While providing reliable freight transportation services has always been the focus of the SAV Transportation Group, maintaining a high level of service quality means constant re-adaptation. Perhaps nowhere in a diversified company is this more evident than in the asset-based SAV Express operation.
“We are currently adjusting our fleet based on the current market and economic issues impacting the operation of Class 8 trucking equipment,” says Terry Maynard, vice president of SAV. “What we are doing is creating a dedicated regional fleet that will ultimately serve shippers in eight states. This focus gives us opportunities that will allow us to keep trucks on the road longer under the new hours of service regulations.
“Under this new scenario, our average mileage will drop from more than 900 miles to less than 750 miles, but we’re actually running more miles than we were when we were purely long-distance,” Maynard explains. “About 70% of our business is by road, but we aim for a 50/50 split between long-haul service in 48 states and regional operations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, North and South Dakota, Nebraska and Missouri.”
Originally founded in 1987, SAV Transportation Group, a freight brokerage company founded in 1987, now consists of SAV Enterprises, a truckload brokerage company offering dry van, refrigerated, flatbed, and ocean/rail docking services; SAV Logistics, which provides LTL services in the United States and Canada; And the SAV Express mentioned above. In general, the company provides transportation services to companies in a wide range of industries.
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Maintaining quality of service
“As our brokerage operations grew, we decided to purchase trailers and use owner-operator services to meet some of that demand,” Maynard says. “However, we quickly realized that we could not maintain the quality of service we wanted to provide. So, about two and a half years ago, we converted our entire fleet to company-owned tractors. It took 10 months to have our initial fleet of tractors, but that was “It is the right choice to make.”
Today, SAV Express produces 125 tractors. All Freightliner Cascadias power units are from 2014 through 2016 models. Growth in freight volume and a move toward regional operations has helped expand the trailer fleet to 250 units, including new Hyundai dry vans.
“We recently began converting our trailer fleet to Hyundai HY-Cube trailers,” explains Barry Amatuzio, the company’s maintenance manager. “Hyundai came to us with a proposal for the same type of trailer we were running, but not only is it less expensive, we think it’s more durable, and weighs 500 to 700 pounds lighter.
“Reducing empty trailer weight not only helps enhance carrying capacity, but also provides improved fuel economy,” Amatuzio continues. “Fuel costs are a major concern for us, even when they are at historically low levels, and a major factor in our transportation decisions.” With specifications.
Specification considerations
Maynard adds that safety and driver comfort are equally important to SAV Express. “When we started buying tractors, fuel prices were high, so that became our main focus,” he says. “Today, fuel costs and driver comfort and safety are equally important considerations.
“We place particular emphasis on driver comfort because it directly correlates to retention,” Maynard continues. “It costs money to retain drivers, and finding new drivers costs even more money. Our turnover rate, which is about 90% annually, is actually very good compared to the industry. We believe that setting driver comfort standards and treating them as employees is no different than anyone’s Another at SAV – they just have a different job description – is what keeps the drivers here. In fact, of the 10 drivers who left in the last six months, seven of them returned.