Expediter Services (ES)

OPERATING WITH AN ALTERNATE APPROACH IN THE NORTH AMERICAN TRUCKING MARKET

EXPEDITER SERVICES (ES)

Jason Williams, President of Expediter Services, showcases what makes his organization different from competitors Writer: Sean Galea-Pace Project Manager: Tom Cullum

Transforma

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ogistics in North America is big product touches a truck at some business. point,” he adds. “It’s an investmentGiven the size and scale of the centric environment where lots of continent, the industry is awash with people are going to spend money on opportunity. new ideas and with that attitude being For Jason Williams, President of in the industry, we are constantly Expediter Services (ES), the process trying to solve issues.” of exploring the career possibilities in ES is a firm that has established a logistics can fittingly be traced to the position of leadership in providing same path taken by so many of the capacity solutions and ownership aspiring entrepreneurs his company opportunities within the trucking assists today. The journey began industry. Launching its operation with family at its roots. Following a in 2006, Expediter Services began successful career in banking, Jason’s by initially working in trucking’s father, Paul, was looking for new expedited sector offering a new challenges and opportunities. approach to capacity that continues Paul Williams believed that he to speak to the needs of today’s and Jason could put together an overall trucking marketplace. In fact, effective team and the ES Model grew such apply the right strong roots within resources that could expediting that the provide needed company was able to truck capacity for subsequently branch a growing industry. out into truckload and A central key to Less-than-truckload their business plan sectors. would be building a From its earliest days, platform that could Expediter Services offer opportunities recognized the scope for professional of services and support drivers to chart that owner-operators, their own career independent contract Jason Williams, President course as business drivers and aspiring owners. While the road to success in trucking business owners needed trucking for Expediter Services, like to be successful. Expediter Services most companies in the industry, has stepped forward to develop a included a few bumps along the way, platform featuring support in the Jason has embraced the opportunity areas of financial services, financial to connect with people across technology, contract driver services, the industry and learn from every equipment financing and leasing, experience. truck sales, management services, “Over the past 20 years, I have insurance services, and discount done most jobs within the industry programs. While placing a focus on from loading, driving, dispatching the people behind the wheel and to selling and brokering freight. All aspiring trucking business owners, those experiences have taught me Expediter Services began building that there is so much opportunity strong working relationships with for business creation in the logistics some of the leading brand names in industry in the United States. the trucking industry. As trucking has “It’s a wonderful industry because continued to evolve and the overall it can be utilized regardless of what available driver pool has contracted service a company is providing. in recent years, the industry’s carriers When you think about it, almost every have significantly deepened their North America Outlook issue 02 | 3

EXPEDITER SERVICES (ES) search for stable, reliable, and safe capacity. As trucking companies look at their overall operations, the value of non-asset capacity has greatly increased for carriers looking to maintain and grow their respective fleets.

“When we first got involved in the expedited market about 15 years ago, we saw some needs in the trucking industry that became opportunities,” explains Williams.

“First of all, we had spent time getting to know the barriers to entry and the obstacles that aspiring entrepreneurs encountered, especially owneroperators and independent contractors. We believed that we could build a network of programs and support systems that could lead to greater levels of success for those small businesses. Also, while working with and getting to know motor carriers across the industry, we got to see first-hand the value that stable, safe and reliable capacity held for fleets of any size. When you look at the overall platform that Expediter Services established, we have become a business creation vehicle at the driver level, and we are a

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valued supplier of non-asset capacity for some of the leading names in the trucking industry.”

Today, ES is a leading supplier of non-asset capacity for FedEx Custom Critical, Forward Air and Panther Premium, a service of ArcBest. The company also provides non-asset capacity to other motor carriers within the industry, and Expediter Services continually receives inquiries from carriers interested learning more about the ES Model.

“One of the first things that we tell carriers looking to work with us is that everyone at ES is focused on the success of the people behind the wheel,” offers Williams. “Our success as a company is dependent on the success of the owner-operators, independent contractors and business owners in our program.

We’ve been very intentional on how we’ve built our carrier and vendor network along with our strategic partnerships.”

The beginnings of the strategic partnership between ES and the Women In Trucking Association (WIT) began several years ago when WIT President and CEO Ellen Voie met with the Expediter Services’ leadership team. In 2016, Williams was selected to serve on the WIT Board of Directors, and the following year, ES and WIT launched the 150 Business Challenge. This program is a collaborative initiative between the two organizations to create 150 women-owned businesses in

ArcBest To all the truck drivers moving freight at a moment’s notice — thank you.

We appreciate your commitment to delivering critical goods around the clock to keep our nation going.

We recognize the countless hours you’re driving coast to coast to keep our supply chains moving forward.

We realize this often means you spend days, weeks and sometimes months away from your loved ones. Your commitment to delivering essential goods along with the products that make our lives easier doesn’t go unnoticed.

Thank you for being America’s heroes!

arcb.com

transportation. To date, the program now stands at more than 110 new women-owned trucking businesses launched.

“We are proud of what has been accomplished through the 150 Business Challenge so far. We have had great support from WIT and from our motor carrier partners, Forward Air, Panther and FedEx Custom Critical. They have really embraced this program to support these women-owned businesses,” notes Williams. “This program has continued to move forward even during the freight downturn of 2019 and during the COVID Pandemic of 2020. This program speaks to the fact that we did not want to help women by accident. We have been committed to promoting diversity in the trucking industry, and the 150 Business Challenge is an example of that commitment.

“We wanted to highlight the fact that there is a real opportunity

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260-615-0937 nathanmeyer@truckcountry.com ES head office

TRUCK SALES | EXPERT SERVICE | PARTS | stoops.com

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EXPEDITER SERVICES (ES) profits to the truck and our truck dealer of choice, Stoops Freightliner/ Truck Country, fully supports this community.”

When the trucks within the ES Community are on the road, the fuel and maintenance networks as well as the support services are in the spotlight. Throughout its history, ES has demonstrated a commitment to walk alongside the participants in their programs to help make the road to success in trucking a little smoother. The company continues to invest in IT platforms to support cashflow analysis, bookkeeping

AT A GLANCE: EXPEDITER SERVICES

Paul, Jeff and Jason in trucking for people to start a business, particularly for those that feel like there’s glass ceilings for them elsewhere,” he adds. “The 150 Business Challenge provides our participants with a stable environment, and we are willing to work with our partners to promote and generate those businesses. The program has grown very well, and we don’t expect it to be a project with an end date.”

The participants in the 150 Business Challenge as well as the other programs and support systems offered through Expediter Services are part of what the company calls the “ES Community.” The umbrella created by the ES Community includes the motor carriers as well as a network of vendors and service providers focused on the needs of the owner-operators, independent contractors, and business owners in the community. While establishing the 6 | North America Outlook issue 02

ES Community, Expediter Services has created a strong network that is able to offer discounts on trucking essentials, including, equipment, fuel, maintenance, and insurance, along with other support services that are key to operating a profitable business.

“We’ve taken our corporate equipment and buying power and paired it with our community that we service which is quite large,” says Williams. “We’ve gone to our vendors that we’ve been doing business with for years and they have continued to buy in on the fact that our community acts differently than the open market.

Whatever the vendor discounts, the truck gets it.

“We’ve been able to drive down costs such as insurance, fuel and tires and trucks. This year, we placed an order of over 200 tractors. If one of our owner operators wants to buy or upgrade a truck, they will pay the same price I pay. We do this to drive

Since its founding, ES has worked hard to position itself as the capacity pipeline for the expedited and general trucking sectors with a goal of providing the industry’s best carriers a nonasset based fleet that functions like an asset based fleet. This strategy required establishing strong relationships with the premier carriers in the trucking industry.

The company has a history of helping to generate safe, stable, and profitable small businesses.

Throughout the years, Expediter Services has worked to develop innovative solutions to help create access to opportunities in trucking focused on making businesses more successful. Its growth as a company has often been evolutionary in nature, but the results of its efforts have sparked a revolution within expediting that is now being carried over to the general trucking market.

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support, and data crunching. In addition, ES also continues to invest significantly behind the scenes to keep its company on the cuttingedge and a leader in the industry. The benefits of technology investments within transportation include more robust security, better management tools as well as greater efficiency.

“It’s very difficult for a person with a small fleet of trucks to have the money to invest in the analytics to know if their truck is performing properly,” Williams notes. “What we have done is take some tried and true platforms and layered them with our services, tools, and benefits, which provides everyone in our ES Community a competitive advantage in what can be a challenging industry.

The importance of partnerships is essential to long-term success, particularly in the supply chain and logistics space. For Williams, it comes back to driving success within the ES Community by utilizing the strength of the overall network the company has developed through the years.

“There’s some things that we do in-house very well, there’s others that we prefer to get a vendor to do and then there’s other things that we just have no way of doing,” explains Williams.

“Our partnerships inside of the community is what makes this work.

It took a few years for everyone that used to be competitors to collaborate

Paul Williams and team successfully and understand they can deliver a better service by working with us to complement one another.

The community is built on these relationships and without it, it would fall apart. We’re dependent on strong relationships.”

With the importance of leveraging new technology vital to harnessing greater efficiency in operations, Expediter Services is focused on scaling its data drive and empowering people to be proactive instead of running the risk of responding too late.

“As we have grown, we are attempting to let IT drive data versus people and having our people drive the relationship and service at the truck level. We want to help people drive difficult decisions, rather than just react to them when they happen,” observes Williams. “At the end of the

day, we are focused on doing our part to position every member of our ES Community for success.

“Our success as a company is directly tied to the success of the members of the ES Community,” explains Williams. “We will take the time to ensure that every member of our community is aware of and utilizing all the benefits that ES’s entire network has to offer. As we work with our community members, we’re asking each one of them to help spread the good news of all the ES Advantages – which squarely focuses on the success of each person in the truck.”

Looking to the future, Williams confirms that while his company is seeking expansion, he is keen to stress that his existing vendors will not be forgotten.

“Our focus is always on the partners and the entire ES Community that helped us get here,” he explains.

“While we are looking to add a few motor carriers, we will always ensure our current vendors are well looked after before we look to create other relationships.”

EXPEDITER SERVICES (ES) Tel: 1-877-349-9303 info@expediterservices.com www.essuccessintrucking.com

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EXPEDITER SERVICES (ES) 5959 Pepper Chase Dr., Southaven MS 38671 Tel: 1-877-349-9303 info@expediterservices.com www.essuccessintrucking.com

PRODUCED BY NORTH AMERICA OUTLOOK MAGAZINE