Business View Magazine Dec-2022

71 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 12 inventory management. For instance, the demand for warehousing has exploded as more businesses shore up their inventories.” “On the trucking side, the glue that holds the entire supply chain together, it’s become more of hit or miss. Sometimes loads are canceled because the load they were expecting to ship wasn’t completed. Then, once the shipment is complete, there’s mass chaos as suddenly we need trucks to move the loads. “These have been very interesting times, and we must be very adaptable to navigate this environment.” Another trend is the emerging glut of trucking capacity, which Kordish says gives brokerages more leverage in how much they pay trucking companies to move loads. “We sometimes use brokerages to fill our trucks, but the high number of trucks in the area means they can call anyone to move a load, which gives them leverage to negotiate lower rates. Fortunately, the brokerage business accounts for only around eleven percent of our work, with the rest coming from direct contracts.” RMI’s direct contracts mostly come from the food and beverage industry, working with significant bottling companies like Coca-Cola. It also works with companies in the grocery industry, which proved to be a considerable advantage during the pandemic because although cities were locked down, people still needed to eat. “Serving these industries gave us a huge advantage, which meant we didn’t have to lay off a single employee during that time, which is something we’re proud of,” Kordish says. Retaining all its staff also helped the company avoid the significant challenges of sourcing skilled labor. The trucking industry, especially, has remained starved for labor for as long as Kordish can remember. “The trucking industry lacking drivers has been talked about for many years,” she elaborates. “COVID just made it a little bit harder.” “One approach we use is training employees through a program where they come in, get their CDL, spend three weeks with an instructor, and another 4 to 5 weeks with a trainer to ensure they’ve learned everything. After that, they must pass a final evaluation with our safety and operations director to assess their ability to handle the vehicle safely.” Safety is a significant part of RMI, so it routinely drops drivers who go through this program RALPH MOYLE Ashley Kordish, Driver