The "S" Word!

Finally!

What's the real "S" word? Why, it's SALES of course!

This is for all of you who are sick and tired of being sick and tired.
If you're tired of getting the run-around from dishonest brokers... if you're tired of your costs going up while your load price goes down... if you're tired of working hard and still not succeeding... the answer might be marketing. That's right, good old-fashioned selling.

(GASP!) Yes, salesmanship. I know that salesman are perhaps the least respected among humanity's citizenry, but let's stop and think what sales is all about.

Sales is about getting business. I don't care whether you sell used cars or you transport them. Sales is about representing yourself to the market in such a way that you gain your unfair share of customers.

Let me repeat that last bit: Getting your UNFAIR share.

Here's the thing-- if you continue to do the same thing, is it reasonable to expect different results? The hard fact of life is that you can do everything you're "supposed to do"-- drive safely, give good customer service, maintain proper insurance, etc... and still not succeed.

You have to be a salesman... sort of. I'm not advocating you run out and buy a pair of white vinyl shoes and matching belt. You probably won't need a plaid suit or a Rolex wristwatch. You won't even have to get your hair "permed" or wear a gold chain.

If the idea of being a salesman makes you nervous, then think of it as just "telling a story"-- (and I haven't met a trucker yet who couldn't tell a story or two!)

You need to get comfortable telling the story of your business-- how you got to be a carhauler... who your first customer was... who your best customer is... why people like to use you. This will help you get in the mindset of finding more good customers... and then more... and then a few more. It's got to become a habit-- just like (maybe) NOT being a salesman is a habit.

I strongly urge you to go to this section of the Orange Fractal website and read each chapter in Marketing 101. (They're even in a handy PDF file format, so you can save them right to your computer or print them out on your printer!)

Each one of the sub-sections deals with the nuts and bolts of building your business through basic salesmanship. Go HERE.

And don't forget to pass this on to a friend, OK?

Chinese Car Manufacturer

Play video to see future.

Free shipping deal on auto tie down straps

Free Shipping Deal: "June 14, 2007
'Holy Wheel Strap, Batman! Are they really offering FREE SHIPPING on 40 PACKS of the best ratchet wheel strap ever?'
You betcha! Go here to learn more: FREE SHIPPING DEAL ON RATCHET STRAPS You can also order a great new toolbox with a 5 year warranty!"

Car hauler tie down strap video

Autohauler Shopper - Mid-Michigan Trucking company for sale My loss is your gain!

Autohauler Shopper - Mid-Michigan Trucking company for sale My loss is your gain!: "Mid-Michigan Trucking company for sale My loss is your gain! $250,000.00 MI
Thanks for taking a minute to look at this once in a lifetime business oppertunity! Health reasons force this sale, I am going back into the Hospital for a week June 11th"

CDL DRIVER - Windows Live Expo - Free Online Classifieds

From the looks of how many Help-Wanted ads, Cottrell is keeping pretty busy these days!

CDL DRIVER - Windows Live Expo - Free Online Classifieds: "CDL DRIVER
View map Get driving directions
Location: Gainesville , GA
ZIP/Postal Code: 30501
Listed: Monday, May 28, 2007 5:00 AM
Expires: Monday, June 25, 2007 12:00 AM
Category: Skilled Trade/Craft

Description:
CDL-A Driver needed. Home 3-4 nights per week. Apply in person at Cottrell, Inc. 2125 Candler Road, Gainesville, GA.

Source - Athens Banner-Herald

Requirements:
Please refer to the Job Description to view the requirements for this job"

Trucker's Height Stick: Video

Allied auto transport; buying trailers!

Word is, Allied bought up just about every trailer available at the auction of Blue Thunder trucks the other day in Maryland. From what I hear, they definitely needed some newer equipment. Still, it's amazing how much money a company in reorganization can come up with to make a purchase of this size.

Cottrell Screw Trailers

Well, we've talked to quite a few folks here and there about the Boydstun screw trailers and reported our findings here; now it's time to take a look at Cottrell car haulers.

Recently, I was chatting with a large mid-western car hauler who is currently building up his fleet of Cottrell screw units. He said that his drivers complained at first about the speed of the screw actuators. Looking at actual load times, however, none of the top brass could see much of a difference. The consensus is (much like with Boydstun) that even if the deck goes up a bit slower, the fact that you don't have to pin the decks saves that extra time.

The folks at Boydstun have done test loads of the same type of cars using the same driver and found that THEIR screw trailer loads faster than THEIR chain truck. I think they said the screws loaded in 20 minutes less time than the chain truck plus or minus.

There are several things I'd like to see with respect to Cottrell screw trailers and Boydstun screw trailers.

1. Base model comparison within each brand chain vs. strap truck: purchase price, maintenance schedule and costs, insurance costs, fuel costs and avg load times. Warranty period and coverages. Available options.

2. Comparison of Boydstun screw vs Cottrell screw along those same lines.

I asked the gentleman I spoke with earlier if they had any data as far as reduced worker's comp claims, and he said it was really too soon to tell, plus the percentage of his fleet that were strap trucks was still pretty small.

A sign of the times-- his strap truck fleet will go from thirty or so to over a hundred this year!

Post Script:

The biggest negative we've heard about screw trailers has to do with making load height. Seems like the automotive engineers in charge of vehicle design don't stop and consider the effect of their decisions on roof-height. This, more than anything has led a lot of drivers to use their chain ratchet systems do double duty as an auto tie-down tool AND a load-height adjustment device. The strap trucks take away that ability. In a perfect world, vehicle manufacturers wouldn't keep adding inches to their vehicles and expect lower delivery costs. Overpass heights would actually BE what the sign said. Until that day comes, we strongly urge the use of a height stick, lest that Sierra on your head rack turn into a convertible.

Blue Thunder Auto Tranport Equipment Auction Results

Model # of Units Price
2000 Sterling Boydstun 9178 2 $46,000
2000 Sterling Boydstun 9178 1 $56,000
2002 Sterling Boydstun 9178 8 $96,000
2000 Sterling Boydstun 9178 1 $54,000 $54,000
2001 FTL Boydstun 9101 5 $63,000 $315,000
2002 Sterling Boydstun 9178 3 $60,000 $180,000
2002 Sterling Boydstun 9178 4 $62,500 $250,000
2002 Sterling Boydstun 9178 9 $66,000 $594,000
2002 Sterling Boydstun 9178 11 $69,000 $759,000
2002 Sterling Boydstun 9178 12 $70,000 $840,000
2002 Sterling Boydstun 9178 12 $72,000 $864,000
2002 Sterling Boydstun 9178 3 $73,000 $219,000
2002 Sterling Boydstun 9178 4 $86,000 $344,000
2002 Sterling Boydstun 9178 10 $89,000 $890,000
2003 Sterling Boydstun 9178 4 $89,000 $356,000
2003 Sterling Boydstun 9178 9 $90,000 $810,000
2004 Sterling Boydstun 9178 1 $81,000 $81,000
2004 Sterling Boydstun 9178 9 $82,000 $738,000
2004 Sterling Boydstun 9178 3 $82,500 $247,500
2004 Sterling Boydstun 9178 8 $89,000 $712,000
2001 FTL 2004 Boydstun 9178 1 $44,000
2000 Sterling Boydstun 9178 4 $54,000
2004 Boydstun Enclosed 2 $52,000
2001 FTL Boydstun 9101 2 $44,000

What's going on with loads at UShip?

Can this be right? Over 49,000 Service Providers and 5,645 Active Listings?
That's a lot of guys with trucks chasing a much smaller amount of loads. I suppose the "New Bids" and "New Listings" stats are more indicative of who is doing what, and with whom.

Today's Marketplace Stats [from Uship website]

* Today's New Listings:351
* Today's New Bids:637
* Total Active Listings:5,645
* Total Service Providers:49,253
* Current Users Online:1,442

I think it would be interesting to quantify load price by mile and compare it with other dispatch boards. Could give consumers and providers an index to how efficiently priced their quotes are relative to the general market.

Chain prices going UP.

Just a word to the wise: if you anticipate buying auto tie-down chains in the next six months, better buy it before April.

Canadian auto transport company endorses Boydstun screw technology

This is an excerpt of a press-release I got from Boydstun today:


“Our record using the screw actuator/soft-tie strap system has been tremendous,” said Jeff Odway, National Fleet Manager for L. Hansen’s Forwarding Ltd. “We were fortunate in reducing damages significantly in the first year of a new contract. Damage reductions were attributed to the screw system running 99.77% damage free while moving approximately 22,000 vehicles in the first year.”

I actually talked to this gentleman a month or so ago, and he said that the strap trucks are actually extending the careers of some car haulers by five years or more. He said that there have been guys actually coming out of retirement to run these trucks.

He really put it in perspective, explaining that the physical demands of loading and unloading cars on a chain truck are pretty significant. You've got the weight of the chain itself, the force that it takes to crank the ratchets, plus the fact of having to climb up on the top deck to hook and unhook vehicles. It beats up on your body!

I wonder how long it's going to take the worker's comp insurance actuaries to figure out that this new technology decreases risk? Seems like decreased insurance expense would be an added benefit of going with the new technology.

Walter Frobos, who runs the shop for Southeast Auto Transport, has had similar luck hauling Toyotas with the new Boydstun screw trailers. Southeast Auto Transport is a division of JM Family Enterprises, 16th biggest privately held firm in the US. Last time I talked with him he was buying a bunch of the new trucks!

How strong are your ratchet wheel straps, really?

The AA Extra Long

The other night a fellow who was comparison shopping called me up to ask about ratchet wheel straps. He said that the other ones he was thinking about buying were made out of 12,000 strap material.

"Ask the salesman if they come with tags showing a 4000 LB working load limit," I said.

The industry standard is for these auto tie-down straps to be tagged with the safe working load limit, calculated at a ration of 1:3 of ultimate (breaking strength) of the assembly.

Most of the straps I see on the market are built with a 5000 breaking strength hook, but few of the vendors will point that out to car haulers; they just talk about their 12,000 lb straps.

I've seen a major truck sales company selling basket tie-downs that had absolutely no working load limit tags at all. NADA!

I've seen other companies with phony working load limit tags. (Don't worry, we're putting some of those through a destructive pull-test and will publish the results.)

I've seen other companies selling ratchet straps with huge ratchets-- the kind better suited for tying down loads on a flatbed trailer, where clearance is never an issue.

When you do something day in and day out, you learn all the "tricks of the trades" and you also see people using lame sales tricks like talking about their "12,000" straps, and not mentioning the working load limit of the assembly. This industry needs to start putting safety ahead of profits and explaining to buyers EXACTLY what they're getting, and how long the warranty is on the product. (Not to mention, how long the strap is!)