Tailwind – Envase Technologies

Orangedale Transportation – Bearing the Fruit of its Approach to Logistics

The Envase Team — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 16:55:33 +0000

‘There has to be a better way.’

Jason Dembow kept saying this to himself as he worked in jobs in the freight brokerage and technology industries, feeling that there had to be a better way to run a logistics business than what he was experiencing.

“I just thought that it was a race to the bottom all the time – seeing who could provide the cheapest price to get the business.”

After eight years, in January 2017, Dembow decided to start his own freight brokerage company, based on the premise that adding value and offering clients unique and innovative solutions was a better way to run a business than just trying to get the next deal.

“As I say – We are never going to be the cheapest, but we are always going to be the best.”

A graduate of Arizona State University, Dembow runs Orangedale Transportation – a boutique third-party logistics company specializing in transportation management and services, located in Scottdale, Arizona.

“Orangedale is actually the original name for Scottsdale.”

As you navigate through Orangedale’s website, a picture of cactus from the Sonoran Desert that surrounds Scottsdale comes up, though Dembow’s relationships with his customers is anything but prickly. Rather, he has focused on building long term sustainable relationships with his customers by keeping his word.

“I want my customers to feel that their shipment is the most important one that we have, even if sometimes we have to extend ourselves or take a bit of a hit to make it happen. I want customers for life, not just one or two transactions.”

Having worked in technology, before he launched his company Dembow knew he needed a TMS to handle multiple key operational and administrative tasks such as generating rate confirmations, invoicing customers, tracking and paying carriers.

“When I decided to open my own shop, I had to get three things done – 1) get my Authority, 2) get insurance, and 3) find a TMS platform to run the business.”

Initially he looked at two transportation management software systems with which he was familiar, and after a quote of $4,000 per month for one of them, he felt that he couldn’t pass on the value offered by the Tailwind TMS.

“You know, at first when I looked at Tailwind, I thought it was simply ‘nice’ that it was a web-based system. But being on it now for 18-months I am finding it to be an essential part of the business.”

“I am on the road a lot, so I can check in on things online no matter where I am. I am looking at adding several employees to my business next year, so it’s nice that I can add good people in places where they happen to be located – it’s not like they have to be local and come into the office.”

Dembow has enjoyed early success achieving a profit in his first year of business.

“We were able to achieve our revenue goals and profit in our first year. Now I am working on margins and improving profitability. I feel that you can always get better.”

When asked as to why he chose Tailwind, Dembow offered,

“The free trial helped. I found it was easy to learn. I attended Jon’s free training sessions, went on the Tailwind YouTube channel to see the all the videos available to me on how to use the system, and I have gotten to know all your support group – I feel that I know everyone on the team, and they know me!”

When asked why he continues to use Tailwind on a month-to-month basis, Dembow again offered,

“It’s always getting better. You not only listen, but solicit my feedback, and I find that within a couple of months the features that I wanted or was hoping for appear in the application as you continue to build it. It’s now to the point where, if I was having to choose between the fully featured $4,000 per month solution and Tailwind, even aside from the price differential, I would have no hesitation in choosing Tailwind.”

Wanting to offer more value to his customers, Dembow suggests some new or enhanced features – alerts when a Carrier’s insurance expires, to arrival alerts from the Carrier Portal to their customers.

Orangedale continues to grow and improve its revenues and profitability with Tailwind’s transportation management software system.

With Dembow at the helm, Orangedale Transport is building great relationships with customers, while squeezing more juice from the operations of his business – perhaps a glass half full now, but soon to be overflowing.

F2F Logistics – Driven by A Sense of Mission

The Envase Team — Sun, 10 Apr 2022 17:32:00 +0000

“Sometimes we look at each other and say, ‘Don’t overthink it, we just have to get it done’ – and then rely on our ability to adjust and adapt to whatever comes at us.”

– Caleb Donehoo, F2F Logistics

Those words spoken by Caleb Donehoo of F2F Logistics captures the essence of the business model of this Tomball, Texas based logistics business, located in southeast Texas, near Houston and the Gulf of Mexico.

Partners Carl Kiser and Caleb Donehoo joined up with Matt Jones and Daniel Peterson to launch a logistics business, leveraging their backgrounds in the US Marine Corps and project management with one of the top 5 Fortune 500 companies – creating a business that delivers tailored logistics solutions for local, domestic, and international shippers in the Energy, Industrial, Manufacturing, Agriculture, Aerospace and Automotive industries.

“We understand, and appreciate, what it means to perform in demanding situations, the importance of communication, and of trusted relationships. We felt that all of these elements in combination would play a role in our logistics business,” said Kiser.

Driven by a sense of mission, the will and resourcefulness necessary to accomplish a goal, the partners have an innate understanding of the requirement to act and initiate, stemming from their training on the ‘70% solution’ operating principle of the US Marine Corps.

F2F is 'First to Fight' taking action with foresight

The 70% solution speaks to the need of soldiers in the field to take action, since waiting for the remaining 30% of information and resources, could mean the difference between life and death. The principle lends itself well to the business world, and especially to the logistics industry, where things are constantly in motion, and the competition can be fierce.

“No movement is worse than making a move and encountering obstacles,” said Donehoo. “We know that access to information combined with good communication can overcome the barriers that inevitably arise in logistics.”

F2F is an acronym for ‘First to Fight’, another principle of the Marine Corps. And while F2F embraces this the courage and ‘can do’ spirit of the Marine Corps, it is particular about where it chooses to apply their time and resources. Carefully screening and choosing customers that it feels it can best help, and in the very same way, with carriers to determine which are up to the task.

“We are very customer focused, and we like to build long-term sustainable, mutually beneficial relationships – not only with our shipper/customers, but with our carriers as well. And we try to align the two as much as possible so that they [the shipper and carrier] build a trusting relationship as well, one where they can rely on pick-up and delivery times, where people know each other and the way they will handle a particular type of shipment,” said Kiser.

Choosing Tailwind as their trusted software

When F2F looked at launching a business they understood that importance of teamwork – of marshalling both people and resources towards a goal. So they started looking for a TMS system that was flexible and accessible, offering them the features they needed, and something that didn’t break the bank because they were just starting out.

“Since we had worked with information systems in logistics before, we knew the importance of controlling and managing the information that was coming in, and going out,” said Donehoo. “We were wary of trying to do it with spreadsheets and the challenges of version control.”

“We had worked with a previous logistics software system before, but we found it wasn’t flexible to our needs. We selected Tailwind because it was web-based which helped us because we are a small business and we need access to information, and we needed to be able to communicate with customers, carriers and with one another.” said Kiser.

“We liked the way Tailwind flowed, how it allowed us to interact with our carriers, and the one entry system, where all of our data and information was centralized and connected to the things we needed to do in our Operations and in our Administration.”

“We have been happy with the pace and speed of improvements that have been made to the system in the past seven months that we have used it – especially the Customer Portal. Your team – EG and Mark – have been easy to work with and very responsive.”

F2F shared that they would have liked to have executed a bit smoother transition of data from the old to the new system, but other than that, they have encountered a smooth transition owing to their familiarity with TMS systems, and what they can, and should do, for a logistics business.

Not content to sit idle, interested in finding ways that technology could better help them grow their business, Kiser offered that he would like to see some additional capability in the phone application – “a document reader or scanner would help,” he said.

Equipped with Tailwind TMS and the drive of mission

While F2F Logistics, the business itself, is far from ‘mission accomplished’, they are invigorated by their journey and growing in confidence as to what they can do, and how they can grow in the freight transportation industry in the months and years ahead.

As such they are in the field of battle, moving quickly, and adapting along the way.

They are motivated with a sense of purpose, by values – a genuine commitment to doing the right thing, and doing it the right way.

They are driven, no doubt, by a sense of mission – something built right into their company DNA.

Loop Integrated Solutions – When the Fortune 500 Meets the Indianapolis 500

The Envase Team — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 18:28:00 +0000

For a business to become great, it must run on an engine of continuous Improvement — it must get better each day while operating at top speed to stay ahead of the competition. For Loop Integrated Solutions, an asset-based logistics business located just 30-minutes from the famed Indianapolis 500 — the loop of continuous improvement is at the core of their early business success. It was Fortune 500 meets the Indianapolis 500, and Loop Integrated Solutions has stepped on the pedal without looking back. With over 50 years of combined experience in the Trucking industry, Loop’s five founders have developed a partnership that focuses on delivering excellent customer and carrier service. “The partnership between our trucking company, Renewable Transport Services (RTS) and Loop has been great. We have grown very quickly from a start-up brokerage to now doing about $10 million in annual sales, and doubling our fleet at RTS — going from 15 to 30 trucks since 2017,” shared Mundo Sanchez, CFO of Loop and RTS.

“We wanted to differentiate ourselves in the marketplace by being more open and transparent with our customers and carriers – ‘keeping them in the loop'”

Nate Fry, CEO, Loop Integrated Solutions

Giving customers and carriers access to data and information more quickly is a key part of Loop’s business strategy

“We are strong believers in running an information-based business — in using data to drive better decision making. Aside from cash, we feel that data is next in line to king, as it gives us strategic insight into our business and helps us identify areas we want to pursue, to continuously improve,” said Sanchez.

A laser focus on their relationships with customers and carriers is a key success factor

Loop knew they needed to gain insight from data, as well as share information externally with key stakeholders — so they looked for a TMS system that could marry the operations and administrative sides of their business; a TMS that was flexible enough to fit their model, so that they could run Renewable Transport Services while building out a brokerage. They wanted a TMS that would do all this, be accessible over the web, and not break the bank, as they were a new brokerage and needed to manage cash flow tightly.

Loop choses Tailwind’s SaaS-based transportation management software

“If you had asked me a year ago, I don’t know if I could have recommended Tailwind because we had such profound needs as to how we wanted to use information and operate our business. That said, I can’t emphasize just how responsive Tailwind and its customer service team has been to our needs — addressing both the depth and speed with which we moved — because remember, we were growing very, very fast. Now I can safely say, that we would recommend Tailwind to any small and emerging logistics company,” offered Sanchez.

“Tailwind centralizes all of our information. It has also delivered significant cost savings. We’ve reduced our cost of producing an invoice by over 75%, and feel that we can still reduce it further. We reduced the cost of making a payment by over 50%. The net result — we haven’t needed to add another AP clerk to the team — probably $30K in savings there as well,” added Sanchez.

“I can’t emphasize just how responsive Tailwind and its customer service team has been to our needs… We’ve reduced our cost of producing an invoice by over 75%… We reduced the cost of making a payment by over 50%… We have built out our offering using the Tailwind TMS to the point where carriers are telling us that we are doing things better than some of the biggest players in the industry!”

Mundo Sanchez, CFO, Loop Logistics

Coming from a Fortune 500 company (Eli Lilly), Sanchez brought the insight of a major corporation to a small business, and has applied tracking and measurement to all facets of the operation. He’s applied metrics to the cost of producing invoices and payments, as well as to the number of inquiries made by carriers. He’s analyzed the opportunity cost of labor that could be applied to higher-return activities by automating internal processes.

“We had one person, where 80% of his time was spent responding to carriers and their questions around payments. We needed to do things differently.”

Loop utilized Tailwind’s Customer and Carrier portals and its open API (Application Programming Interface) architecture to customize the TMS’s capability with some of their own custom programming. They now compete with some of the biggest players in the industry.

“We have built out our offering using the Tailwind TMS platform to the point where carriers are telling us that we are doing things better than some of the biggest players in the industry!” Sanchez continued.

Loop built on the Tailwind API to extend its offering to customers

“We were delighted to hear that Loop extended their capability on our platform. Being a true web–based business we feel that our API is a key piece of the unique value we offer customers,” said Murray Pratt, President & CEO of Tailwind Transportation Software.

“I never want to be in a business where our ego says that we have to do it all,” he added. “I feel that our model is similar to Loop’s in that we strive to be open and transparent — wanting to do things WITH our clients, and not TO our clients,” said Pratt.

And for Loop Integrated Systems, this mutually reinforcing loop has driven much of its early success. The logo captures the essence of the Loop brand. From the loop of a truck on its route, to the information loop that keeps stakeholders in the know, to the loop of continuous improvement that is now a hallmark of Loop’s business success.

“We strive to get better each and every day,” said Fry

TCB Logistics Gets it Going

The Envase Team — Sat, 02 Apr 2022 18:55:00 +0000

‘Without it, it would have been a nightmare. I guess I would have used some spreadsheets, or done it all on pen and paper, I don’t know,” said Carmine Iorio, the founder and CEO, of TCB Logistics

A new two-person brokerage company out of Clearwater Florida, Iorio founded the company in early 2018 launching out of his home office along with another part time agent.

Iorio shared his thoughts on what Tailwind’s Transportation Management Software-as-a-service platform is doing for his business.

“It brings everything together and allows me to track on my business.”

While new to freight brokering, Iorio has come into the industry open-eyed, with a couple of customers who believed in him and his vision for the business. Along with his background in shipping & logistics and IT, Iorio had the recipe for success.

“We use Tailwind to keep track of all of our customers, vendors, and pick- up and drop-off locations, as well as for invoicing. It just keeps things organized for me.”

“Perhaps I look at things a bit differently,” said Iorio. “Since I have been a customer of freight services companies, and have a background as a Developer, I looked at how I could apply my knowledge of both logistics and information technology to grow my business.”

So, it was natural for Iorio to turn to the web and look for a TMS system that was attuned to his particular needs as an emerging freight brokerage business. He first looked online for a system that he could get up and running quickly, something he could use to launch his business with little cost.

“Tailwind was actually the first system I looked at,” he related. “I attended a demo and I liked the user interface, the ease of use, and I just felt that that I would be supported as I worked with it. And that has proven to be the case, whether it has been through the live chat in the application, or phoning in to the Support department.”

Carmine Iorio, Founder and CEO, TCB Logistics

Getting to the first 100 loads has been important to Iorio as he is learning more and more about freight brokering each day. Like most folks new to the industry he is open to working with all sorts of customers, just looking for an opportunity to get a foot in the door, a chance to prove his value to customers.

“I feel that I have just touched the surface on what I can do in this business,” he shared. “And it’s probably the same for how I am using the Tailwind application – I am sure I will use it even more as my business grows.”

And never far away from his Developer roots, Iorio offered up a couple of suggestions for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the Tailwind application.

“Hey, I gotta push you guys sometimes!” he said, “I push myself in my business, so I want to make sure you keep up with me.”

Yes, TCB Logistics is up and running, and Carmine Iorio has got it going.

Knaggs Trucking – Building a Business, One Truck at a Time

The Envase Team — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 19:26:00 +0000

“There isn’t a book that tells you how to do all this stuff. It’s not like someone gives you a manual that tells you how to build a trucking company. You have to figure it out by yourself– trial and error – learn from your mistakes. I did it before when I would take vehicles apart and then put them back together. I did pretty well the same with my trucking company.”

Arnold Knaggs, Owner, Knaggs Trucking

When you talk to Arnold Knaggs about his business, about trucking, even life in general, two things stand out:

His unyielding belief in the power of self-reliance; and how perseverance can lead to growth and success, when lesser souls may have just given up.

“People don’t fail due to outside circumstances – due to other people, due to the economy, or a particular situation – they actually fail ‘themselves’, their belief in themselves.”

It’s an attitude born of growing up and living in dairy farm country in North East Michigan, just 20 miles from where he was born – a farming community about 90 minutes north of Detroit. It has been a tough go for the locals there: the economy has been difficult owing to turbulence in the worlds of auto-manufacturing and dairy farming.

“Around where I live, it’s one of the most challenged areas economically in Michigan. It started many years ago – used to be a lot of dairy farms here, but some closed down and others merged. For me, after working on dairy farms for 22 years I realized that I had to do something different. So, I started earning a living with one truck, no money and a credit card – and went from there. For me, trucking is not so much of a job as it is ‘my life.’”

Growing Up

Knaggs grew interested in trucking from a relatively young age.

“My neighbors used to haul milk from the farms, and I liked to go for rides with them in their trucks. As a kid I just wanted to be in one of those Big Trucks… I remember even as a kid getting a big package in the mail from the Mayflower Moving company. I had applied to be a driver. I don’t think they knew that they were sending it to a 13-year-old!”

Today

Knaggs now runs a 40-truck operation out of Carsonville, Michigan, with a second location in Dearborn. He provides primarily flat-bed service, hauling scrap metal to a brass manufacturing facility, and then hauling out finished product to stores and warehouses across the US. His Dearborn location provides dry van service to a local Amazon facility, and to several other smaller customers. He had 5 trucks back in 2006 and has seen his business surge to over 40 trucks as he grew in a measured and prudent manner over the years.

“We stayed at it. We looked at expanding before, but it was 2008 and things were not good then. Now it’s a lot better, and we feel good about where we are.”

His Philosophy on Life

No doubt Knaggs has seen tougher times. And it informs the way he approaches his business today.

“I don’t do ‘rich’ well,” he shares, a profound statement that could resonate with a lot of other trucking company owners whose primary goal is to build a great business and provide a legacy to their children their community.

“I grew up poor. I understand and appreciate what it is to work. I didn’t get into this to be rich, I got into trucking to make a way for myself, to work for the things I wanted to achieve – security for my family, employment for others in my community.

I didn’t finish high school, I didn’t go to college – not because I couldn’t – but because I looked at it this way. In life ‘you work’, or ‘you don’t work,’ and living in an economically challenged area, I decided that this was the best path for me. I was going to find a way to work. For me, it’s not about trying to get rich, or being rich – it’s more about working because that is just what I do.”

Using Tailwind

Knaggs decided to invest in Tailwind software back in 2006. At the time he was one of the earliest adopters of new technology that could ‘separate him from the pack’.

“I could keep track of everything on paper, and in my head, when it was just one truck. But then we moved to 5 trucks and we tried doing it all in QuickBooks… and we couldn’t. It wasn’t made for trucking – it’s an accounting system. There were not that many software systems around, but I remember how good the Tailwind people – like Jon, who I think is with you guys even today – how good they were to work with. We needed it primarily to keep track of all the invoicing to make sure that we got paid. Every dollar counted back then, just as it does now.”

“And I remember asking if you could connect my office and my home so that my wife and I could access things from both places – and you guys set that up allowing us to remote in. I always felt that having the internet and using it would help our business.”

Converting Over from Tailwind Legacy to Tailwind Online

This past year, after 12 years on the Tailwind CMS system, Knaggs made the decision to convert over Tailwind’s online version.

“It’s a natural evolution really. We used to remote in to the office. We understand the Cloud – it’s something everybody is using these days, so we thought it made sense as we grew to two offices here in Michigan.

For us it’s been a good move because the software is the same. It does all the same things, but it does have a newer, more modern interface, but it’s the same application with some additional benefits. What’s really helped is the fact that we were able to port all of our documents and data over. And the service and help we got was great.”

And in Arnold’s direct and honest manner:

“I am not sugar-coating this, or blowin’ smoke by saying this stuff, because I happen to be talking to you – you guys did this…

If you want to build a business, you first have to believe in yourself. Then you find good people, you invest in some equipment, and you invest in some technology like a TMS application, that is going to help you, so you don’t have to throw more and more people on it. We run pretty lean with 6 people – my wife and I are two of them – and we are running the 40 trucks – a combination of owner-operators, contractors, and company drivers.”

“Some people, when they look at technology, and they see a threat. They get fearful of new things and wonder why they need to do it. But take ELDs for instance. Yes, it adds cost, more overhead. But I didn’t focus as much on the added burden as much I do to the fact that I can now see if one of the drivers is sitting idle and running his engine for 20-minutes.“

Benefits of Web-based System

With a successful transition from Tailwind’s Legacy software over to its online application a few months back, Arnold looks forward to all the ways in which Tailwind’s web-based software can help his business now.

“I can see a complete picture of both our locations and better manage the growth of two offices. I have all the information in one location – no dialing in using remote desktop – I can now access all the information from both offices and from home, or when I am traveling.”

Which is not to say that he thinks Tailwind is the perfect application. “Yes, there are a couple of things I would like to see added – more visibility into some of the costs of a truck and the driver – and I have already submitted those requests. That ‘in-app chat’ in the new online version is a good feature. I send them a message and they get right back to me.“

The Road Ahead

With a wellspring of determination, an openness to trying new things, combined with the insight from over 20-years of trucking experience, Knaggs is in a position where he has more options than ever. But he has never forgotten the power and value of a good day’s work and knows that his success was driven by the original hunger he had to change the course of his life.

Much like the scrap metal he hauls to the manufacturing facility, he has been able to take all the pieces and resources available to him in his life, and roll them all together to create a strong and durable finished product – one that endures.

Today, more and more of his trucks roll further and further than before, more often than before, running better than before, and they all return back home at the end of the week because of the company’s 5-day workweek policy – a nice work-life balance for his drivers, and for their families.

And while many people aspire to create vast empires to accumulate wealth and prestige for themselves, Arnold Knaggs is a man with his feet planted firmly on the ground, on the farm soil of northern Michigan. Comfortable with himself and with others, serving as a model to everyone in his community, by his presence, by the success of his business. He knows that some of the best things in life are found not in faraway lands, but right here at home.