Business View Magazine | December 2018

264 265 we adopted a management philosophy called ‘Traction’ or EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) to laser-focus our priorities for growing our business.” “Through our technology, we’re creating ‘stick- iness’ with our customers,” notes Byrd. “Not just by calculating how much the freight is, but by showing them who their profitable customers are and having visibility into their data. People love business intelligence, and we have really built a business intelligence technology platform that separates us from any competition.” Going for- ward, Byrd asserts that technology will continue to be the company’s main priority. “And we want to do internationally what we now do domesti- cally,” he adds. Transportation Impact also will continue to make an impact on its community. “UPS taught us a valuable lesson,” Byrd remarks in conclusion. “We give back to our community, not just in mon- ey but also in time and effort.We pride ourselves on giving back.Through our ‘IMPACT1’ initiative, which we launched in 2017 to formalize and expand our philanthropy, our people are paid for volunteering 20 hours a year, and we also give back one percent in both profit and in-kind ser- vices.” the willingness to practically give away its initial work to secure long-term business. “First, we do a free analysis for a large-volume shipper to get them every bit of savings available,” says Byrd. “We count on losing a customer after our initial turn on the small parcel side. If we do our job right, and take that operating ratio to the brink, to where the carrier is still making money, our customer should never need us again.We go for broke the first time, and we guarantee the sav- ings in writing. If we don’t achieve what we guarantee, we don’t get paid. “The second advantage we have,” he con- tinues, “is our skill set. We’ve surrounded our- selves with very good people. When we first started, we thought we had to hire a bunch of 20-year former UPS or FedEx sales people. We found out very early that’s not the case at all. We’ve got 28-year-olds who’ve never worked for a carrier making huge decisions. But Millen- nials add a lot of value and knowledge, a lot of creativity, plus listening skills and attention to detail. We live in a little community of 4,000 on the coast of North Carolina. For us to hire the quality of people we do is fortunate, and our retention rate is high. “And then the third thing that really differ- entiates us, on the freight side, is that we are a disrupter. Among our negotiation and audit com- petitors, nobody is offering a TMS as part of their service.” Burt adds, “We’ve invested heavily in our soft- ware platforms. We started off with a pen and paper and calculator for determining the sav- ings and measuring the results. With the next iteration of the invoicing and analysis platform, we’re going to increase our capabilities to ten times from where we are today. We’re now a technology company that has a shrewd and strategic sales force, as opposed to the strong negotiators with pencil and calculator that we were a decade ago. Three or four years ago TRANSPORTATION IMPACT Providing Quality Services to the Shipping & Distribution Community Since 1920 Freight Audit & Transportation Management Services Nolan & Cunnings (N&C) provides shippers of all sizes a best-in-class service to ensure each load is validated, audited and reported on. Every shipment is checked to ensure it is tendered in the proper mode, to the correct carrier and then every charge on the invoice is audited to enforce all of the contracted terms-and-conditions. n Freight Management n TMS Software n Supply Chain Consulting www.nandc.com Save 50% on shipping insurance for your packages. Contact us to request a quote today! office@pipinsure.com 800-325-7390 www.pipinsure.com n Nolan & Cunnings www.nandc.com n PIP (Parcel Insurance Plan) www.pipinsure.com PREFERRED VENDORS