By Adam Putzer, National Sales Director for CPC Logistics
To give themselves a competitive advantage, more companies—both large and small—are choosing to operate their own private fleets instead of outsourcing their transportation and logistics to third-party carriers.
A private fleet is an in-house team of trucks, trailers and transportation staff that companies use to move their goods and products to market. They provide many benefits to organizations whose primary business may be manufacturing or retail sales but is not transportation, logistics or trucking.
Control
It is often said that operating a private fleet gives companies more control, but what does that really mean? Control can be defined a few different ways, including:
- Control (and guarantee) over driver and equipment capacity for all your shipments.
- The ability to redeploy your fleet when needed for a special project or to solve a pressing issue.
- Control over who is representing your company. With a private fleet, you do not have to rely on an unknown driver from a third-party carrier to represent your carefully crafted brand at delivery and pickup.
- Control of your equipment. Maintaining it helps prevent delays and service failures due to breakdowns and mechanical issues. You also can decide how your equipment reflects your brand. Don’t miss the opportunity to outfit your trucks with free advertisements for people to see on the road.
Cost Stability
Today’s freight market is a pendulum that swings back and forth, favoring the shipper at one moment and the carrier the next. The pendulum is swinging faster than ever and creating a volatile freight market. A private fleet can help insulate you from this variability. Your fleet costs are locked in, so all you need to focus on is maximizing its utilization. Plus, more truck drivers want to work for private fleets, which makes recruiting easier and more cost-effective.
Increased Sales
The ways a well-executed private fleet can increase sales for companies are not talked about nearly enough. Our largest customers will tell you that their private fleets are boosting their sales. This happens because they have control over their transportation, which helps get their products on shelves when they need to be there. You cannot sell a product that is still in transit.
Think about the true cost of a dropped load by a third-party carrier. First there is the cost of finding a new carrier at the last minute at a premium spot market rate. That’s bad enough. But then you must deal with the delay in getting your products on shelves. What is the true cost of that missed sale? It’s hard to quantify. If the product isn’t there, there is no way to know how many missed sales occurred before being restocked.
Satisfaction
Whether you are using it to ship to a customer or to an internal stakeholder, a private fleet improves the satisfaction of end users. They are pleased because the service is much more reliable than what third-party carriers provide. When a product gets where it needs to be on time, end users are happy. Additionally, private fleets open the door for drivers and end users to build a relationship over time, increasing trust in the service and product.
Safety
Private fleets are the safest fleets on the road. Companies with private fleets can instill a culture of safety, making it a priority for all their drivers. They set stringent hiring standards, which require the experience and track record necessary for doing jobs safely. Safety is connected to every advantage private fleets offer. Without a focus on safety, all those benefits disappear.
Many companies with private fleets don’t specialize in transportation and logistics. That is why industry-leading companies in multiple categories have relied on CPC Logistics for assistance with the operational oversight and function of their fleets—especially the employment and sourcing of high-quality drivers—for 50 years.
If you’re interested in learning more about the value of private fleet operations or how CPC can help you create, transition, expand or manage your private fleet, please send me an email at a.putzer@cpclogistics.com or call me directly at 262-389-7971.