????????????? WHAT IS AN EXPEDITER ?????????????

[terryandrene]

The Miriam-Webster dictionary defines expediter thusly:

Main Entry: ex·pe·dit·er
Variant(s): also ex·pe·di·tor /-"dI-t&r/
Function: noun
: one that expedites; specifically : one employed to ensure efficient movement of goods or supplies in a business.

This dictionary definition would include all professional drivers or operators of any type of vehicle including trucks, trains, planes, or waterborne vessels.

The expedited freight industry is a small but important niche within the much larger industry called trucking. Other small segments of trucking include LTL (Less than Truckload), Courier, Hot-Shot, and Drive-Away.

So, how would you company owners (Tom R, et al) define the nature of your business that makes it uniquely expedite?

How 'bout my fellow moderators from the Recruiter Forum, how do you define this business to prospective expediters?

All you lurkers who work for expedite carriers, what is your definition that sets your company apart from the generic trucking company? C'mon, jump in and get your feet wet.

Anyone else have the answer? Lawrence, how do you define your audience?

 

[Tom Robertson]

RE: ????????????? WHAT IS AN EXPEDITER ?????????

A very good question Terry...

Using the Miriam-Webster definition one would also have to include a host of others as expediters...

1. any and all individuals involved in purchasing, procurement, inventory, parts assessment and all other job titles that recognize the need for whatever material is needed in a post-haste manner.
2. all those involved in the airfreight industry, from their drivers to customer service reps, to top level management
3. logistics companies, 3pl’s (third party logistics companies) , and all those involved in setting up the shipment before anyone in air freight or expedited trucking are aware that a shipment is going to take place.

I am absolutely certain that I have left others out... but you get the point.

Now as for our little niche of the business...

Some very large transportation companies cover all aspects ... ocean freight, truck load, LTL, local p/u and del, and yes expedited trucking.

Other carriers, such as my own, have determined that “expedited trucking” is a large enough piece of the “transportation pie” to feed us for many years. (Actually the big get guys the slices, my little company just runs around picking up the crumbs...they are however very tasty!)

In my view, an expedited trucking company is one that specializes in moving freight that has been previously determined as an “urgent” shipment. It is our responsibility to move this material from point A to point B with as little delay as possible.

Obviously we are mandated to follow all rules and regulations of the DOT, state and municipal governments, (speed limits) while filing the proper paperwork with the DOT, IRP, the IFTA, FAST, CDRP, to mention only a few, and maintain the proper levels of insurance coverage required by the customers for whom we handle this material.

Most of the time we can only speculate on the reason the material on our trucks has become an urgent shipment. And in reality the majority of the shippers, and consignees, at least those we actually come in contact with have no idea why the freight is urgent either.
If we perform the task asked of us, we will rarely, if ever receive a “thank you” or a pat on the back. Our thank you is that when another shipment comes along, we might get to handle it again.

If you really want to get noticed...deliver late. Then everyone involved will take notice of the name of your company. Someone in your organization will probably have a few phone calls to make, letters to write, apologies to make and take a reduction on the charges we agreed to prior to the acceptance of the shipment, even if the truck was tossed 300 yards by a tornado.

We, the expedited trucking companies are supposed to be the elite members of the trucking industry. We are the “green berets”, the ‘seals” or the “delta force” of the trucking industry. We are expected to do the job correctly, safely and on time every time. (Did I just use one of the big boys’ slogans?)
Each of us in some capacity accepts our particular role in this industry, and some of us truly love the responsibilities and daily challenges it brings. I say that today, but catch me on another day and I may tell you I wish I had become a dentist.

So in summation...

An expedited carrier, accepts urgent shipments from a shipper, dons the beret (read: baseball cap), covers all the miles necessary while responding to qualcomm or phone request asking where we are, drives through rain, sleet, snow, floods, freezing temperatures, heat stroke weather, dust storms, lightning, answering another request on our position, finally arriving two hours early, to find that the receiving crew is on a three hour lunch break, waiting patiently and finally making the delivery, only to hear the fork lift driver say... “Oh yeah... we found another truckload of that stuff right after you picked up!”
What makes us different from the rest?????

After all of that, we smile, say thank you, and hope for the same load next week.

“The shortest distance between two points” (company slogan)

 

[Twmaster]

RE: ????????????? WHAT IS AN EXPEDITER ?????????

>In my view, an expedited trucking company is one that
>specializes in moving freight that has been previously
>determined as an “urgent” shipment. It is our
>responsibility to move this material from point A to point B
>with as little delay as possible.

This is pretty much how *I* define what I do. Call it what you will (expedite, courior, Hot-Shot whatever) but to put it in the most simple terms delivery of urgent shipments is what I do. For example the slogan for my carrier is 'Dynamex Delivers Now!'

--
Mike N

Faster than a speeding poulet.

 

[RichM]

RE: ????????????? WHAT IS AN EXPEDITER ?????????

Tom, you have seen the Movie A Few Good Men with Jack Nicholson too many times.LOL

 

[ATCO]

RE: ????????????? WHAT IS AN EXPEDITER ?????????

Benefiting financially from other people's procrastinations, mistakes or impatience?!

>Thanks Noproblem for the addition<

-Joe Bohannon
Bakersfield, CA

 

[NoProblem]

RE: ????????????? WHAT IS AN EXPEDITER ?????????

An expedited carrier, accepts urgent shipments from a shipper, dons the beret (read: baseball cap), covers all the miles necessary while responding to qualcomm or phone request asking where we are, drives through rain, sleet, snow, floods, freezing temperatures, heat stroke weather, dust storms, lightning, answering another request on our position, finally arriving two hours early, to find that the receiving crew is on a three hour lunch break, waiting patiently and finally making the delivery, only to hear the fork lift driver say... “Oh yeah... we found another truckload of that stuff right after you picked up!”

LOL, yessiree bub, thats what an expediter does all right, at least thats exactly what I did lol.

After all of that, we smile, say thank you, and hope for the same load next week.

Exactly correct! They were actually really nice folks and had no idea someone was expediting another load to them - and thats how it should be. As long as its our problem and not theirs, its NoProblem.

Benefiting financially from other people's procrastinations or mistakes?

I like that.......how about adding "impatience" to that list too.

 

[RichM]

RE: ????????????? WHAT IS AN EXPEDITER ?????????

To expedite a product or service means to remove that product or service from it's normal routine and bring it to the top of the line or go outside the normal distribution method in order to have that product or service completed faster then what is condsidered normal.
Example, every year about Dec 20th I send $50 worth of Pizza into my local Freightliner dealer.When I bring the truck in for service I go to the head of the Line and they expedite the repair or service.:9

 

[ATeam]

RE: ????????????? WHAT IS AN EXPEDITER ?????????

Your question is an important one. How you explain the term "expediter" to a banker that is being asked to finance your new truck can influence how the the banker treats your request.

FedEx CC defines itself as "North America’s largest time-specific, critical-shipment carrier" Elsewhere on its web site FedEx CC speaks of: "Exclusive-use nonstop, door-to-door delivery of critical freight", "An array of expedited air solutions to meet customers’ critical delivery times", services "shipments requiring special care in handling, such as air-ride equipment or temperature control." "...hot freight that needs emergency delivery", "Same-day shipping", "exclusive [truck] use shipping" and "critical-care transport of your sensitive shipments."

When writing the business plan we'd present to truck financing vendors, I considered those phrases and wrote the following in the "Business Description" section of our plan. I share it here for others to use and/or modify as they choose. Note the words "highly successful" are for the banker's benefit. Remember, a loan proposal and business plan are as much a sales document as anything else.

[Your name here] and [Your name here] are a highly-successful husband/wife over-the-road truck driving team. They use a specially-equipped truck to transport high-value and expedited freight for [carrier name here]. This type of trucking is known as "expediting." The drivers (usually independent contractors) are known as "expediters." Carriers in this industry are sometimes called "critical-shipment carriers."

Typical loads [modify list to your experience, pick the most sexy and attention-getting freight you've hauled] include multi-million-dollar works of art, corporate backup tapes, cancer research drugs, trade show exhibits, mainframe computers, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, space telescope components, and .... The [your last name here] also transport mundane items such as automotive components, newspaper inserts, and frozen apple strudel, that for one reason or another are considered urgent and must be immediately transported dock to dock, by a truck dedicated to that load.

Great care in handling freight, being on time every time, and the ability to track the truck's location in real time are among the value added services expediters provide. Rates charged for such services far exceed those for transporting ordinary freight.

 

[ATeam]

RE: ????????????? WHAT IS AN EXPEDITER ?????????

Moderators,

My reply number 7 in this thread did not turn out right because the server interpreted brackets I put in the the text as a command to omit that text. Kindly remove reply number 7 in it's entirety and this paragraph. The same reply follows below without bracked-caused problems. Thank you.

Your question is an important one. How you explain the term "expediter" to a banker that is being asked to finance your new truck can influence how the the banker treats your request.

FedEx CC defines itself as "North America’s largest time-specific, critical-shipment carrier" Elsewhere on its web site FedEx CC speaks of: "Exclusive-use nonstop, door-to-door delivery of critical freight", "An array of expedited air solutions to meet customers’ critical delivery times", "shipments requiring special care in handling, such as air-ride equipment or temperature control." "...hot freight that needs emergency delivery", "Same-day shipping", "exclusive use shipping" and "critical-care transport of your sensitive shipments."

When writing the business plan we'd present to truck financing vendors, I considered those phrases and wrote the following in the "Business Description" section of our plan. I share it here for others to use and/or modify as they choose. Note the words "highly successful" are for the banker's benefit. Remember, a loan proposal and business plan are as much a sales document as anything else.

...YOUR NAMES HERE...and are a highly-successful husband/wife over-the-road truck driving team. They use a specially-equipped truck to transport high-value and expedited freight for . This type of trucking is known as "expediting." The drivers (usually independent contractors) are known as "expediters." Carriers in this industry are sometimes called "critical-shipment carriers."

Typical loads include ...MODIFY THIS LIST TO YOUR EXPERIENCE, INCLUDE THE SEXIEST, MOST ATTENTION-GETTING FREIGHT YOU HAUL...multi-million-dollar works of art, corporate backup tapes, cancer research drugs, trade show exhibits, mainframe computers, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, space telescope components, and .... The ...YOUR LAST NAME HERE...also transport mundane items such as automotive components, newspaper inserts, and frozen apple strudel, that for one reason or another are considered urgent and must be immediately transported dock to dock, by a truck dedicated to that load.

Great care in handling freight, being on time every time, and the ability to track the truck's location in real time are among the value added services expediters provide. Rates charged for such services far exceed those for transporting ordinary freight.