Three solutions a dedicated fleet offers | J.B. Hunt
With the economy in recession, your company needs you to make the tough calls now more than ever. As a business leader, you have dozens of decisions to make in a day. What about taking transportation and logistics off your list? As a dedicated provider, we’ve been able to help our customers stay on track in the midst of the global pandemic by making sure they don’t have to think twice about transportation and logistics.
Here’s a look at what the right dedicated provider can take off your list:
1. Managing a business function outside your core competency
There’s a lot that goes into running a private fleet. It’s a significant investment in terms of capital, human resources, management, training, and staying logistically efficient. In fact, sometimes it can feel like you’re actually running a transportation company “on the side” of your core business. But why spend so much time and resources on a business function outside your core competency when someone else could handle it for you?
A dedicated fleet provider frees you and your resources to dig deeper into your core competency and focus on preparing your company for the future. For instance, one of our large grocery retailers began experiencing surges as a result of COVID-19 and needed an additional 50+ drivers per day to meet their demand. By re-assigning other company-managed drivers, we were able to maintain the level of service this grocery retailer required, while helping ensure their receiving associates could adhere to social distancing guidelines and other changing company policies. At a business critical time, this business was able to focus on their core competency and trust that J.B. Hunt could handle their rapidly evolving transport and logistics needs.
2. Capacity issues in a fluctuating market
While some companies have experienced consistent surges in the midst of the pandemic, others have had lower than usual volume. For instance, as COVID-19 gained ground and demand for nonessential items dropped, the load volume of one of our large furniture customers began to drop as well. Within the first two weeks of the pandemic, we redeployed their entire dedicated fleet to nearby customers who were experiencing surges. In a time when most nonessential businesses were striving to control costs, we were able to offer this furniture customer significant weekly cost savings in those first eight weeks of the pandemic.
A dedicated fleet can help you adjust to a fluctuating market by offering flexible capacity. You don’t have to worry as much about empty trucks and extra drivers when volume is low, or scramble to find extra drivers and capacity when your company experiences a demand surge. J.B. Hunt Dedicated works to leverage its size and customer volume to help our customers have access to the trucks and drivers they need when demand isn’t what they expected.
3. Risk management
Part of business is taking measured, calculated risk to grow your company, while avoiding unnecessary risk at the same time. When it comes to transportation, managing a private fleet involves significant risk outside your core business. You are responsible for securing your own truck insurance, which is becoming increasingly expensive and difficult. Private fleets are also responsible for sufficiently training their drivers and working to ensure that safety protocols are consistently followed.
But taking on so much risk yourself is unnecessary when a dedicated provider like J.B. Hunt can help you manage that risk. We maintain an excellent safety record, while handling insurance, driver training, and safety inspections. This means less work for you and less risk for you to manage. With markets fluctuating and our economy entering a recession, don’t take on more risk than you need to.
Making the call to go with a dedicated transportation provider can be tough. But in the current climate, with all the challenges and uncertainty ahead, many business leaders are finding that it’s the right call for their company. Our dedicated fleet allows you to zero in on the health and core competency of your business, without worrying about capacity issues or unnecessary risk. Contact us to find out how we can put our dedicated fleet model to work for you.