Brokerage arm adds to Vickers arsenal - Memphis Business Journal:

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is expanding its business to includwebrokerage services. “We really wanted to sprear our wings and expand our footprintt with our current customer saysMac Vickers, Vickers CEO. “q lot of customers only want to use a certain amounyof carriers, and they want to use carriers with a largetr footprint.” Vickers operates 76 trucks and 390 trailers in its Memphis-baserd short-haul trucking business, whicnh serves a 250-mile The company’s arrival into the brokerage businesas marks a rise in a recent trend of asset-based trucking companies dipping into the logisticw side of transportation.
Non-asset based shipping brokeragecompanies — companies that rely solelyh on relationships with carriers — have developecd a reputation for being unreliable in some marketd if a contracted carrier fails to deliver. “Whenj you say brokerage division in the general it has a somewhat negative connotation because theres are somany fly-by-night brokers,” Vickers says. “Beingt able to open a brokerage divisiomn and also having trucks gives you a lot more controp to serviceyour customers.” And as freight volumed continue to decline nationally, having a brokerage service can also be a catalysty for new asset-based business.
Vickersw says his company will first look to broker contracts with carriers and customeras that exist outside ofthe company’sw short-haul niche. Once enough customers are established in a specificx location where Vickers can guarantee deliverin g a load and picking one up on thereturnb trip, the business can then be switched to the company’ s own trucks. “On an asset side, we can only cover a short-haul basis, but now we can go nationwid e with ourlogistics side,” Vickers says. Using a brokeraged division to garner more businessfor asset-based busineszs is becoming more popular, says Leslie logistics division president.
Easley, an asset-based cartage delivert company, opened a brokerage division last year and has foune the market is open to brokerage companies whic h alsooperate asset-based truckiny companies. “Asset-based companies are great because they have the trustr built in withthe company’s name like we have at Jobe says. “But you need a good contacgt base of carriers and you need that transportatiojn and logistics expertise for abrokerage division.” Should Vickers’ new brokerage division spark growth in the addition would add to a banner year in 2008. The companyg added 15 trucks and more than 100 trailerin 2008.
Vickers grew its warehousing space bynearly 20,0000 square feet in 2008 to just under 400,000 square feet total. Vickers says the companyt is in the final stagesd of closing a deal to handle distribution service s that would include managing anadditionapl 75,000 square feet. Although dips in freight volume are putting many trucking companies out of the downturning economy has had a few bright Vickers says the company decided to invest in equipmentt in 2008 because the market is currently floodexwith deals. “Used equipment is dirt cheap right now, he says.
The recession is motivatingb some businesses to outsource shippinbg services as well as causingb many customersto re-evaluate theirr shipping providers. “They are looking for any way to cut costsand I’ve definitely seen an abnormal amount of bids for the firsr of the year,” Vickerz says. “That gives us an opportunitgy to get our foot in some doors wher we can offer a costeffectives price.
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