Carrier Profiles
TranStewart: On the move
"There's a fine line between a company that's not big enough and one that has grown too large," says Jerry Stewart, Sr., founder and president of Michigan-based TranStewart Trucking Inc.
Stewart speaks of a situation that many growing companies face, often on a continuing basis. It has to do with the concept that bigger is better. Bigger is not necessarily better. It's a quality game rather than a quantity game.
"We're going to stay a smaller company," he says, "we're not interested in growing tremendously fast or tremendously large. We have managed to grow enough that we can touch the marketplace competitively. We're expanding our customer base and we can take care of our customers."
As an example of the quality service his company provides, Stewart points to National Logistics Management (NLM) naming TranStewart as its 2005 Carrier of the Year for on-time performance.
He says, "We were in competition with some 450 other carriers who work with NLM, so we're quite proud of that achievement."
Quite an achievement, indeed for a company with a fleet size of less than 50 units!
Stewart explains, "I realize that to a driver or owner-operator, they might think, 'well, that's great for them,' but, I feel that it's good for the owner-operator with the winning company as well. What it means, is that our scores are among the highest in the industry, so when we're bidding on loads, we automatically have a big advantage over our competitors."
Stewart says that his company's smaller size actually benefits its owner-operators because no one gets lost in "the shuffle."
"Since my son, Jerry Stewart, Jr. and I formed the company in 1996, our business philosophy has been from the perspective of owner-operators. That was our background and we know what the business person in the truck has to go through. When we give our owner-operators a rate and tell them what we're going to pay them, we put it in writing in their contract."
"I do all of the recruiting for TranStewart because I don't trust recruiters," he says with a laugh. "I believe in being honest with potential owner-operators and when they talk to me, they get the good, the bad and the ugly".
This privately-owned corporation is authorized for all 48 states and Canada, but its primary freight lanes extend from Texas to the east coast hauling general commodity and automotive freight.
"When I tell our straight truck owner-operators that I pay $1.20 a mile, that's what I mean. That includes the automotive shipments, it's not discounted freight."
Stewart tells us that the company has expanded its customer base: "Various industries that we're dealing with include the building materials industry, food companies, packaging material companies and a number of smaller manufacturing concerns that we deal with directly."
Stewart says that there is plenty of freight available for both solo and team operations at TranStewart, "if the dispatchers are sharp enough to find it, and mine are! I train all of our dispatchers personally, and they're very pro-active in searching for freight."
He continues, "I know that for drivers with the large expedite companies, many times they'll deliver a load and then find a dozen other trucks from their own company waiting for a load, too. And, while they're waiting in line, if they turn down a load, they go to the bottom of the list. That doesn't happen with TranStewart because we're able to keep our trucks moving."
"We start looking for another load for our trucks long before they deliver. We do a lot of double loading, so the driver has the opportunity for increased revenue. Those double loads will have two pickup points, but typically will deliver to the same location at the same time, and at full rate for both loads."
"In fact, I pay our dispatchers a small bonus just to find those double loads. They're valuable to our owner-operators and valuable to the company. I’m very proud of our dispatch crew, I can't say enough about them. I wish that when I was an owner-operator, I would have had a staff of dispatchers like them looking out for me."
Stewart says that the company has Canadian freight available, but, "We don't force any owner-operator to take Canadian-bound loads and although we have the occasional haz-mat loads, we don't require haz-mat endorsements."
Stewart offers details on his company's compensation program that is unique in the industry:
"We've perfected what we call our Expedited Payment Program. We implemented this program around six months ago and it's been a tremendous success. We can pay our owner-operators faster than any other company in the industry".
"From the time we get the run paperwork from a driver, we have a check on its way to him within 48 hours. Consequently, I have a whole group of owner-operators' wives who are in love with me because they can count on continuous cash flow".
"We don't hold back the settlements for weeks at a time like many of our competitors do. We pay by the load, not by the week and it's really been a successful way to compensate our owner-operators."
He continues, "This allows the owner-operators to manage their cash flow in their own business. This is another way that I strive to treat them as my partner, not as someone who works for me. The payment method is their option. We have drivers who prefer to be paid for every load as it's completed and we have those who just turn in a week's worth of paperwork for a weekly check. It's their choice, whatever works best for them".
He adds, "If our owner-operators want to use our fuel card, we're happy to supply them with one. The Fleet One card is as flexible and as widely accepted across the country as any fuel card on the market. It can be used for fuel, emergency repairs and cash advances. Our owner-operators enjoy the convenience of the card."
"We don't have back charges and that means no fuel tax back charges, no hidden insurance fees , no paperwork fees, Qualcomm, satellite, cell phone fees or anything like that."
""At TranStewart , we treat our owner-operators as the true independent businesspeople they are. That's just one of the things that makes us different from the other companies out there."
TranStewart is looking for owner-operators with 16-24 foot straight trucks (w/sleepers). The company is also seeking tractor owner-operators.