Harman Cheema, president and CEO of Cheema Freightlines LLC, predicts the trucking industry will see more consolidation and fewer new entrants, and will draw more attention from “serious truckers.”
Cheema was the keynote speaker at FreightWaves’ Enterprise Fleet Summit virtual event on Wednesday. He was joined by FreightWaves staff writer Grace Sharkey in a discussion on the future of trucking.
“I think the industry is getting more expensive — whether it’s autonomous technology or greener fuels, shippers are talking to other providers that are able to provide those sustainability goals for some of those big corporations, even if they cost a little bit more,” Cheema said. “That’s telling you that you have to be able to play with the big guys. I think the industry is going to change to being about serious truckers.”
Pacific, Washington-based Cheema Freightlines is a family-owned business that was founded in 2006 by Darshan Cheema and his sons Harman and Harry. The company started with one truck and a refrigerated trailer but has since grown to include over 500 trucks and 2,000 trailers, as well as offices and terminals across the West Coast. The company also owns Cheema Logistics.
Cheema sees more consolidation taking place throughout the trucking industry in the future.
“I think there’s going to be more consolidation. At the end of the day, I think our costs for the stuff we’re buying is going to continue to go up,” Cheema said. “The one message I have is that it’s going to become a game for serious truckers and even brokers. I think maybe entries might get a little bit harder or people will start rethinking after this downturn.”
Cheema Freightlines’ services include dedicated, short haul, local and regional trucking. The company also provides freight brokerage services throughout the U.S.
“We started about 18 years ago. I was just a sophomore in high school at the time,” Harman Cheema said. “My uncle was already in the trucking business. He told my dad, who was leased on pulling containers out of the Port of Seattle for other companies, “Hey, just get your own authority and you can make more money.”
At the time, Darshan Cheema owned a dry van truck and decided to purchase a refrigerated truck to haul produce out of Salinas, California. Harman Cheema said his uncle taught them how to book loads and connected them with brokers.
“This was 2006; it’s not that long ago, but the world has changed big time, especially in freight,” Cheema said. “Now there are a lot more brokers, and the opportunities are way different than they were back then.”
One of the biggest differences between then and now is the technology available to everyone, Cheema said.
“I always keep in mind that just a year after we started, the iPhone came out. For me, that was like having the world in my hand. It was amazing and that’s when really I think the industry started to change, because now you could get load boards on your phone,” Cheema said.
As the years have progressed, some of the issues that have grown in the industry are safety and nuclear verdicts, Cheema said.
“In the beginning, the goal was to deliver the freight safely and make sure our drivers are getting paid well and make sure we get paid and just do it all over again: That was the goal,” Cheema said. “Now that we were becoming a real company, safety is actually not just a department, but it’s something that we have to change into our culture.”
The shift to having a culture of safety had to be navigated carefully, because “you want to make sure you push that culture and you want to have like-minded people,” Cheema said. “And if you think safety is expensive, try having an accident. That line stuck to me at a safety conference I went to a long time ago, because it’s true. Accidents cost way more than all the prevention you can do. I think that nuclear verdicts are always at the forefront; we just have to make sure we’re being safe.”
As the trucking industry continues to evolve, one thing that doesn’t change is creating relationships that can help your business grow, Cheema said.
“This is a relationship business at the end of the day,” he said. “Relationships get bigger, and you meet a lot more people. A lot of my growth came from going to industry events. I just try to relate to people, make friends, and some of those people I’ve met from my first conferences, I’m still friends with today, which is awesome.”