/ By zipxpress / Custom Carrier Solutions/ 0 Comments

Capital Equipment Shipping Strategy

As business owners consider their financial strategy for the year, one of the crucial areas for consideration is investment in capital equipment. Whether you’re looking into upgrading machinery or expanding your operations, investing in equipment can provide a multitude of benefits for your business. These benefits include: increasing productivity and improving employee morale. Let’s examine just how these benefits can impact your business.

The first benefit of investing in new equipment is increased productivity. New machines are far more efficient, which allows you to produce more parts at a faster rate. New machines may also allow you to provide additional services to customers, giving you a chance for additional offerings that they would welcome. These benefits in tandem will inevitably help your business keep growing.

The second benefit when investing in new equipment is an increase in employee morale. Seeing a machine that keeps breaking down can have a demoralizing effect on your business, especially for your associates. Add to this the loss in productivity with the machine being down, along with the resources allocated to continuously fixing the machine. Finally, there may be safety issues with older machines, which can leave associates with a feeling that their safety doesn’t matter. When they see that you’re investing in your business, it shows that you’re investing in them, which can have a profound effect on morale. Now that we understand the benefits of investing in capital equipment, the question becomes: how do we get it to your shop? 

There are a few ways to get capital equipment to your shop (or your customers). Whichever option you choose, be sure to work with a dependable carrier that specializes in moving unique freight. This is not an area where you should seek cut-rate service, especially if you’re concerned about damaging your new equipment. It takes expertise to move such valuable freight and you’ve no doubt spent time determining the right machine for your shop, why put it at risk with an untested carrier?

Here at Zip Xpress, we understand the importance of getting your new equipment to its destination on time and undamaged. We’re one of the most reliable carriers when it comes to helping businesses get their equipment delivered to the shop floor on time and undamaged. There is nothing worse than seeing a new piece of equipment that you have invested a lot of resources into arrive damaged before its even been turned on. Our freight handlers are specialized in handling unique freight, incorporating bars, straps, blankets and any other tools/methods necessary in protecting your shipment. We’ll also work with you in scheduling pickup or delivery, in the timeframe that suits your business. To see for yourself, start today with Zip Xpress!

/ By zipxpress / Miscellaneous/ 0 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving from Zip Xpress!

This year has been a year filled with blessings all made possible by all of the people connected with Zip Xpress. It is the people involved with this company – from our associates to our customers who have helped us become a premier provider of custom carrier solutions. We are so grateful to all of you and look forward to continue serving you for many years to come. Happy Thanksgiving from Zip Xpress!

/ By zipxpress / Custom Carrier Solutions/ 0 Comments

Trailer Maintenance and the Benefits to Your Supply Chain

While not covered in a lot of media, there is a drastic shortage at the moment for trailers in the logistics sector. There are a multitude of reasons for this shortage, some of which include:

  • Trailers being used as temporary warehousing
  • The cost of materials and 
  • Lack of production

As a result of these factors prices have skyrocketed for both new and used trailers. To combat the rising prices, many carriers will need to use what they have which will require many shippers to perform additional due diligence when it comes to selecting a carrier to handle their shipments.

What sort of due diligence? A shipper needs to be confident that carriers are investing in their equipment, especially their trailers right now. With trailers being sold at a premium, many carriers may be simply running these trailers longer than they should in the hopes of getting extra mileage. This could result in an increase in breakdowns when getting your shipments to the customer. Carriers that utilize proper maintenance schedules can extend the lifespan of a trailer by a significant amount. As long as these trailers are being properly inspected, maintained and repaired, there is less likelihood of preventable breakdowns from occurring.

How is a shipper to know if a carrier is performing routine maintenance of their trailers? Well the first step is to ask if they have a maintenance policy on their equipment and what that entails. If they mention their trailers, ensure they’re performing repairs of tires, airlines and brakes which all go a long way in preventing a trailer from falling into disrepair. Additional maintenance of trailers is absolutely crucial at a time such as this, especially for many carriers because the cost of these trailers is prohibitive. Performing your due diligence to ensure your carrier’s trailers are maintained will also ensure that your shipments will receive the care they deserve. After all, if a carrier isn’t paying attention to their trailers, how will you know if they’re paying attention to your shipments?

Here at Zip Xpress, we understand the importance of proper trailer maintenance. Our drivers notify our office about any concerns they may have with their truck or trailer. We also have dedicated maintenance schedules for our entire fleet where we inspect the machines and schedule for repairs with a dedication maintenance professional. We care deeply about the state of our equipment and believe that proper maintenance allows more satisfaction from our drivers who in turn are happier in getting shipments to their destination on time and undamaged. Plus our dedication to our equipment shows the level of service you can expect for your shipment while it’s in our care. To see for yourself, start today with Zip Xpress!

/ By zipxpress / Trucker Homage/ 0 Comments

The Perception of The American Trucker is Changing

Last Thursday, the group Trucking Moves America Forward (TMAF) released the results of a poll they conducted on how Americans perceive truck drivers. The reason for the poll was to measure the impact of awareness as well as education campaigns targeted at American motorists. The national poll which was conducted Sept. 7-14 by Public Opinion Strategies on behalf of TMAF, surveyed 1,000 registered voters.

The results of this poll? According to the TMAF’s co-chairman Kevin Burch: “The image of the trucking industry is stronger than ever!” Some of the key findings included:

  • 87% of voters have a favorable impression of the trucking industry.
  • 97% of Americans believe the trucking industry plays a “very important” role in the country’s economy.
  • Three-quarters of Americans rate the industry’s safety record as “excellent” or “good.”
  • 96% of Americans stated that truck drivers are essential to keeping the country’s economy moving.
  • 85% consider truck drivers to be professionals.
  • 78% believe that truck drivers have higher standards for safety than other drivers.
  • When voters were asked which group of workers should be considered “essential or critical” to the country in times of crisis, trucking ranked top three along with grocery store workers and healthcare workers.
  • More than 40% of Americans say they know someone who works in the trucking industry, and their impression is more favorable of the industry at 87%.

We’re deeply proud to see such results when it comes to the perceptions of truckers in the industry. It’s clear that the past few years have highlighted the importance of drivers to our nation’s economy and made it apparent just how important they are to the American supply chain. One of our goals has always been to show just how much we as a country need our drivers and give them the respect they deserve. It is our hope that Americans will continue to view drivers with respect and realize just how important it is to keep goods getting to the customer.

Here at Zip Xpress, we understand the importance of showing how much drivers matter to the supply chain. Drivers are the face of a logistics provider and can make or break an experience. We’re proud to say that all of our drivers are friendly and will do whatever it takes to help you with your shipment – both with pickup and delivery. Many other businesses that have had the pleasure of working with our drivers claim that they’re some of the friendliest in the business and always appreciate working with them. It’s one of the many reasons we’re able to maintain a 99% satisfaction rating with all of our customers. To see for yourself, start today with Zip Xpress!

/ By zipxpress / Custom Carrier Solutions/ 0 Comments

Leading the Way in Specialized Freight

There are times when a company realizes that a section of the market is drastically underserved. One of the areas that we here at Zip noticed was that unique freight, that is, freight which wasn’t ‘neatly’ shaped or freight that needed to be handled with care was being drastically underserved in the marketplace. Many carriers were unwilling or unable to provide adequate service for these shippers, however we knew that there had to be a better way of getting these shipments to their destination not only on time, but undamaged as well. Thus we set out to create a new standard of carriers providing great service to their customers and make logistics a better experience for all shippers.

Another way we wanted to help these shippers was by expanding their options when it came to selecting the right shipping solution. Out of all of the shipping options for shippers with unique freight, less than truckload (LTL) can be prohibitively expensive. More often than not it is more affordable to pay for an entire trailer truckload of space than it is to secure a section of the trailer. Plus the risks from increased handling made LTL less than desirable for many of these companies that manufacture unique freight. However, not all of these shipments require a full truckload and it’s a far less than sustainable option for these shippers. We knew that there had to be better solutions available and the service provided by other carriers simply wasn’t cutting it.

Some of the solutions we created for shippers with unique freight include the headload optimization solution which allowed shippers to only pay for the space they were using inside the trailer. This ensured a more sustainable shipment because the shipper wasn’t ‘paying for air’ and allowed us to optimize more shipments in the process. We also created our blanket wrap solution, which helped protect a lot of our customer’s shipments while also being re-usable, again reducing the amount of waste from cardboard. These combined have helped ensure that our customer’s shipments will arrive undamaged, but we’re also able to ensure that every shipment in our care will arrive on time every time. We have many more solutions available, but we strive to provide the best service to all of our customers and continue leading the way with specialized freight.

Here at Zip Xpress, we understand the importance of caring for unique freight. Our focus has always been on providing exceptional service to our customers by providing solutions that work for their business and protect every shipment while it’s in our care. We work with every customer in solving their shipping problems, no matter what they are and we guarantee we’ll find a custom carrier solution that will help with your next shipment. We strive to get every shipment to its destination undamaged and on time, no matter what. It’s because of these reasons that we’ve been able to maintain a 99% satisfaction rate with our customers for over 20 years and counting. To see for yourself, start today with Zip Xpress!