Kamps has always set ourselves apart from our competition by continually striving for excellence in service. From a transportation point of view, it all starts with core pickup and ends with finished pallet delivery. To make this happen, it takes a significant investment in both dollars and man hours.
We service multiple industries that have fluctuations in both supply and demand. The largest portion of our business is based on recycling of pallets. This requires a large supply of pallet cores for either repair or disassembly for materials. Because of this, we continually need to deal with fluctuations in both supply and demand, some annually, some weekly, some daily.
Our pallet core suppliers count on us to keep their dock clear of unwanted pallets, freeing up this space for more productive activities. Our continuing significant investment in transportation has always been a key to our ability to grow. This sets us apart from much of our competition. We focus on three main areas: drivers, partners, and equipment.
Drivers
Drivers are the key link to servicing our customers. We count on them for a flow of information to and from our customers. They are the face of Kamps and are expected to act as professionals.
Because this position is so critical, we pay more than most of our pallet recycling competition. We also offer a benefit package and a 401K matching program. Most locations have a monthly or annual incentive bonus program, based on hitting safety and performance objectives.
Partners
We have three types of transportation partners. First are those we depend on for the occasional long haul. While reconditioned pallets don’t generally have the value to ship great distances, these partners are counted on to be timely and cost effective, when needed.
The second type of partner are those who we count on to help deal with short term problems, like vacations or increase in volume. They provide drivers or tractors and drivers, depending on our needs.
The third type of transportation partner are those who are able to dedicate the equipment and manpower to handle all our transportation needs at a specific location. These partners have drivers dedicated to us much like our own drivers.
In markets that are smaller or have greater than normal fluctuations in business, these relationships are the key to meeting our customer’s service requirements.
Equipment
Our investment into our transportation equipment has always separated us from most of our competition. We are willing to invest in more and better tractors, trailers and docks to position ourselves for growth. We lease our tractors to assure they are current, dependable, and well maintained. Our lease partners provide substitution and additional trailers as needed.
It is common in the recycling industry for key accounts to have multiple trailers available, allowing our customers flexibility to load their scrap pallets when time is available. This also allows us some flexibility to schedule our pickup more efficiently. We currently have 1,550 trailers in our fleet. Our current rate of growth demands that we add trailers daily. That’s no exaggeration! We are currently averaging over one trailer every business day for all of 2016.
Prior to issuing requested trailers to our plants, trailers are inspected, plated and decaled. The cost to acquire ($10,000,000), title and plate ($488,250) and identify ($800,000) is a significant investment by Kamps in servicing our customers.
We continue to strive to set ourselves apart from our competitors. Better drivers, better partners and better equipment. Investing in our fleet is investing in our future.
–Bob McDonald, Director of Transportation
