Spotlight on an American Trucker: Bruce McCray, Darrel James, and Spencer Crump
Now Logistics Transportation (NLT) was formed in 2015 to meet the local/regional same-day and next-day delivery needs of the Northeast business corridor. Now Logistics transports and delivers newspapers, individual household goods, and Amazon and Walmart products.
The company’s fleet includes 26-ft. Nissan UD 2600s, Nissan NV2500s, Nissan NV 200s, Ford 350 Transit vans, and a Freightliner CL 120. Now Logistics Transportation is located in Carlstadt, NJ.
Owners: Bruce McCray, CEO; Darrel James, COO; Spencer Crump, vp-sales
Q: Do you think of yourself as a trucking company or one that uses trucks in business?
A: Yes, we are a trucking company.
Q: Do you have regularly scheduled routes or on-demand delivery?
A: We have regular routes, and we also do on-demand deliveries and same-day deliveries (Amazon and Walmart).
Q: How is maintenance handled?
A: We have an in-house, diesel-certified mechanic for the daily maintenance of each vehicle.
Q: How are major repairs handled?
A: All major repairs are outsourced to the manufacturer.
Q: What are three challenges you face with maintenance? How do you resolve each?
A: One major challenge is downtime; we resolve it through regular maintenance. Second is preventing accidents. We resolve them through daily truck inspections and also safety trainings once a month. Our third challenge is finding qualified mechanics.
Q: How do you handle maintenance on your trucks and/or trailers to minimize downtime? What are your mileage/time intervals on preventive maintenance?
A: We currently have automated systems that send us maintenance alerts. Our PM interval is 3,000 mi.
Q: How do you ensure good mileage from tires?
A: We check tire pressures daily and rotate tires during the 3,000 mi. oil changes. Proper freight weight distribution is also important.
Q: How do you determine when it’s time to replace a truck or trailer?
A: [We replace] when the truck is having too many major maintenance repairs. We also look at the current book value to have some equity for our next purchase.
Q: Are you able to find these on the used market, or do you order new trucks built to your specs?
A: We find trucks on the used market; however, in the next 10 months we will start ordering new trucks built to our specs. We are looking for creative ways to deliver freight into New York City [and will use these vehicles to do so].
Q: What do you enjoy most about what you do?
A: NLT enjoys completing the task for our customers. For example, when our customers are expecting an important home delivery, when we make the delivery, their anticipation and smiles are priceless.
Q: What does your company do best?
A: NLT is the best at communicating with our customer, completing the task, and resolving any issues, along with developing our drivers’ customer-service abilities. NLT’s focus is to ensure clients’ products get to their customers on time and in great condition.
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