Carrier Profiles

TST Expedited Services: Longevity says a lot

Longevity in the trucking industry is a sure sign of a solid driver, and a solid company. When you find them both in one place, it’s a sure sign of a solid relationship.

Such is the case with TST Expedited Services, an international carrier that has offices in Windsor, Ontario and Woodhaven, Michigan. TST Expedited Services, “A TransForce Company” will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2012, and many of its employees and owner operators aren’t too far behind.

“We have a lot of long-term employees and we have a lot of long-term owner operators,” said Jeff Laforet, the company’s Vice President and General Manager. “More than half of our employees and a large number of our owner operators have been at TST more than 15 years, with some for more than 20 years. It’s an organization that’s really built up with a lot of experience, knowledge and commitment.”

Owner-operators are an essential part of TST’s prolonged success.

“Our company is 100 percent owner-operators; we have no company equipment to compete against,” Laforet said. “Our fleet is made up of cargo vans, straight trucks and tractor-trailers. Our service area includes Canada, the United States and Mexico, so we go all over North America—complete coverage. One thing that sets us apart from most of our competitors is that we have both Canadian and U.S. owner-operators. Both groups working in unison to service all of North America.”

TST provides a variety of services for its Customers—and the company’s Customer base is growing rapidly.

“We pride ourselves on a one-call solution for our Customers—which includes ground expedite, both local and long-haul; dedicated specialized services, both straight truck and tractor-trailer; air freight and air charters,” Laforet said. “Our Customer base is expanding. The recession’s over, and things have made a turn for the better. We’ve expanded services with a lot of our Customers, especially in Western Canada and Mexico.”

Of course, more customers create a need for more owner-operators, and Laforet said TST is actively seeking qualified owner operators to help move the additional freight.

“The reason why we’re hiring owner operators is because our Customers demands are increasing and we’ve got to cover the freight,” he said. “We need to add more cargo vans, straight trucks and tractor-trailers to our fleet.”

Besides the obvious opportunity to work with a well established, successful carrier, TST offers plenty of other incentives that make the company an attractive option for owner-operators.

“We have a great compensation package,” Laforet said. “We have a nationwide fuel and tire discount program. We provide our owner-operators with a direct pay program and direct deposit. We have a standardized fuel surcharge program. We have benefits available for the owner-operators which they can purchase at reasonable and discounted rates.”

If that isn’t enough, throw in top-of-the-line technology.

“We have a software program which is really state-of-the-art, Laforet said. “It’s our award-winning software we call TSTracs, and it’s customized. It’s not someone else’s software program that we purchased; we built this software ourselves. It’s customized to our own business, and it’s really specialized to support our Customers and our Owner-Operators.”

The company also utilizes the latest Qualcomm technology.

“We purchased the new MCP 200’s, which is the latest and greatest that Qualcomm has to offer,” Laforet said. “It includes turn-by-turn directions, which the drivers absolutely love, and in-cab scanning. They have scanners inside the truck so they can take their paperwork and scan it right into our system. They no longer need to stop at truck stops or use drop boxes. They can just scan the documents from inside the cab right to our office.

“It really helps support the owner-operators. That way they’re not wasting time—especially the turn-by-turn directions. We put this in; immediately our drivers realized the cost benefits, the drivers absolutely love it.”

Owner-operators who are interested in learning more about opportunities available through TST Expedited Services can visit the company’s website at www.tst911.com, and www.transforcecompany.com or call recruiting at 1-877-878-9911.