Posts Tagged “supply chain”
By Kenny Lund, Executive Vice President, ALC Logistics
Back in 1976, when Allen Lund went out on his own and established the Allen Lund Company, there was tight control on “regulated freight,” and brokers like him could only manage loads of vegetables and fruit, along with raw goods like bailed cotton. His very first load was a load of cotton.
Most other goods were tightly regulated. Regulations on carriers, rates, and government-approved truck brokers were numerous. Every non-exempt load had to have an approved filed tariff. Transportation was expensive and inefficient.
It all changed when deregulation was brought in under the Carter Administration and continued under the Reagan Administration. Within a few years, thousands of carriers, brokers, shippers, and receivers started operating in a new, freer transportation system. The government got out of the daily pricing of loads and let freedom through capitalism determine the rates. If this injection of freedom had not happened, we would still be hindered by over-regulation and government red tape. Fewer products would be available and they would be more expensive.
Capitalism is not perfect, but there has never been a better system to bring people out of poverty, create more businesses, and supply more products at lower prices throughout the country. Currently, there are more than 400,000 trucking companies, 10,000 transportation brokers, and our stores are chock-full of products from across the country and around the world.
It is easy to compare to the supply chains of communist and socialist countries. Every economic measure bears this out. Democracy and capitalism win every time.
In the early 90s, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the collapse of the U.S.S.R., Allen Lund was asked by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to go with a team to Moscow to help improve the produce supply chain that helped feed 11 million Russians in and around that city. For three months, he observed and tried to improve a system that allowed more than 50% of the fruit and vegetables coming into the area to disappear or be destroyed in transit. Drivers who did not care sold their refrigeration fuel on the black market and delivered rotten vegetables. The government paid them anyway. Allen Lund saw how badly a fully controlled economy operated with incredible lack of efficiency. He saw hope in the younger generation as they worked to build up the black market that began to operate with some capitalist principles.
Fast forward to today, it is painful to observe that socialism and even communism are on the rise with those under 30 in the USA. It is inexplicable…and yet there it is. Too many of our universities teach that businesses are all corrupt and that the government and centralized control are the answer. As a business involved in the great American supply chain, the Allen Lund Company has a front-row seat to see how well our nation’s distribution systems work. We must then take it upon ourselves to educate and, in many cases, re-educate the population. We must pass down to the next generations the information about how good we have it with a system based on freedom. We also MUST run our business with professionalism and integrity. Scams, collusion, and cronyism are a stain on the freedoms we enjoy and only paint targets on our free society. Capitalism is the system that allows all participants to achieve the high standard of living available to those who work hard. Freedom is the answer – not government over-regulation.
I’m ready to have a fresh conversation with you!
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Kenny Lund graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a degree in Business Administration. He managed the Los Angeles, refrigerated transportation division of the Allen Lund Company for eight years, before shifting full-time into managing the Information and Technology Department in 1997; becoming the Vice President of the department in 2002. Lund was promoted to Vice President – Support Operations in 2005. In 2014, Kenny, in the position of VP of ALC Logistics, began working with that division of ALC to sell their AlchemyTMS software solutions. In 2019, Lund was promoted to Executive Vice President of ALC and ALC Logistics.
By Kenny Lund, ALC, Corporate
The Supply Chain has never been more appreciated or misunderstood than in the past year. This is a good time to give a reminder of the most important person in this wonderful chain of supplies traversing this great country: THE DRIVER. Yes, the driver!
They are the ones who make the whole system work. They work day and night to make sure the store shelves are stocked and ready for sales each and every day. They are the heroes of the road and must be recognized and appreciated or we are doomed to see them dwindle in numbers, leading to even more expensive transportation prices.
Years ago, when I was brokering loads from California to the Southeast, I had a favorite shipper. I moved two refrigerated loads a week to Atlanta for a small bakery operation. I never had trouble finding a carrier to take the loads. In fact, I had drivers call to see if those specific bakery loads were available and even had a few wait a day or two until they could take a load of pastries.
I assumed drivers liked the loads because they were one pick – one drop loads that were easy to haul, as they were very light weight. I could cover those loads for less per mile rates than just about any other loads available. That small shipper almost always paid the lowest rates around – often $100-$200 less than the going rate.
One day I asked a driver why they liked these loads so much. The driver gave me an answer that I have never forgotten. He told me that they treated the drivers very well and gave each one a case of their confectionary creations. They asked that they take good care of the load and deliver it in good order. The drivers were always appreciative and I never remembered a claim on any of those loads. I have often reflected on that shipper.
An inexpensive box of pastries was a genius move that spoke well of the bakery. I am sure their employees were also well taken care of in that kind of culture. They gained so much just by being decent to the drivers and sharing a box of goodies with them. In turn, their loads were well taken care of and they saved on their transportation costs.
Those pastries teach a great lesson. Treat people well and they will give you better service. Be decent and they will go out of their way to make sure your loads are protected. I have heard many good and bad stories of drivers’ treatment on the docks. The shippers and receivers who take good care of and appreciate the drivers will always do better.
In the produce world this is even more important, as the drivers must take extra care when handling perishable products. Take time to talk to the drivers and give them the information they need to take care of the product loaded into their trailers. Drivers are key and we must take care of them and recognize their role in this amazing supply chain. God bless the drivers!
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Kenny Lund graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a degree in Business Administration and managed the refrigerated transportation division in Los Angeles for eight years, before shifting full-time into managing the Information and Technology Department in 1997; becoming the Vice President of the department in 2002. Lund was promoted to Vice President – Support Operations in 2005. In 2014, Kenny, in the position of VP of ALC Logistics, began working with that division of ALC to sell their software solution (TMS). In 2019, Lund was promoted to Executive Vice President of ALC Logistics.