In The News

Members Meet Up in New Orleans for Annual Meeting Featuring 'Big Solutions, Big Easy'

New Orleans, LA, July 15 - The Expedite Association of North America (TEANA) wrapped up its largest Annual Meeting to date with more than a hundred members attending educational sessions, networking events and nightlife activities. With its members focusing to solve expedited transportation crises daily, the city which continues to rebuild and move forward after Hurricane Katrina provided the ideal setting for social and learning opportunities.

Keynote speaker Lt. General Russel L. Honore (retired), brought in to lead the government's response to the Katrina crisis, encouraged members to "be in the business of solving people's problems." When 80 percent of New Orleans evacuated after the hurricane, the general knew it was logistics which would solve the disaster's aftermath. Honore encouraged members to make providing solutions for disasters - moving people, food and water - part of future business growth plans.

Transportation accountant Richard Bell pointed out threats facing the independent contractor model many TEANA members utilize. Bell contends business owners do a better job of allocating and managing resources than government, as local, state and federal authorities seek revenue during times when tax coffers are thinning. Bell encourages TEANA members aggregate against government controlling independent contractor law and for members to work towards changing state workers compensation laws to make them statutory. Bell advises all members to understand the definition of "employee" in each state they provide services, for workers compensation purposes.

Transportation safety consultant Rick Gobell detailed the federal highway bill, including changes requiring registration of motor carriers and a $75,000 bond for brokers. Jeff Davis , widely known as a leading expert in SMS methodology and its flaws, said it is critical for every transportation provider to be prepared at any time for an FMCSA review, as such a visit is likely to result in financial harm. Davis provided the example of a customer of six years ceasing to use a provider after being marked for unsafe driving and fatigue driving. The provider calculated its loss at $6.7-million after it was requested by FMCSA to provide 81 random drug tests and it produced 80. Davis pointed out 75 percent of the points earned on CSA violations are non-out-of-service violations. His advice includes installing on-board recorders and instituting a strong internal auditing program.

TEANA legal advisor Hank Seaton further detailed how SMS methodology does not measure service, showcasing inaccurate and flawed data. Seaton submits the effect of CSA rankings is highly detrimental to TEANA members as shippers migrate towards using larger providers, despite the number of 'golden triangle' alerts compounded by CSA ratings across the spectrum of transportation service providers. FMCSA's continued encouragement to shippers to use CSA data and scores and its release of three documents on May 16 prompted a lawsuit spurred by "this bureaucratic overreach," Seaton reported. TEANA is among a dozen plaintiffs named in the suit filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals. Seaton cited TEANA member Steve Sample's lobbying efforts which helped result in no CSA-provided data being included in the federal highway bill.

The conference's theme of "Big Solutions, Big Easy" also exposed attendees to ideas to help grow their business, particularly online. Web strategist Jim Barry advises using key performance indicators to track online traction, particularly with tools such as Google Analytics' free reports and with advanced features such as Conversion Assist. Barry suggests not getting bogged down with web initiatives which may not be updated, such as blogs and social media. Barry provided cost examples to measure return on investment for online sales strategies. Blogger and author Mark Schaeffer demonstrated how companies can use the web to unleash employee power for recruiting. 89 percent of companies will use social media networks for recruiting in 2011, up 6 percent from 2010, according to Schaeffer, who pointed out 24 percent of managers found reasons not to hire someone due to social networking. Schaeffer showed how to make targeted connections (using services such as Twellow and Listorious), create meaningful content (with article links, success stories, sharing regulatory information and job openings), and authentically helping with your web presence to build business. Attendees each received a copy of Schaeffer's top-selling book Return on Influence.

CEO and founder of SalesNexus, Craig Klein, focused on customer relationship management, showing attendees how to increase sales minimally by 10 percent using cloud-based tools and e-mail marketing.   Klein stressed the importance of a company's website as a sales presence, since 58 percent of purchases start with an internet search leading to contact with employees to close the sale.

TEANA members took full advantage of New Orleans' hospitality, golfing at English Turn, boating on a swamp tour and two nightlife outings on the French Quarter. A highlight of the event is the announcement of TEANA's Carrier of the Year:

1st Place: C&M Transport, Inc.
2nd Place: Barrett Directline Delivery Services, Inc.
3rd Place: Load One Transportation and Logistics
 
TEANA's Board of Directors announced the next Annual Meeting for members will be in San Antonio, Texas in July 2013. "I want to thank everyone for yet again putting together such a great event," said TEANA President John Elliott.  "Once again, industry leaders came together to educate, network, and find common ground on issues that directly affect our industry.  It is a great example of how competitors can rise above competition to find synergies that produce measurable results in many areas.  While New Orleans was an excellent conference, I am sure that San Antonio in 2013 will raise the bar yet again."
 
About TEANA
TEANA, The Expedite Association of North America, is the only association dedicated solely to the ground expedite transportation segment. TEANA's mission is to maintain a forum for its member companies to exchange information and services allowing for the enhancement, improvement and expansion of their services. The organization also focuses on providing members a voice in the legislative environment and access to vendor services, providing additional value to its membership.
 
For additional information, contact: Kate Marlys, TEANA Associate Director, at [email protected].