Scott Logistics: Nationwide freight traffic controllers
The Rome firm brokers freight movement through 15,000 carriers.
The Rome firm with nine branch locations brokers freight movement through 15,000 carriers.
True to the mission that was laid out when the company was founded over two decades ago, Rome-based Scott Logistics is still all about offering the top transportation solutions in a way that is the most cost effective possible. But oh, how the freight management industry has changed over the course of the last 23 years.
Scott General Manager Roger Manis, husband of CEO Diane Manis, said the company is seeing a lot of changes in the freight shipping industry, much being the result of what is happening in the world of ecommerce.
When Scott Logistics was created on Sept. 15, 1994, the company operated with just two computers and two phone lines. Today the company operates out of the largest central corporate facility off Technology Parkway in West Rome. Scott employs more than 160 people with nine branch location.
The next year, 1995, Jeff Bezos launched what became Amazon and the retail world hasn’t been the same since.
Scott President Jay Matthews said the company is not only adapting to the changing markets, but is making changes very successfully. The company was just named Wal-Mart’s Diversity Carrier of the Year — diversity because the company is owned by a woman.
It has also been ranked as the No. 44 freight brokerage firm in the nation by Transportation Topics, an industry publication.
Owner Diane Manis attributes a lot of success to her staff and loyalty
from both customers and carriers alike. The company is frequently updating its database of carriers and adding services including LTL (Less Than Truckload), intermodal transportation and warehousing capabilities.
In recent years, to keep up with changing supply and demand issues, Scott has worked hard to make sure its customers are able to get “Just in Time” and last-minute freight services.
The exponential growth of e-commerce has resulted in a lot of new opportunities for Scott. Freight brokerage is a little unique from the standpoint that to use a broker, a company does not have to rely on its own assets.
“You’ve got a lot of last-minute loads. You’ve got a lot of change in your loads and diversification in your loads,” said Chad Green, national director of branch operations for Scott. “When you
have new vendors or new suppliers and they’re shipping stuff from here to Chicago and Chicago to someplace else because of what’s selling, where, we do a lot of work for major warehousers, and that’s where we’re seeing opportunity. This product’s hot and we’re shipping it across country and it’s going warehouse to warehouse and 90 percent of it is selling e-commerce.” A lot of that product then runs via Fed Ex or UPS to the end user.
Green said Scott tries to use continuous moves. “The more continuous moves we have (gives us) that truck in hand to put them on the next load and keep them moving,” Green said.
Each of Scott’s customers is assigned a designated account manager and support personnel to manage the transportation needs of those customers from shipping to accounting.
Scott coordinates shipments with more than 15,000 freight carriers all over the country. Matthews said the company just hired an employee to work out of its Jacksonville, Florida, office to focus
on continuous movement. “We’re calling carriers, trying to hook up all these lanes we have posted on our system to commit carriers to provide service at a lower cost,” Matthews said.
Matthews said each of the nine offices has its own customer base. Oddly enough the Wal-Mart account is handled out of the Jacksonville office as opposed to the Lowell, Arkansas, office. “Geography doesn’t mean anything,” Matthews said.
Green said so much of the movement of freight is being handled by smaller national or regional trucking companies. “Take fidget spinners as an example, they’re the hot thing. We’re shipping truckloads of that for some warehouses that might be shipping two loads so they’re not set up to do that with J.B. Hunt or Werner to move it cross-country, they’re going to move it with a broker,” Green said.
“A lot of these warehousers don’t want to deal with one- or twotruck-load shipments, but we do,” Manis said. “Most of the truck lines that haul for us are small guys with 10 trucks or less.”
Manis, Matthews and Green all see tremendous opportunities for growth in the future, however that does not necessarily translate into major growth in the workforce.
“We’re hoping we’ll grow with it and increase our staff because we’re always looking for opportunities,” Matthews said. Revenue for Scott is expected to eclipse the $150 million mark which Manis said could be as much as a 20-percent increase.
Much of the employment growth has occurred over the past two decades as the company has grown. Much of the work is done over the internet. “With technology we’re able to do more with less,” Green said. Manis said the company has invested a lot of money in software to make it easier to take the same amount of people to move more freight.
The day of empty trucks running up and down the interstate highways are virtually gone. Green said if a truck is down in Miami and it’s out of produce season, that trucker may have to run empty for a couple of hundred miles to get its next load. “Extreme areas, southern Texas when produce season goes dead, they’ll come all the way back to Dallas to pick up freight,” Green said. Manis said many of the truck lines try to keep their empty loads to 8 to 10 percent of their loads.
One of the factors related to Just in Time deliveries is the growth in the warehousing industry. Just this past week, the German grocer Lidl revealed plans to build a massive warehouse and distribution center in Bartow County. Manis said the Lowe’s regional distribution Center in Shannon was also a prime example of companies seeking to get closer to their customers
“Everything is instant and you also have the people not wanting to put any money in inventory,” Green said. “Why have my money tied in inventory when I can get it in two days or one day.”
Green also said Scott works with a major sport shirt maker who wants next-day deliveries. “We run to three different major markets for them; we run a trailer every night,” Green said.
Green said he anticipates the length of most hauls will drop significantly in the future. “It used to be an average of about 750 miles. I think it’s going to drop down over the next 10 years to probably 450 miles,” Green said.
Whether it’s long haul or short haul, Scott Logistics is positioned well to continue its role as a major player in getting merchandise to the right markets at the right time.