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UCW LOGISTICS
Toward that end, UCW has upwards of 7,000 trucking companies in its database from which to choose, based on a shipper’s specific needs. “The best truck, the best carrier to handle that business is not likely to be somebody knocking on their door,” Cramer said. “It might be a sole proprietor who has one truck. It might be somebody who has five trucks, or 10 trucks, on up to the big guys. Our relationship base is very broad, and that’s part of the value that we bring to our customers.” To help carriers meet expenses, especially smaller ones, they are paid within 48 hours or 15 days. Further, UCW asks carriers which routes they prefer so that
ables. That’s going nuts,” Kitterman added. Other key clients whose loads are increasing include Milliken, the diversified industrial manufacturer, and Hubbell Lighting. With impressive three-year growth, UCW is committed to expanding, Cramer and Kitterman said. The company currently employs five people at its headquarters at 325 West McBee Avenue and 17 at its Winston-Salem office. “Expect the Winston-Salem office to be probably twice that big, probably in the 30 to 35 range, in the next two years,” Cramer predicted. The Greenville office will at least double in size, he said. And during the next five
“WE DID $400,000 THAT FIRST YEAR AND THEN IN 2017 WE DID ABOUT $12 MILLION. THAT’S WHERE THAT PERCENTAGE GROWTH COMES FROM.” Evan Cramer, president “we can plug that business into them and they can retain and recruit drivers because they have consistency and reliability,” Cramer explained. Through a text-to-phone system and with a driver’s consent, UCW can also shadow a truck’s current whereabouts up to the point of delivery, reducing any concerns felt by shippers. Over the past five years, carriers partnering with UCW have hauled everything from electrical transmission equipment to flavored cigars from the Dominican Republic, said Steve Kitterman, the firm’s chief commercial officer. “We pick them up in Miami and move them into Jacksonville, about six or seven loads a day, they’re coming up,” he said. “We have some companies that do packaging for retail consum10
UBJ | 10.26.2018
years, the company expects to add two more offices, most likely in the Southeast. On Aug. 16, one day after Inc. magazine announced the country’s fastest-growing companies, a long-planned dinner was held in Winston-Salem to discuss UCW’s mission, its 10-year plan, and core values. At the last minute, a final slide was added to the presentation. “We were able to pop it up and pop up the ‘126’ on the screen and what was neat is we had people in that dinner … taking pictures of the screen and posting it to social media right then and there,” Cramer said. “We did $400,000 that first year and then in 2017 we did about $12 million. That’s where that percentage growth comes from,” Cramer said of UCW’s superior Inc. 5000 ranking.
IT’S A HAUL Steve Kitterman, UCW’s chief commercial officer, says the company moves anything from to electrical transmission equipment to flavored cigars. PHOTO BY WILL CROOKS