Carrier Profiles

An Entrepreneur's Perspective

By Jeff Jensen, Editor
Posted Nov 17th 2006 6:21AM

on-time-express-truck.jpgTrucking is an industry that seems to attract the entrepreneur. 

There have been many instances of individuals who, with a truck or two, a phone and a desk, set out to build their own empire, and through hard work and sacrifice, grow and find success.
  
Bob Stark, the owner and founder of On-Time Express, Inc. of Plymouth, Michigan is one such individual.  With over twenty years in the transportation industry and with much of that time at the head of his own company, Stark has a wealth of knowledge and experiences to draw upon.  He recently shared some of his thoughts and philosophies about not only his company but the expedite industry as well with Expediters Online.
 
"The competition in expedite is the fiercest I've seen it in my 20 plus years in the business," begins Stark.  "There are some pretty big expedite companies out there who want to rule the world and sometimes it's hard for a smaller carrier to compete."

"Fortunately, we have a lot of loyal customers who will use us regardless of rates because they feel comfortable with calling us and don't mind paying a little more.  I'd like to believe that they call us because we offer service they don't find elsewhere."

Despite the competition, Stark maintains a positive outlook towards the industry:
"I think expedite is still a good business.  Of all the companies in the trucking business, you might find 3%-5% that are worth talking to and I'd like to think we're one of them.  I just don't believe that there are too many carriers out there that will tell people the truth and work hard for them."

"We're not a nationwide company," says Stark,” but we have a niche, and that niche is focused on loads within a 500-600 mile radius.  We're extremely strong within that radius and we don't have a problem getting backhauls. We're doing well, things are really clicking.  Our backhauls have increased tremendously to around 60-70 percent within a 24-36 hour period."

He continues, "We fight for every load that we get - it's not an easy thing.  When I go out to find new work, I ask the potential customer about his volume of freight and what kind of price they're looking for.  If they tell me they're after the cheapest price, I'll turn around and walk out, it doesn't bother me." 

"We never claim to be the cheapest carrier, just a good solid carrier that will give the customer everything he wants."

Stark realizes that a company is the sum of its parts and he gives credit to his staff and personnel for the growth of On Time Express:
"Our dispatchers do care about the fleet and that's why I've kept them with me.  My newest dispatcher has been with me for five years.  It's to my advantage and to the advantage of every driver in our company to have those caring, competent people in the office who understand what they're supposed to be doing. When a driver calls in, he doesn't have to give his unit number to be recognized, they know him by name."

"I use my dispatchers as examples of a strong work ethic.  They work nine hours a day and one weekend a month - 48 straight hours. That boils down to 12 straight days of work."

He adds, "That's why we're looking for owner-operators who are as equally dedicated to running their business as we are to running ours. We want people who are company-focused, particularly during the busy times.  And, who knows when the busy times will come?  It changes from day to day, week to week.  For the driver who wants to frequently take time off and then come back in service and say "I'm back, where's the work?'  I have to tell him, 'Where were you when I was turning down loads because you weren't here?'"

Stark says that there are rewards for the driver who offers consistency and availability:  "We've had some owner-operators come over to our company who have been with some of the major expediting carriers for a few years and they're amazed what they can make here."

On Time's owner says that he is always seeking owner-operators who can give him what he terms as "options" - specifically, larger vehicle sizes.  He says that an owner-operator with a long-body Sprinter van or long cube van will take precedence over the smaller cargo van owner, because he's looking for the most freight hauling capability in any vehicle size.  In straight trucks, Stark says his company is seeking 22' trucks and larger.

"Another example of what I also term as "options" is when a guy from Michigan is in Texas and he says, 'get me back home,' that's one option," Stark tells us.  "But, when a guy from Michigan is in Texas and he says, 'Bob, send me anywhere,' that gives me a number of options.  It's called flexibility." 

"The guys who are experienced in this business understand that they can do less and make more.  We're one of those companies where patience will benefit the driver because we can get the rate he needs."

"So many drivers come through my door who doesn’t want to talk to another recruiter and sign on with another company because they've seen and heard all the baloney out there.  I do all the recruiting for On Time Express because if I had a designated recruiter, that would mean I was taking money out of the drivers' pockets and I would be like all of these other companies.  Many times, you've got a $30,000 a year recruiter telling you everything that you want to hear to get you to sign on, but he has no idea what happens to you after that."

"When I talk to inexperienced people about this business, quite often I will tell them, if you're not in the business already, don't get in it.  For the experienced people, I tell them that, after I'm done talking to you it's your prerogative; you can do whatever you want.  Because of this approach, I've had many people tell me, 'Bob, you're a man with integrity.'"

"It's not justified to have someone sign on for a month or two and be all upset after that period of time and leave.  I have around fifteen people - both drivers and office personnel - who have been with me since I opened the doors here.  I have a commitment to everybody in the company, but especially to those fifteen in particular because they sacrificed so much to get us where we are.  If it weren't for those people, I would probably be done with this industry."

Stark addresses an ever-present concern of owner-operators:
"My philosophy regarding dead head or empty miles is this:  "Not every load is going to be a block away from where the driver is sitting, so there's good deadhead and bad deadhead.  When a driver is deadheading further away to get more loaded miles, that's good dead head.  When he's deadheading to the pickup and it is shortening the miles of the actual run well, obviously that's bad dead head."

"When you're talking about vans running at 1.70-1.80 per mile or straight trucks running at 2.00 per mile, that deadhead is justified.  We're very aware of the empty miles and fortunately, we don't really have many loads with more than 200 miles deadhead."

"We don't run satellites for a few different reasons.  Number one is cost, and secondly, I figure if a driver doesn't know where he is and doesn't want to keep us informed of his location, we don't want him.  We have drivers with nationwide pagers along with one and even two cell phones from different providers.  That way, they reduce the chance of dropped calls and maybe missing a load.  The revenue from one extra load can pay for that additional cell phone for the entire year.  It just benefits the owner-operator."

"Our best drivers are hungry.  When I interview prospective owner-operators, I ask them just what they want from this business.  Do they want to get ahead in life?  Do they want to build a nest egg towards retirement?  Or, do they just want to make a paycheck?" 
 
"Another difference with our company is that we don't have fleet owners.  All of our owner-operators are single-truck operations.  Also, we don't have any dispatchers who own trucks, so we don't have any drivers on the "inside" who are being "fed" the good loads."

Stark comments on the future of the fast freight industry:
"There will be even greater competition due to the difficulties that manufacturing has been going through with plant closings, layoffs, and so on."

"An example of this is the Ford Atlanta plant closing.  This is where they built the Ford Taurus, a car that helped to revolutionize the industry in the way it was built.  Now, those carriers that were doing the trucking for that plant are not just going to fold up.  They will be looking for other work and they'll do whatever is necessary to survive."

"But, I think the industry will be alright for those 3%-5% companies I mentioned earlier. No doubt, it's been a bumpy road in expedite for the last couple of years, but we'll see how things pan out." 

"We have a certain niche in the market and that's how we've been able to succeed."

On Time Express Online Pre-Application