“THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS THAT WE’D HAVE A BETTER RUN INDUSTRY. WE’D BE MORE COMPETITIVE. I
THINK WHEN YOU KNOW REAL NUMBERS, YOU MAKE BETTER BUSINESS DECISIONS.”
—DEBBIE SPARKS, VP OF THE TRUCKLOAD CARRIERS ASSOCIATION
What we’ve discovered is that there is a wide variance amongst large carriers as well as small carriers. For instance, the company in our population set that has the best net income or best operating ratio is less than 50 trucks. A lot of people, with good reason,
feel that the bigger you are, the more tools you have access to, better buying power, those kinds of things, but some
Available! Now
of the smaller carriers can be more nimble, so they can take advantage of opportunities in a quicker fashion than some of the larger companies.” The inGauge platform allows a
company to set internal goals after monitoring the numbers for a particu- lar metric. The tool lets a user create action items for each metric, and those action items can be extremely specific or custom to a particular business. Then a scorecard can be distributed to team members to get them involved with the internal benchmarking as well. Getting more employees involved
and invested in benchmarking is what it’s all about.
LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER Sparks has found that the conversa-
tion between companies after they have shared their data in the best practice groups are some of the most insightful. We all have far more to learn from each other than we might realize. “You think about some of these
Contact Cara Speegle at 501-372-3462
for ordering information. 38
large company execs in the room with the guys from the smaller companies. It’s really kind of interesting to watch the discourse. When you are talking to the big guys, they don’t have their hand on the day-to-day operations like recruiting and retention and the driv- ers’ needs like the small guys do. There are some true benefits when you are still a small company. You know the everyday operations of all your depart- ments. For the large guys, it’s more of a number. It’s a really neat collaborative
relationship. It can help set the course
for a larger company to make sure that they’re not losing sight of the human side of the business. I think a lot of people always
assume it’s the little guy that’s learning from the big.” This type of knowledge sharing is
happening in segmented groups, Henry says, but compared to other industries, there hasn’t been a large data source shining light on regional or different subtypes of issues in trucking without sophisticated benchmarking tools.
LONG-TERM GOALS So what’s the goal of having your
company’s data and comparing it to others in the industry? The goal is ease, efficiency, profitability, increased com- petition. It’s the all the things a success- ful company strives toward. Sparks says, “The ultimate goal is
that we’d have a better run industry. We’d be more competitive. I think when you know real numbers, you make bet- ter business decisions. A lot of times we think we are spending a lot of money in one area, but when you really see the numbers, sometimes we are surprised that we are not spending what we thought we were. We are going to be a better run
industry, which means we are going to have greater opportunity.” “A strong association is built with
strong members,” stated Shannon Newton, President of ATA. “We are pleased to support this initiative that seeks to enhance the performance of our members. Evaluating against past performance is important, but being able to compare results to other well- managed motor carriers will help to eliminate status quo in a company, as well as validate macro trends that other companies have experienced.” Regular online webinars will be
conducted for ATA members, as well as personal online demonstrations as requested. For those interested in a per- sonal online demonstration, please go to
www.tcaingauge.com/bookdemo and register. ATA will host the first webinar for members November 18. ATR
ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT | Issue 5 2015
The Official Membership Directory and Buyers' Guide of the Arkansas Trucking Association
$35
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