Envase’s Chief Commercial Officer, Allen Thomas, had a great time recently appearing as a guest on Sarah Barnes-Humphrey’s Let’s Talk Supply Chain podcast.
Sarah cares a great deal about the industry, especially about solving the challenges that drivers face every day on the road. And that’s what made for an excellent setting to talk about Envase’s growth since our 2020 founding into North America’s largest drayage/TMS service provider.
Allen explained that Envase’s vision started with founder and CEO Larry Cuddy Jr.
“Larry and a lot of our executives come from the trucking space,” Allen explained. “Larry’s the CEO with a CDL. He’s been a leader in large and small operations.”
So that makes Envase keenly aware of the challenges drivers face, and how much of the weight of those challenges fall on them.
“The question we ask is how do we improve the day-to-day life of the driver and the journey he follows?” Allen said.
From there, Allen explained how Envase uses a combination of acquisitions and technology development to assemble a collection of service lines such as Compcare Services, DrayMaster, GTG Technology Group, Infosite, Profit Tools, SecurSpace and Tailwind Transportation Software.
Meanwhile, Envase serves that larger drayage space with a variety of solutions that saves time and increases efficiencies. A good example is the establishment of ReadyGate, the automated gate solution that empowers facility operators to transition their facilities into automated, secure, efficient operations, with significantly reduced time spent on data entry and walking through yards to find equipment.
“It’s a little about acquisitions but more about the glue that holds it all together,” Allen said.
And that glue is the continued focus on drivers and their journeys. Envase is connected to more than 35,000 drivers, and the majority of them are independent owner/operators with fewer than four trucks. They have to handle every aspect of their businesses, from driving the trucks to picking out the loads to all the financial management.
Allen explained that Envase seeks to impact the industry by looking at drivers’ tasks and finding ways to make those tasks easier. The Envase TMS does just that by automating functions like billing and reporting, so drivers can get home sooner and enjoy time with their families.
“The bulk of goods that are moved in and out of ports, at least in North America, are on the backs of very small owner/operators with one-to-four trucks,” Allen explained. “We created Envase TMS for them.”
During the Case Study section of the show, Allen shared the story of Envase’s work with New Jersey-based Best Transportation. Best was incurring significant demurrage and per-diem charges as a result of its cargo being stuck in port space. The company spent significant time checking for availability and it cost them considerable money. By using Envase’s ProfitTools platform, the company saved time and money, and was able to get constant up-to-the-minute information about container availability. Best is also able to pay its drivers faster as a result of using ProfitTools, which automates invoicing and other critical functions.
Sarah summed up the interview beautifully at the end, saying:
“Running a freight business in this post-pandemic world is hard enough, but when the systems you use to run your day-to-day are getting in the way, it’s going to become increasingly difficult to effectively plan ahead. Unclear operations, inefficiency and a lack of insight aren’t just stressful and time-consuming. They’re actually hindering growth. But by focusing on a few key software tools with a partner like Envase, transportation companies of any size can solve internal problems quickly and grow in strong and sustainable ways.”
Well said, Sarah! Thanks for having us on the show! To watch the entire thing, go here:
