Graphic: Drivers Resource Center

Gobble

Our National Turkey Federation informs us that, from sea to shining sea, Americans eat about 45 million turkeys each Thanksgiving holiday.

Turkeys are big business. By the numbers:

• 216.5 million turkeys raised on turkey farms across the nation in 2021.

• Companies that have a part in producing and processing turkey involve about 424,000 jobs.

• That work accounts for $28 billion in wages.

• The industry generates some $138.7 billion annually in economic impact, along with $11.3 billion in taxes.

To put this in perspective, let’s talk Texas turkey:

• 4,512 people employed in the turkey industry.

• 13,850 supplier and related industry jobs.

• $61,300 average wage and benefits of from the turkey industry.

And this: as the National Turkey Federation puts it,

“Not only does the turkey industry create good jobs in Texas but the industry also contributes to the economy as a whole. The broader economic impact flows throughout the economy, generating business for firms seemingly unrelated to the turkey industry. Real people, with real jobs, working in industries as varied as banking, real estate, accounting, even printing all depend on the turkey industry for their livelihood.”

That’s a glowing endorsement. And while we can’t speak to the idea of the everywhere, everything turkey, we do know that most everything on your Thanksgiving table was delivered by the trucking industry.

The bread for the stuffing. The potatoes that get mashed and then cratered for that thick, rich gravy. The Jello mold that little Eddie loves and Uncle Fester can’t stand. Cranberries! The green bean casserole that everyone suspects is there because it’s something green. The beets. The pumpkin pie. The key lime pie. The vegan pie that Aunt Esther brings for herself.

All delivered, along most every stop on the farm-to-table route, by truck.

And when we say “truck,” what we really mean is truck driver.

From Team NATCO: A happy, safe, healthy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

The post Talkin’ Turkey appeared first on NATCO Transport.

Our series on The NATCO Way of doing business.

The Delay This Time

We have no problem with sharing one of the key ingredients to the secret sauce of our success.

In fact, we’re proud to share this ingredient. We’re making it available to to our competition as open source code. Here it is:

Clear and timely communication.

There you go, competitors. Have at it.

We bring up communication a lot on our blog, and we weave the importance of it throughout our website.

Clear and timely communication is so central that it’s the theme of our inaugural monthly newsletter, Ideas in Transit. Each month, we’ll explore issues affecting the transportation industry, how we approach them, and how that contributes to The NATCO Difference.

Communication with you should not be puzzling.

This month, it’s all about communicating. There are a number of reasons why deliveries are delayed. Some of them are truly unanticipated ⏤ a sudden flash flood, for example, that causes a driver to detour, or maybe the vehicle breaks down.

Most delays, however, are caused by a communication problem. Somebody forgot to confirm the order for the pilot cars on that oversize load. Somebody forgot to confirm with the wrecker service for the offload. Somebody forgot to secure a DOT heavy load permit. The list goes on.

The NATCO Difference is in our approach. Delivering updates to our customers in a timely, honest manner. At the beginning and at the end of the day: exceptional, clear communication ⏤ with you, with dispatch, and with our drivers ⏤ helps your load transport on time, on budget, and in compliance.

We offer a free freight assessment. Click HERE to see how NATCO can help save you time and save you money on your freight costs.

Click HERE to read our Ideas in Transit newsletter.

The post The NATCO Differential, Part III appeared first on NATCO Transport.

NATCO: At the Ready

Without further ado, we give you a sampling of the essential Frequently Asked Questions Team NATCO receives from our potential customers. (See HERE for our full Q&A.)

Do you have available carriers in my region?
Most probably yes: We have more than 9,000 carriers who have previously worked with NATCO. We are continuously prescreening and adding carriers to our network, adding some 75 new carriers per month.

How much do you charge?
Every quoted load is based on your requirements and specifics. This depends on reviewing those specs and requirements for the order; we determine your priorities and proceed from there.

How much time do you need?
We can turn around basic quotes in about 30 minutes. If you have particular, specific requirements, most often we’ll still produce a quote by EOD.

Where are you located?
NATCO’s headquarters are in Arlington, Texas; with today’s technology, our reach is truly national in scope.

What kinds of equipment and services can you provide?
NATCO’s capabilities are extensive and include:

• Overdimensional & Overweight

• Flatbeds

• Dry Vans

• Reefers

• Local

• High Value Commodities

• Specialized

• Expedited

• Team Drivers

• Produce/perishables

• Hazmat

• Mexico/Canada

How quickly can I initiate a delivery?
Depending on the market statistics, average coverage is most often located within 2-3 hours for a standard legal move and we can typically initiate within 24-48 hours. That said, we specialize in rush orders. Contact us at (800) 846-2826, and we’ll readily work with you.

The NATCO Difference: We proactively assess market statistics to evaluate availability. This allows us to tap the pulse of trends and provide shorter lead times.

How do I pay?
We have various options, including credit cards and a credit application packet to establish credit with us.

What are your certifications?
Cori Eckley, NATCO’s vice president of operations, is a Certified Transportation Broker, the highest broker certification and the most widely recognized distinction in the transportation industry.

NATCO is a proud member of the TIA: Transportation Intermediaries Association — the gold standard of 3rd-party logistics groups.

What if I need to reach you at off hours?
The NATCO team is on call 24/7. Messages are forwarded from voicemail to email. We ALWAYS have access to and respond to your communications.

The post Essential Q & A appeared first on NATCO Transport.

5 Essential Questions

One of the greatest compliments we’ve ever received: “You took the time to ask about our business. You didn’t start by telling us what you can do for us.”

Not least, we appreciate this because it reflects our approach to how we do business.

We know that no two loads are the same. Even if it the same movement of freight ⏤ same inventory, same driver, same pickup, same drop-off ⏤ countless variables inform each move. Road conditions. Weather. Rate fluctuations. New workers on the shipping or receiving team.

So, Team NATCO asks a lot of questions.

We also want our customers to be well informed, and we have five basic questions for them to keep in mind before selecting a carrier:

1. COMPLIANCE.
Does the company know the specific federal and state regulations to deliver safely and legally into and through any given state, or multiple states?

2. KNOWLEDGE.
Does the company know the difference between types of trailers, including double-drop RGNs, reefers, flatbeds, and dry vans?

3. EXPERIENCE.
Does the company have a history of handling my type of shipment? Does it have experience with commodities, construction, Hazmat, oil, gas?

4. COMMUNICATION.
Is the company prompt and straightforward in phone calls, text messages, emails regarding delivery windows, offloading scenarios, payment methods?

5. TRANSPARENCY.
Is the company sharing accurate, honest information about the market? Does it proactively share news about fluctuations in fuel, bottleneck delays, availability?

Each of these issues are essential to establishing and deepening trust between a legitimate third-party logistics company and its customers.

We know that our 90% rate of repeat business is based to a great extent on how we demonstrate our approach to each of these five key areas.

The post The Basics appeared first on NATCO Transport.

Here We Go

From Cori’s Desk . . .

1. The state of 3PL is challenging in new ways. Our industry is fighting a lot of fraud, and we’re having to vet and minimize risk for our customers and carriers every day. There’s just a lot of unauthorized brokering out there.

2. Friday moves and holiday moves are tough, not least because they’re high risk for fraud.

3. I know a guy who lost an entire load of beef.

4. Monday mornings are the calm before the storm. Unless they’re not. Sometimes it depends on how the previous Friday went.

5. Unsweetened ice tea keeps me going.

6. DFW business growth: there’s an influx of companies moving to Texas because of the positive business environment.

7. For women in this industry today, I’ve definitely seen growth these past 10 years. Seem like there’s never been a stronger presence of females in transportation.

8. Getting out of the office is key to our growth. It does so much to build relationships with customers and carriers alike.

9. My favorite lunch: Chik-fil-A nuggets, sometimes with fries.

10. My staff is aligned in our vision for 2024. I’m taking them a bit out of their comfort zone but nothing that compromises their competency.

11. Consultants are the outside eyes, looking in. Uncovering opportunities and strengths can be very helpful.

12. I’m very proud of our Team NATCO culture. It does a lot to inform positive growth and outcomes.

13. Our most surprising growth has been in movements of heavy industrial equipment resale.

14. Keys to our growth include using new technology in smart ways, as well as managing and mitigating fraudulent activities in this industry.

15. My carriers are generally appreciative. They’ll communicate with us because we over-communicate with them.

16. These past two quarters have been challenging. I’m hopeful when I read indicators showing Q2 will bring the industry up.

17. In 2021, a lot of carriers bought trucks and entered the market as owner-operators. Some of them are still hanging on, taking the low-market freight just to keep the cash flow. And the market leads haven’t really balanced out from that.

18. The pandemic years were surprisingly steady.

19. The pandemic affected all areas, and we saw how so many industries were dependent on one another.

20. Handshakes and eye contact are key to a business relationship. I always want to put a face with a name of the people I work with. I like the personal experience this industry can give, and that also allow us to learn more from one another.

21. My favorite movement recently: we sent some shwag to and from the Super Bowl.

22. The most interesting and challenging industry we’re dealing with is industrial equipment because there’s so many moving players and parts and components involved.

23. Diesel is an indicator of where the market could be headed.

24. I see autonomous vehicles, right now with drivers in them for safety precaution, out there between Houston and Dallas.

25. The Dallas Cowboys: next year . . . hopefully. Here we go.

The post Transportation Life Lessons: 2024 Edition appeared first on NATCO Transport.

Back to the Future?

Building on last week’s topic of building more truck stops, we dig a bit deeper and discover an entire world inside your checkout experience.

We know this QuikTrip in Kansas where the cashier pivots left and right to serve two lines of customers, all from the same register.

It’s a simple and brilliant play on perception. The line is essentially the same length, yet we sense we’re all the closer to paying and going.

The perception rings true, especially when you consider how long some people linger at the counter, counting their change, taking a sip of their Freezoni, rearranging the wallet, or otherwise just being vertical for a bit longer before getting back in the vehicle.

The National Association of Truck Stop Operators (NATCO) has been studying this. Their recent headline speaks volumes: “Increasing Your Travel Center’s Speed-of-Service Can Attract Drivers and Increase Sales.”

The customer experience informs so much of things anymore. It’s a terrific riff. We grow from transactions being about buying and selling and profit to how we buy, how we sell. And that tweaking of the experience has a proven record of increasing revenue.

NATSO conducts a study of truck stop and travel center owner-operators and drivers. They find value in offering loyalty programs (54% found a boost in non-fuel sales), cleanliness of showers and restrooms (reputation management; people talk about these things), and speed of service and personal interactions (two-thirds said this is essential).

The study also found:

• 81% have left a travel center with no purchase food or beverages.
• Most drivers tend to leave without buying anything if they saw five people in line.
• 13% will leave if they see just two people in line.

Which simmers up all sorts of ways to focus on the how of the experience. Example: Self-checkout attracts up to 30% of the customers.

As Darren Schulte, NATSO’s VP of membership, says, “If we lay stores out to make the customer experience, the speed of service and the ability to buy something easy, we will see higher conversion rates.”

A bit like moving freight from Point A to Point B without a traffic jam, yes?

The post Speed Traps appeared first on NATCO Transport.

Past as Prologue

We end 2023 with a look back at how we bridged the past year and, natch, with an eye toward 2024.

We started the year with statistics. As the Department of Transportation’s Guide to Transportation highlighted, between 2010 and 2020:

• We added nearly 14,000 bridges, 14 new Amtrak stations, and 16 heavy rail stations.
• We added nearly 28,000 trucks to our roads and fleets.
• The condition of our paved highways improved slightly, from 60% to 63% now in “good” condition.
• The value of shipments via truck is projected to go from $13 trillion in 2020 to 26 trillion in 2050.

Some of those statistics don’t include the construction and improvement benefits of the Infrastructure Bill, passed by Congress and signed into law in 2021. Net results are designed to include more bridges and more paved highway improvement and other such things implemented by federal, state, and local programs to increase capacity and sustainability.

We also looked at the states of supply chains. Our VP Cori Eckley often says, “They call it a supply chain for a reason.” She and Team NATCO know the House That Jack Built scenario very well.

One truck stuck in traffic can affect a number of people and operations. Example: The off-loading service learns of a delay and has to rework the schedule. The driver needs to reconfigure his or her next pickup. And everybody might be late for dinner.

The major responsibilities of third-party logistics are coordination, communication, and delivery. NATCO’s three-plus decades managing freight movement have given us the perspective to anticipate scenarios and determine how to best get your load from Point A to Point B.

We’re always mindful that first definition of “best” is safety for our drivers and their freight.

And with that, we close our 2023 with a huge shout-out to our drivers. They deal with roads and egos, electronic logging devices and back pain, the long hours and the grumpy short-order cook. And still: they keep delivering, time and time again.

To our drivers, our customers, and our associates, we wish you a peaceful, happy, healthy new year.

The post Rolling into 2024 appeared first on NATCO Transport.

The Right Direction

Team NATCO recently orchestrated a freight movement from the west coast to the east coast: three pallets of industrial testing equipment, weighing 4,500 pounds. We arranged delivery on a flatbed. The job went smoothly.

Just another busy day at the office? Nope.

A number of partners are involved in our commercial transportation world. There’s the third-party logistics company like NATCO. There’s the sender, the driver, the receiver. Sometimes there’s the turnkey services, like a crane operator hired to load and off-load the delivery.

We’re always fascinated by what brings a customer to us. This particular job gave us an important view onto how some companies choose their 3PL provider. From the customer:

“I appreciate your help with getting this load safely across the US! This was precious cargo for our company. A lot of hard work went into its engineering, and its safe delivery is our main source of much needed revenue. I liked that your Google listing showed how long your company has been in business, and you returned my call very quickly.”

NATCO is not a huge corporate operation. The team’s success is built on efficient communication, proactive and reactive. Professional, with a human touch. Our emphasis is on being timely. We know companies appreciate that. And more importantly: they expect timeliness, depend on it, need it.

Here’s a great example of why that’s essential. Again, from the customer:

“My usual freight provider really dropped the ball by not assigning anyone to take over my rep’s accounts in his absence. I spent an hour on the phone trying to get through to someone there who could help me. I finally reached someone there and was given two email addresses to contact, and they did not respond to me until the next day.

“By then you had already called me, set up freight, and beat their price quote. We will be going through you for our flatbed freight from now on.”

We’ve all been there. A problem with a purchase from a national company. Trying to navigate customer service on the phone. Sometimes it feels like those companies are too big to care.

So, here’s NATCO’s secret, hiding in plain sight: communication is easy. You pick up the phone, you send an email. That’s not bragging. That’s a belief system.

“Cori returned my first voicemail within an hour,” said the customer. “In less than two hours, I had a quote and a pickup time. She asked if we needed a tarp, which was a good idea because it ended up unexpectedly raining. Pickup was on a Thursday. Drop-off was the following Monday. And Cori let me know it was successfully delivered.”

We appreciate the praise: a customer’s appreciation for our doing what we do.

The post Efficient Trucking: A Primer appeared first on NATCO Transport.

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.
⏤ George Bernard Shaw

We don’t mind a complicated order for a movement of freight that requires extra time and multiple participants. NATCO thrives on chaos.

That said, we just love it when we coordinate a near-seamless piece of logistics. Everybody wins: customer, driver, dispatcher, and Team NATCO alike.

We’re proud to share with you some communication from a load we orchestrated this week.

ShaQuanta McCleary

A customer we’d previously done business with contacted ShaQuanta McCleary, our Dispatch and Operations Specialist, on Tuesday just before 9:00 am Central Time. He needed to move a large 4,800-lb piece of commercial and industrial fabrication some 270 miles, between two mid-Western states.

Now, same-day moves can be tricky. As VP Cori Eckley describes it, “The challenge is not having as many resources at nine o’clock in the morning as later in the day. At 9 am, you’re battling people either booked on a different order or other drivers in process of offload of their order and a couple hours away from being able to pick up.”

This one worked, and it worked well.

Thank you for reaching out to us for your transportation needs. We will be happy to assist you on this move. Per our conversation we will start working on this now to secure a carrier to load today and deliver by 5p today. I have also attached a credit card authorization form for you to complete.

9:31 am, the customer:

Here you go. Please let me know what time driver will arrive. Thanks!

9:42 am, ShaQuanta:

We have secured a carrier to load today between 10a-11a. He will have a 40′ hot shot trailer and should be able to accommodate the same day delivery as well. Please provide the site addresses and POC (person of contact) for each location.

At 9:47 am, the customer replied with pickup address, delivery address, and contact names and phone numbers for both locations.

9:49, ShaQuanta:

Thank you so much. We will get him moving. Please let us know if you have any questions.

At 1:10pm ⏤ a mere four hours after first contact, the customer emailed this:

Hey ShaQuanta! The truck worked out great! Thanks for helping us out this morning. We’ll do business again. Thanks!

We especially like the “We’ll do business again” part.

The post Seamless Transportation appeared first on NATCO Transport.

The NATCO Way

In addition to our specialized services to handle Disaster Recovery, we’ve been deeply involved in transport solutions for a number of industries for 30 years now.

Here’s a sampling of our partnerships with the nation’s economy:

Drilling • Equipment used for various aspects of drilling, mainly in manufactured goods going to the job site or construction companies moving their equipment from job site to job site.

Steel • Includes processing facilities that transport to end users or distributors of pipe and from steel mills to the end user.

Oil & Gas • Manufactured components used in various levels of petroleum extraction and refinement.

Dry Goods • Manufactured packing material used in industries such as telecommunications, oil and gas, electronics, automotive, and aerospace.

Heavy Construction • Includes transport of excavating equipment from yards to job sites, both company-owned and rental equipment and job-site material used in construction.

Distribution • Includes manufacturers of commercial goods sending raw material used in production by various specialized companies.

Manufacturing • Transport of specialized goods to end users, including plant expansions and both new and refurb construction.

Local & Long Haul • Locally, we work with service providers to transport to and from job sites for their specialized services. For long haul, NATCO facilitates equipment moves for customers with a nationwide presence.

Building Materials • Various raw materials used in construction, from a residential and commercial aspect.

The post Trucking Solutions by Industry appeared first on NATCO Transport.