Mark Galbraith had a good career going in the electronics and data communications industry. Then two things occurred that changed the direction of his life. His industry crashed, leaving him out of work, and he turned 50. Both of these things combined to limit his employment opportunities.
He decided he could have better control over his future if he ran his own business. He went looking for one to purchase and decided upon the Santa Barbara Ice Company in Santa Barbara, California. Located 120 miles north of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara is the largest city and the seat of Santa Barbara County.
“I live in Southern California where it's dependably hot and people like to party and drink lots of ice-cold beverages,” Galbraith said. “Santa Barbara Ice had already been around for about 100 years and I figured ice will continue to be a necessity. Besides, I had been involved with small businesses that ran trucks, and I understand that side of business. So I bought the company about four years ago.”
Ice plus
Santa Barbara Ice is a seven-day-a-week operation that sells ice throughout Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. It handles shaved and packaged ice in 7-, 20- and 40-lb bags and packaged block ice in 10-lb blocks.
Block ice and carving ice blocks — in regular or clear — are available in sizes up to 300 pounds. The company also distributes dry ice.
“We've got ice for all needs,” said Galbraith, “but we're much more than just an ice company. As an outgrowth of the ice business, we also handle beer and kegs, as well as wine; balloons and party supplies; helium, oxygen, CO2, and other gases; propane and propane containers; and mesquite charcoal, among other things.
“It's all part of my way of doing business: to continually improve our service to meet, but more importantly, exceed our customers' needs. That's what has allowed us to grow and prosper.”
Customers include retail and wholesale businesses, as well as restaurants and institutional establishments such as hotels and food services and caterers. The company also maintains its own retail store.
Ice in
Rather than manufacture ice, Santa Barbara Ice buys ice and transports it by the trailer load. It receives four to five trailer loads of ice — about 40,000 pounds per load — during the peak weeks of the summer, which includes the Santa Barbara Fiesta week in the first week of August. The rest of the year it gets one to two trailer loads delivered per week. All of the ice arrives on pallets.
Dry ice, the frozen (solid) form of carbon dioxide (CO2), comes in 50-lb blocks in insulated bins. The blocks are cut into whatever sizes are needed. Dry ice is shipped to Santa Barbara Ice every other day because it sublimates (transforms directly from the solid to the gaseous state).
All ice shipments are unloaded directly into the company's elongated dome-shaped 3,000-sq-ft cooler. The entrance is at the rear of its building, accessed through a manually operated sliding insulated door with heavy duty strip curtains for reducing the amount of cooled air loss when open.
“Our business gets extremely busy from Memorial Day to almost Thanksgiving,” Galbraith said, “because there is never a worry about bad weather. During this time, Santa Barbara becomes an even more popular vacation destination and a magnet for weddings. There are so many weddings taking place that I call it the Wedding Capital of the West Coast.”
Another good portion of the company's business is with pharmaceutical companies, laboratories, blood banks, and food businesses. This accounts for the majority of its dry ice business.
“These businesses use dry ice to ship their products because a temperature of about minus 109° F keeps things cold,” he said. “Dry ice gives about twice the cooling energy per pound of weight and three times the cooling energy per volume than regular ice. Another advantage of dry ice is that it changes directly from a solid to a gas and never becomes liquid. That's why it's called dry ice.”
Nature's impact
Galbraith pays close attention to the weather. “Any time serious storms or weather events are predicted, we bring in additional ice and dry ice. That way, if the power goes out, we're ready for the ensuing surge in the need for ice.”
Wildfires are another matter of concern and have an impact on the business.
“This summer we've had a huge wildfire burning in the Santa Barbara backcountry with 3,000 firefighters working it. They cool themselves with bags of ice and drink a lot of ice-cooled water.
“When it's 105 degrees on the fire line, ice can be the difference between heat stroke and continuing to fight the fire.”
No rigs
Santa Barbara Ice's fleet has two refrigerated straight trucks and two GMC cargo vans. “When I bought the business it came with a tractor and 28-ft refrigerated trailer and two straight trucks — all leased. I found that the rig wasn't as productive as a straight truck because it required more maneuvering in tight delivery spots.
“It made more sense to run the straight trucks a couple more times a day. So when the lease on the rig ran out, I exchanged it for a straight truck.”
The company operates weekly route delivery for its regular customers. It also provides them with an emergency service as well, because “when a business like a restaurant or caterer is out of ice, it is a critical situation,” said Galbraith.
“Speaking of critical, in the ice business you've got to have dependable equipment and drivers, especially during my high season — summer. And I've had great luck with mine.”
Assigned workforce
During the very busy summer season, Santa Barbara Ice employs five to six fulltime people, four of which are drivers. They are assigned to trucks.
“I've found that by doing this drivers take better care of the equipment. It's their tool for doing their job, and this makes them take some ownership.”
Galbraith said he doesn't have a lot of driver turnover because he pays them well, and his leasing company keeps his vehicles in good shape.
Nor is there a lot of employee turnover. “I try and make this an enjoyable place to work and I reward effort.”
His operation isn't large enough to justify the expense of a GPS/communications system for his vehicles. Instead, he manages his drivers via cell phones.
Sized deliveries
Santa Barbara Ice's two cargo vans are used for short deliveries of small quantities of ice, beer, balloons, and gas canisters. The ice products are wrapped in insulated blankets, sometimes with some dry ice, to keep then cool during transit.
For larger route deliveries, a diesel-powered 2003 Isuzu NQR with an automatic transmission is used. It is outfitted with a 16-ft Marathon insulated body and a Carrier Transicold Supra 644 refrigeration unit. The body, which can hold six standard wood pallets, has a roll-up rear door, curbside door and a 2,000-lb capacity Maxon foldout liftgate.
“This is the perfect truck for local deliveries,” said Galbraith. “Because of the Isuzu's great visibility and its short wheelbase, it's ideal for squeezing through tight spaces. That's particularly the case here in Santa Barbara because there aren't any strip malls. Most deliveries in this 2,774-sq-mile city take place on very narrow, crowded streets or in small, congested parking lots.
“Plus, the Isuzu has a low profile, so loading and unloading of ice is easier for my drivers. They don't do a lot of dock deliveries with this truck.”
For the deliveries of dry ice, Santa Barbara Ice uses a 2005 International 4300 with a DT466 diesel engine and Allison automatic transmission. It has a 20-foot Marathon insulated body, which can accommodate eight pallets or dry ice insulated containers, single stacked. It has a roll-up rear door and a 3,000-pound capacity Maxon foldout liftgate.
Neither the Isuzu nor International requires a commercial driver license to operate because the trucks have a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 26,000 pounds. The trucks average about 26,000 miles annually.
Vehicle maintenance
All of Santa Barbara Ice's trucks are on full-service leases with Donahue Idealease in nearby Santa Maria, California.
“Leasing is the way to go because you know what you're going to pay each month and there are fewer headaches,” said Galbraith. “If I have a problem with a truck, I just call Donahue Idealease and let them worry about it.
“My lease sales reps at Donahue, Jimmy Wall and Rich Kopp, have always been willing to pull out all the stops for me to get my trucks repaired, find a backup within an hour, or even find a rental for a sudden customer need.”
Service pays
“I'm looking to add another Isuzu delivery truck in the near future,” Galbraith said, “because the business is getting to the point where we have so many scheduled deliveries we can't maintain our level of service. I want my customers to be assured that when they order ice, especially in emergency situations, I will get it to them in a timely manner.
“To survive and thrive as a small business, you have to be flexible and responsive. I am constantly trying to figure out how to keep taking such good care of my customers that they won't have any reason to go elsewhere.”
