Erban Report - Erb Transport

Christmas in July?
Since July, I’ve seen no twinkling lights, no
Christmas trees, no gift wrapped presents, and
certainly no mistletoe! Then “why are we seeing
Christmas shipping volumes since July?” is the
question everyone seems to be asking. There’s no
doubt our volumes have been unusually high for
the last few months and have not let up one bit.
One would think this is a good thing, and growth
is good from a business perspective. The big
question, is this type of volume good for our
employees and regular customer base? The answer
lies in how we respond to the increased business
we’ve been experiencing. I know many people are
concerned that there has been no let up and we
have been constantly behind in all areas. Most
employees are aware we have implemented several
rentals just to keep up in both Erb Ltd and Erb
International.
Why have we taken on so much business? The
answer is, we really haven’t. Much of the high
tonnage we’ve been seeing is actually coming
from our existing customer base, and much of that
is freight we have not solicited through our sales
team. To put this in perspective, it is similar to
having a current customer base of 500 and they all
ship an extra 2 pallets each day over and above
their normal levels - suddenly we have 1000 extra
pallets in our system. Most years we see spikes in
our volume followed by a brief downturn where
we can all catch our breath until the next holiday
week. This year it’s been consistent with no let up.
It has been a huge strain on both our employees
and customers as we struggle to get our loads out
on time, to meet shorter receiving hours at the
customer along with delays in LTL shipments with
issues such as scanning of product which seems to
do nothing for us but hold up our drivers. The
freight we pickup seems to be getting to us later in
the evening rather than earlier and we have had to
take some measures with our customers such as
implementing cutoff times etc. Everyone in the
food industry seems to be having huge increases
in volumes and sales this year which signals a
strong economy which is a good thing, right?
PAGE 6
Well, not always. Sometimes it feels like we’re on a
runaway train that is about to derail, and that is
not good either. I can tell you that operationally
we are working with our sales team to be sure
we’re managing the freight properly along with
the customer's input. Some freight is simply not a
good fit for us and we need to be sure we have a
handle on which freight we can manage. We are
working to determine where the excessive volume
is coming from and whether it is working for both
Erb and the customer.
I continue to be impressed by the efforts
everyone has put forth in getting the job done to
the best of their ability. In the coming weeks, we
will be looking at ways to better manage our
freight through our dispatch so they have better
tools to manage increased volumes. None of this
is easy, but since we have the best people in the
business, in all aspects of our company, I’m sure
we’ll get through this and be better for it.
On another note, I want to say I enjoyed the
great success of the traveling road show this
summer for our employee appreciation days. Each
terminal had a great response from our employees
and families who came out to take part. Many
thanks to the organizers and customers who
contributed to make these days so special. I want
to say I posted a time of 21 seconds in the pit
stop challenge here at Baden which involved
changing a tire on the racecar. After completion I
was told I could have had a partner, like
everyone else!
Despite all the challenges we face, I see
nothing but good things in the future for us, as
we prepare to close our last quarter of the year on
a high note.
Thanks again everyone.
Tim Zehr
V.P. Operations
Erb Transport Ltd.