BMT_06-16_OnlinEdition

JUNE/JULY 2016
Features
22
12
28
34
FEATURE STORY:
Daniel Snow family of
Harrison, Arkansas, gives
out Bibles, food, cash and a
kind word to those in need.
On Trucking
Money Matters:
Factoring
Puzzle
staff
General Manager: Megan Hicks
Sales Manager: Jerry Critser
Editor-in-Chief: Lyndon Finney
Staff Writers: Dorothy Cox,
Cliff Abbott, Aprille Hanson,
Derek Hinton
Art Director: Chad Singleton
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3

Lyndon Finney, Editor
STEVE RUSSELL PASSIONATE ABOUT TIME, MADE MOST OF IT IN HIS 76 YEARS ON EARTH
Sad news came the other day — April 15 to be
exact.
Celadon founder Steve Russell had passed
away at age 76.
Russell had befriended us back in 2006 when we,
along with now publisher Micah Jackson, visited
Celadon headquarters in Indianapolis to interview
Russell for a profile article in The Trucker that ran October
1, 2006.
He greeted us wearing a tie, but that soon came off,
emblematic of the causal, relaxed culture he’d created
there.
He sat in an easy chair as he talked in that gruff voice
that was a Steve Russell trademark.
His voice wasn’t gruff because he was upset, angry or frustrated.
That was how God created him.
Russell’s mother died when he was only 6 years old, but the
scene as they were putting her in an ambulance to take her to
the hospital where she passed away left an indelible impression
on him and created a core value in his life that years later
would become the catalyst for forming the Celadon Group.
“I learned from that experience that the No. 1 thing God gives
you in life is time,” he told us that day. “Don’t waste it, don’t
abuse it, don’t lose it because it’s the only thing in life you can’t
make more of. I’m passionate about time, passionate.”
Russell made the most of the 76 years God gave him, but had
it not been for the fact he didn’t have 50 cents in his pocket to
pay a toll, Celadon might never have happened.
He was working for Seatrain Gulf Services in New York City and
every day drove from his home in Greenwich, Connecticut.
His daily route took him across the Henry Hudson Bridge, which
required a 50-cent toll.
One day in April 1985, what to Russell was a frustrating mistake
and a violation of his time ethic turned out to be the break of
his life.
“I was getting ready to cross the bridge and I put my hand in
my pocket and didn’t have exact change,” he said during our
interview.
Requiring him to get in line would waste time, he thought to
himself, but he had no choice.
“The change lines were long. So I get in line and I’m the fourth
or fifth car back and I hear a horn blow. I looked over and it was
a guy named Len Bennett. He had previously worked for me at
Seatrain, but I hadn’t seen him in 10 years.
There’s little doubt if Russell would’ve had 50 cents change that
day, the encounter would never have occurred.
Bennett told Russell they needed to talk and so the next morn-
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“I got 100 trailers from Trans America because the guy who
was running Trans America also worked for me at Hertz,” Russell
related.
And he formed Celadon, which today still has a strong presence
in the Mexican market.
Today, Servicios de Transportación Jaguar S.A de C.V. is a Celadon-owned
carrier based in Mexico.
With more than 375 trucks in its fleet and growing, Jaguar
hauls cross-border and domestic Mexican freight. Having a
Mexico-based company means guaranteed capacity and a
one-of-a-kind specialized fleet dedicated to crossing the Mexican
border. They have full custody of the load from start to
finish including the border drayage portion.
ing, the two met for breakfast.
“He was working for Beacon Logistics and had gotten a contract
with Chrysler to run automotive freight from the Midwest
to Mexico through Laredo, Texas.”
At that time freight to Mexico went to the border where it was
transferred to a Mexican trailer.
Bennett’s idea was to let the trailers go across the border.
But Beacon ran a home moving business and didn’t let its trailers
cross the border.
Bennett knew Russell had previously worked for Hertz Trucks,
where he had shifted Hertz into the Class 8 truck business.
“You know trucks,” Russell said Bennett told him. “Could you
set up a company that will do nothing but act as a subcontractor
to Beacon on this contract with Chrysler?”
He leased 50 tractors from Rollins Truck Leasing Corp. because
the guy who ran Collins sales had worked for Russell at Hertz.
Little by little in the years following our visit, Russell turned
over responsibility of running Celadon to others.
Today, Paul Will is its chairman and CEO.
In the years after the interview, Russell always greeted us
warmly in that gruff voice when he saw us at trucking events.
One thing’s for sure.
Steve Russell made the most of the time God gave him.
Well done, Mr. Russell. $$$
“I learned from that experience
that the No. 1 thing God gives
you in life is time. Don’t waste
it, don’t abuse it, don’t lose it
because it’s the only thing in
life you can’t make more of.”
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Daniel Snow family of Harrison,
Arkansas, gives out Bibles, food, cash and a
kind word to those in need
Truckers Daniel and Phyllis Snow and their son Jayme make it
a point to keep their priorities straight.
“We try to incorporate our No. 1 priority” into trucking, said
Jayme Snow. “Our No. 1 priority is serving God.”
When the three are on the road hauling livestock for Snow
Farms Trucking, based in Harrison, Arkansas, (or in Jayme’s case
on a dedicated run for another company), they give out food to
those who are really in need and carry some Bibles with them to
“provide food for the soul. That’s why God put us on the road and
keeps us out here,” said Jayme Snow.
“We took a good-looking cross and put it on our hood as a hood
ornament and use it as our calling card,” explained Daniel Snow,
owner of the family ranching and livestock hauling business. “If
that doesn’t get their attention, nothing’s going to settle.”
They try, he said, to “pay attention to the least of these,” as Jesus
directed. Some people have approached Daniel Snow because of
the cross tattooed on his arm. “If I can help one person today I’ve
done something good for the day,” he said, adding that “It’s not
just about making money.”
Phyllis Snow remembers on a haul in Las Cruces, New Mexico,
that a truck driver saw the cross on the couple’s truck and told
them he just needed someone to talk to. They prayed with the
man and he went on his way with a little more peace and a little
less loneliness in his heart.
A trucker’s focus, said Daniel, can be on rushing around making
money or saying a kind word and showing a smile. It’s when you’re
stressed, yourself, added his wife, that you’re really stretched to
offer a helping hand to someone else.
Daniel raised Jayme and his brother, Eric, by himself, until he
met Phyllis, who had her own children, James, Diane and Tony.
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FEATURE
She was a city girl, born and bred, and Daniel and Jayme may
have had their doubts but they both helped teach her how to drive
a loaded cattle truck.
“When my brother quit there was no hired help. She [Phyllis]
said, ‘I can do that,’” recalled Jayme.
It used to be that the couple and Jayme all ran together but now
Jayme has a dedicated run for another company.
Phyllis said Daniel was the answer to her prayer that God would
send her a man she could go to church with.
They had had a large trucking operation until the economic
downturn and Daniel said that prompted them to re-evaluate their
business and their priorities.
“When we went back to trucking full time we wanted to give
[to people],” Daniel said, so they approached their home town
congregation and their church gave them some Bibles to give out
and “see what happens.”
Then, Daniel said, they were like “the Brady Bunch,” the seventies
TV show that featured a big blended family.
From the second date on, both sets of children were involved.
Jayme Snow even asked Phyllis to “marry us” and all the children
were in the ceremony, which took place on Dec. 22, 1991, because
they wanted to spend Christmas together as a family.
An abusive previous marriage almost kept Phyllis from going out
with Daniel, however.
She worked in a deli that he frequented and “I was tired of men,”
she related.
When he asked her out to dinner she said, “I’m not cooking for
you.” Daniel explained that he had intended to take her to dinner
to which she replied. “I’m not buying you something.”
When he finally got her to understand he was actually going to
buy her dinner she was taken aback, but agreed to go.
She eventually became a trucker, too.
When Eric quit the family business about 10 years ago, Phyllis
told Daniel she wanted to take Eric’s place and help work the 1,000
head of cattle and drive a cattle hauler.
“It’s worked out well,” Daniel Snow said. “We don’t just hand
out Bibles; when people ask for help we give out cash or buy them
a burger if they’re hungry. We feed them and ask them to take
a Bible and at least look through it. We want to make the Bibles
available to them if they make their hearts available.”
And God draws people to them. Sometimes someone in the fuel
aisle will approach them. Other times people will comment on the
couple saying a blessing in a restaurant.
One trucker tried to sell Daniel his coat on a cold winter day. He
struck the couple as sincere so they invited him to eat with them
and bought him a shower ticket as well as the meal and gave him
$40 to tide him over.
The trucker explained he didn’t want anything for free: He had
spent his money on a lumper who stiffed him.
Another time the couple had been waiting to get a load for 24
hours with no luck and ended up giving a woman with car problems
$50 — all the cash they had on them at the time — for car repairs.
Within two hours they had three loads booked.
“You never know what the outcome will be but if you do nothing
you get nothing,” said Jayme. $$$
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FEATURE
FACTORING CAN HELP KEEP THE CASH FLOW GOING BUT
BE CAREFUL WITH TYPE OF AGREEMENT ENTERED
BY CLIFF ABBOTT
The trucking industry is a prime
attractor for entrepreneurs,
mostly due to the ease of
starting up a business. Opening a
McDonald’s franchise, according to
that company’s website, requires
at least a half-million dollars in
available personal resources to
cover the $45,000 franchise fee
and minimum 25 percent down
payment on an existing restaurant.
That kind of cash buys a small
fleet of trucks with operating
money for the first year or more.
Most owners, however, start
their trucking businesses with a
much smaller investment — often
not much more than a down
payment on a used tractor and enough cash on hand for a few
tanks of fuel. That’s a scenario that can work when the tractor
is leased to a carrier that supplies regular settlements and cash
advances for fuel. Owners
who are truly independent,
who build their business by
acquiring and servicing their
own list of customers, won’t
last long without a consistent
cash flow.
Running under their own
FMCSA authority, owners are
responsible for collecting from
their customers, including
invoicing, tracking, and
collecting unpaid funds. When
customers are slow to pay
or don’t pay at all, the bank
account that funds the next tank of fuel or a needed repair can
get dangerously low.
To avoid this scenario, many owners turn to factoring.
Factors handle the billing and collection duties for the
Most owners start their trucking
businesses with a smaller
investment — often not much
more than a down payment on a
used tractor and enough cash on
hand for a few tanks of fuel.
trucking business, allowing the owner to focus on obtaining
new customers and managing the day-to-day tasks of operating
the business. This is accomplished when the factor “buys” the
invoice from the business
owner, paying now for what
the owner would have to wait
for. For their part, the factor
keeps a percentage of the
amount billed. Some factors
pay the owner at least a
percentage of the amount to
be invoiced immediately after
delivery and before a bill is
even sent. This practice can
help keep the cash flowing,
enabling the truck owner to
continue operating, but there
are some things to watch out
for. In some cases, if the customer doesn’t pay within a specified
period of time, the factor can demand repayment from the truck
owner.
The amount paid to the factor depends on a number of items,
including whether the agreement with the trucking business
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FEATURE
is a “recourse” or “non-recourse” agreement. In a “recourse”
agreement, the factor retains the right to demand that the
trucking company pay them back for any invoices they paid
but were unsuccessful in collecting from the customer. “Nonrecourse”
or “modified recourse” agreements generally mean
that if the customer doesn’t pay them, they can’t demand the
trucking company return the money.
Payment methods vary
among factoring businesses,
with most offering direct
deposit of funds and some
offering fuel cards and other
benefits, including fuel
discounts obtained through
the volume of their customers.
Since there is more risk
for the factor in a nonrecourse
deal, the percentage
deducted for the factoring
service is generally higher. Truckers may also find that a factor
is much more selective about which invoices it will pay in a nonrecourse
agreement.
One huge benefit offered by many factors is the ability to check
a customer’s payment record before accepting a load for that
One huge benefit offered by
many factors is the ability to
check a customer’s payment
record before accepting a load
for that customer.
customer. Some report whether they’ve had difficulty collecting
from that customer in the past, even reporting average days
waiting for payment if payment was received at all.
Some factors will run credit checks on potential customers,
including freight brokers. Often, this service is offered online or
via a phone app, providing
instant access to owners
who need information in a
hurry. That’s important when
an offered load needs to be
accepted before someone
else gets it.
Another thing to check
when considering factors is
how paperwork is submitted.
Factoring businesses that
require paperwork to be mailed or send via overnight delivery
service are behind the times. Even faxing is old technology. Most
now accept paperwork that is scanned and e-mailed or sent
through a data sharing service on the Internet. Many will accept
a photo of the document taken with
a smartphone, making the exchange
possible before leaving the delivery
location.
Some factors even offer training for
running a trucking business and other
benefits that are unrelated to collection
of funds.
While some owners of small
carriers prefer to handle all aspects
of the business themselves, many
are comfortable turning billing and
collection duties over to a factor while
benefiting from other services that may
be offered. $$$
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Boyle Transport.................................................23
Central Marketing Transport..........................13
Dot Line..........................................................6, 29
East West Express..................................4-5,26-27
Hirschbach.........................................................36
JK Hackl................................................................9
K&B Transportation....................................16-17
Marten Transport...........................................2,31
Melton Truck Lines...........................................10
Mercer........................................................... 20-21
New Waverly Transportation...........................15
P.I.&I. Motor Express........................................ 11
Prime Inc......................................................... 7,32
R&R Trucking....................................................35
How to play: You must complete the Sudoku puzzle so that
within each and every row, column and region the numbers
one through nine are only written once.
There are 9 rows in a traditional Sudoku puzzle. Every row
must contain the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. There may
not be any duplicate numbers in any row. In other words, there
can not be any rows that are identical
There are 9 columns in a traditional Sudoku puzzle. Like the
Sudoku rule for rows, every column must also contain the
numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. Again, there may not be any
duplicate numbers in any column. Each column will be unique
as a result.
A region is a 3x3 box like the one shown to the left. There are 9
regions in a traditional Sudoku puzzle.
Like the Sudoku requirements for rows and columns, every
region must also contain the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and
9. Duplicate numbers are not permitted in any region. Each
region will differ from the other regions.
Trans AM...........................................................19
Transport Design...........................................8, 25
Tri-National........................................................33
34
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