This fireside chat recap is from the FreightWaves virtual Small Fleet & Owner-Operator Summit on Wednesday.
FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: Small fleet, big dreams
DETAILS: Spot market challenges have plagued carriers in recent months, affecting small fleets the most. Terry Freeze shares the best tips for small fleet owners on how to succeed in this challenging market.
SPEAKER: Freeze is the director of dedicated services at ArcBest.
BIO: Freeze has been the director of dedicated services at ArcBest since August 2021 after four years as a branch manager of truckload sales. In his current role, the veteran of 25 years in transportation and logistics leads the team responsible for recruiting, growing and supporting the ArcBest dedicated power-only fleet, which serves some of the company’s largest customers. The dedicated network has grown 30% during Freeze’s time in charge.
KEY QUOTES FROM FREEZE
“A lot of people are just feeling commoditized, just running from broker to broker and making phone calls. They don’t necessarily feel valued. There’s no relationship there in this type of environment.”
“The nature of a lot of the freight that exists in the spot market right now isn’t very operationally efficient. A lot of trucks are sitting there waiting to get loaded. Obviously, hours of service are precious. We know drivers like to drive. A lot of times the nature of that freight doesn’t lend itself to driver retention.”
“Sometimes a small fleet’s strongest relationships are with a load board and not with actual providers. I would say [they need] to branch out and really make some strong relationships with partners who really put value in what you can bring to their network and invest in the value they can bring back to you as well.”