private fleets–other than their own–for freight transportation. This is the first time I’ve done this type of project. A white paper is simply a well-researched document that justifies the need for whatever type of product or service you are trying to sell.

In most cases, private fleets that have for-hire authority welcome opportunities to fill their empty backhaul lanes with freight, just as any trucking company would. So what is the big deal about private fleet backhaul? LaneLinks, the company that sponsors this blog, asked me to pull together some research and create a document that would help shippers understand the value of including private fleet backhaul in their transportation strategy.

At first, I admit I was skeptical that I could come up with something worthwhile. As a senior editor for CCJ Magazine, I read press releases every day from vendors that say their latest product or service will make your business run like clockwork. I could never, in good conscious, intentionally write something misleading or equivocal. So I decided to give a white paper a try. I plan to post the completed paper on this blog in a few more days. In the meantime, I want to give a brief synopsis of what I found after conducting several interviews and looking at trends.

Shippers face complex challenges from legal exposure, cost, capacity and the quality of service from their transportation providers. Although truck capacity is not tight right now due to a drop in freight volumes, this is only a temporary situation, as the amount of freight is expected to double in the next 20 years.

Many shippers are opening their doors to more carriers and transportation brokers to compete for their lanes, but doing so is a big risk. Most carriers are small and underinsured, and driver turnover has stayed above 100 percent since 2002. High driver turnover relates directly to fleet safety.

Private fleets, by comparison, average 10 percent driver turnover and have superior customer service–this only makes sense, of course, because its customers buy more than transportation; they buy the products the company manufactures or sells. Customer service is rooted in the culture, as is driver training and retention. Historically, private fleets have focused on servicing their own customers, but today many are fully focused on providing the same level of customer service to outside shippers in their backhaul lanes, at rates that are generally better than market rates.

Private fleets are not a “you call, we haul” business. For a shipper, working with private fleets is a different experience than working with for-hire carriers. The best scenario is to go through a third party logistics service that has an intimate understanding of private fleet operations, and a detailed database to match equipment, schedules, rates and a host of other issues necessary to close the deal.

I’ll save the rest for when I post the white paper in a few days, but it really is interesting to consider how private fleets are positioning themselves to solve some major challenges in transportation–not only for their own customers, but for other shippers as well.