Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/265903
COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | MARCH 2014 49 T he trucking industry has given many the opportunity to own a business and realize the American dream. However, the barriers to entry are rising, putting the dream in jeopardy for the next generation. While onerous regulations and the high cost of equipment and insurance are blockading entrance through the truckload and less-than-truckload sectors, the point of entry is lower for those that start with Sprinter vans and box trucks moving expedited freight. While watching people network at last month's Sylectus user conference in St. Augustine, Fla., the breeding grounds for today's aspiring fleet owners quickly became evident. In 1995, Stu Sutton entered the trucking industry as an employee of TST Expedited, a 300-truck carrier and logistics provider based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. As vice pres- ident of information technology, Sutton helped create an in- ternal online system that replaced the fax machine to match trucks with available loads, eliminating paper printouts. The online system evolved into a Web-based platform that partner carriers used to update the status of trucks and loads, thereby increasing efficiency across the board. With about 30 car- riers using the system, Sutton and a business partner, Ed de Leon, decided that to grow the network, they had to make it indepen- dent from any one carrier. In 2001, they launched GPSNet, which they later renamed Sylectus. The platform consists of a protected Web-based load board called the Alliance network and a Web-based dispatch and transportation management system. Bolt Express, an expedited carrier based in Toledo, Ohio, was one of the early adopters. Thousands of loads and trucks in the Alliance network are vis- ible to dispatchers in the Sylectus TMS. Through integration with Omnitracs and other fleet tracking systems, the TMS provides seamless visibility to available trucks and dispatched loads. Sylectus has 188 customers using its Web-based TMS and the Alliance network in an integrated manner with a subscription called Virtual Fleet Pro. As of January, the Alliance network had 14,000 trucks in the system and had reached a record 4,500 loads posted daily. Network load volumes are up 45 percent since 2013. The Alliance network's booming growth came at the perfect time for Boiling Springs, S.C.-based Storm Logistics, one of its newest members. In 2005, Pavel Ilin, an immigrant from Kazakh- stan, began his trucking career behind the wheels of a semi. In 2009, he became a contractor for Bolt Express after buying a 2004 Dodge Sprinter with 500,000 miles. Last September, Ilin and his 18-year old son, Paul, co-founded Storm Logistics by obtaining motor carrier and brokerage operat- ing authority. Business was slow before Storm Logistics joined the Alliance network in December. In January, the company quickly grew by adding 20 leased contractors with Sprinters, cargo vans and box trucks. It also added a new employee – Ilin's daughter, Milana Yoriychuk – as dispatch manager. With the Web-based Sylectus system, Yoriychuk works from a home office in Atlanta. Like other software user conferences, Sylectus provides attendees with network- ing – but this kind of networking leads directly to wealth creation by taking advan- tage of a powerful trucking network. MAKING THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS WORK FOR YOUR FLEET BY AARON HUFF technology AARON HUFF is Senior Editor of Commercial Carrier Journal. E-mail ahuff@ccjmagazine.com or call (801) 754-4296. LOW POINT OF ENTRY: Expedited freight has less startup costs and fewer regulations. FRIENDLY RIVALS: Through Sylec- tus, companies have visibility of each other's trucks. NETWORKING PERKS: Having ac- cess to more freight allows customers to grow their businesses. The American dream Sylectus' Alliance network, TMS provide point of entry Attendees network at last month's Sylectus user conference, a breeding ground for today's aspiring fleet owners.