Clutch Performers

Quest for Quality - Truckload

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 8/1/2006

It would be tough to find another transportation sector with as many roadblocks in its path as truckload. Just the driver shortage alone is enough to make you wonder how so many carriers can continue to turn in great performances under so much pressure. Yet readers tell us that there are 26 carriers worthy of Quest for Quality gold in our five truckload categories.

This year readers awarded medals to seven carriers in the Industrial/Heavy-Haul category, including Schneider Specialized Carriers, Tri-State Motor Transit, Melton Truck Lines, Roehl Transport, CRST Malone, Pacer Transport, and Landstar Carrier Group. The top seven in this category all exceeded the 34.09 weighted average. Of note: Schneider Specialized scored a 9.50 in Value, the highest Value score in all of the truckload categories and a jump of nearly two points from the carrier’s 2005 score.

In the Dry Freight category, Crete Carrier Corp. rang up the highest tally (35.26) followed by CFI, Schneider National, Landstar Carrier Group, J.B. Hunt Transport Services, and Heartland Express. While Crete had the second-highest on-time score, readers told us that the carrier is a solid performer across all of the critical attributes.

Not surprisingly, our Expedited category winners all had terrific On-time scores: This top group posted a 12.41 weighted On-time average. Five carriers sped away with honors this year: UPS, FedEx Custom Critical, USF Expedited, Pitt Ohio Express, and Averitt Express. When asked to define the key characteristics of an Expedited carrier star, one reader summed it up this way: “FedEx Custom Critical moved a shipment to Alaska in the middle of winter and delivered on time, with smiles. The truck broke down twice and they got stuck in snow but still managed to pull it off and make the customer happy.”

In the Bulk category, LM readers bestowed honors on five carriers: Miller Transporters, Trimac Transportation, Ruan Transportation, Superior Carriers, and Schneider National Bulk Carriers all made the cut in 2006. It is interesting to note that none of them made last year’s list—a sign of overall improvement in this category’s service levels. Finally, three carriers take home honors in Household Goods & High Value: United Van Lines, Mayflower Transit, and Allied Van Lines all scored well over the 32.56 weighted average.

Truckload
Industrial/Heavy-Haul Carriers (color chart)

	On-time Performance	Value	Information Technology	Customer Service	Equipment & Operations	Weighted Score
Schneider Specialized Carriers	11.28	9.50	3.75	6.50	6.40	37.43
Tri-State Motor Transit	11.49	9.29	3.50	6.07	5.87	36.21
Melton Truck Lines	11.75	8.36	3.33	6.50	6.24	36.18
Roehl Transport	11.54	8.64	3.45	6.50	5.52	35.64
CRST Malone	11.49	8.55	3.43	5.78	5.83	35.07
Pacer Transport	10.63	8.69	3.21	6.24	5.94	34.71
Landstar Carrier Group	11.22	8.38	3.32	5.88	5.53	34.33
AVERAGE	10.94	8.19	3.31	5.99	5.66	34.09
Dry-Freight Carriers (color chart con't.)
	On-time Performance	Value	Information Technology	Customer Service	Equipment & Operations	Weighted Score
Crete Carrier Corp.	11.57	8.38	3.36	6.18	5.77	35.26
CFI (Contract Freighters Inc.)	11.61	7.72	3.45	6.18	5.89	34.85
Schneider National	10.79	8.36	3.57	5.93	5.55	34.19
Landstar Carrier Group	11.31	7.87	3.09	5.87	5.62	33.77
J.B. Hunt Transport Services	10.55	7.91	3.48	5.72	5.52	33.17
Heartland Express	11.52	7.70	2.96	5.48	5.51	33.17
AVERAGE	10.56	7.75	3.21	5.63	5.46	32.61
Expedited Motor Carriers
	On-time Performance	Value	Information Technology	Customer Service	Equipment & Operations	Weighted Score
UPS	12.13	8.99	4.08	6.12	6.22	37.55
FedEx Custom Critical	13.00	7.68	3.99	6.43	6.20	37.30
USF Expedited	12.79	8.87	3.44	6.07	5.93	37.10
Pitt Ohio Express	12.43	8.96	3.28	6.19	5.54	36.40
Averitt Express	11.70	8.49	3.38	6.20	5.69	35.46
AVERAGE	11.39	8.23	3.55	5.95	5.69	34.81
Bulk Motor Carriers (color chart con't.)
	On-time Performance	Value	Information Technology	Customer Service	Equipment & Operations	Weighted Score
Miller Transporters	11.91	8.41	3.11	5.94	5.83	35.20
Trimac Transportation	11.75	8.08	3.21	6.18	5.83	35.04
Ruan Transportation	11.34	8.08	3.26	6.18	5.92	34.77
Superior Carriers	11.16	7.13	3.56	6.18	6.30	34.33
Schneider National Bulk Carriers	10.58	7.89	3.43	5.93	5.48	33.30
AVERAGE	10.65	7.66	3.15	5.74	5.39	32.60
Household-Goods & High Value Goods Carriers
	On-time Performance	Value	Information Technology	Customer Service	Equipment & Operations	Weighted Score
United Van Lines	11.64	7.96	3.08	6.56	5.94	35.18
Mayflower Transit	11.93	8.18	3.25	6.20	5.35	34.92
Allied Van Lines	12.53	6.97	3.00	6.31	5.20	34.01
AVERAGE	10.65	7.86	2.89	5.75	5.41	32.56
All scores are weighted. Weighted scores are determined by multiplying the average raw scores by the average importance of each attribute (1 = least important; 5 = most important). To find the attributed weights for this category, see the introduction to the Quest for Quality report. Source: Logistics Management, Reed Research Group