Relationship driven: Dedication to customers, employees fuels Nagle’s reefer business

Joe Bugyi wanted to expand the transportation company he founded during World War II into Toledo, Ohio, in the 1970s, but he didn’t know anyone in the area, so he called his son, Ed Nagle Jr., who then worked for commercial vehicle systems supplier Dana, hoping for a referral from someone he trusted.

The only person his son could offer up was himself.

So Nagle Jr. left his job, opened the terminal with wife Joanne in 1977, and went to work forming relationships with the local foodservice community. And those connections helped them start their own trucking business, Nagle Toledo, in 1984 after Bugyi closed his company due to industry deregulation.

Forty years later, the firm still is fortified by fast friendships and familial bonds.

“We’re focused on making sure this company continues to thrive because we have 120 families who count on us,” said Nagle’s son, Ed Nagle III, who helped his parents start the company and now serves as president and CEO.

“We want to make sure they have a good home—one they could potentially retire from.”

Of course, doing so for decades is exceedingly difficult. The 2008 Great Recession forced the refrigerated carrier to downsize, the COVID-19 pandemic inflated operating expenses, and today’s soft freight market is stifling rates. But Nagle’s long-standing emphasis on building relationships is buoying the business, helping it grow dedicated services, keep drivers safe, and maintain elite equipment.

“Trucking isn’t a job to us,” Ed said. “It’s a way of life.”

Family business

Ed entered the trucking life in 1978, going to work at the truck stop where his parents originally rented an office. He helped his parents create Nagle Toledo in June 1984, and then welcomed his three brothers into the family business: Steve a few months later, Pat in 1986, and Mike in 1987. The brothers ran the company together until Mike left in 2008. Steve died in 2016, and Pat plans to retire later this year, leaving Ed as sole owner—until the next generation takes up the torch.

The 61-year-old has three children, Joe, 41, Christie, 38, and Jeff, 36; three stepchildren, Blaine, 44, Karlie, 39, and Elliott, 37; and nine grandchildren. Joe is in I.T. at J.B. Hunt Transport Services, as part of its operations implementation team, and Jeff is “doing very well” in financial services, Ed beamed. “He kids with me, saying, ‘Dad, don’t worry, I’ll buy it and find someone to run it,’” he said. Not that Ed plans to leave soon. He loves the life and figures he has 10-15 years left in his career. But he’s already working to identify his replacement because he cares too much about Nagle’s employees to leave their fate undetermined.

“We have to make sure this company survives,” he said.

The operation today includes five companies: Nagle Toledo, which maintains the operating authority; Nagle Equipment, home to the trucks and trailers; Nagle Leasing, to employ the drivers; Nagle Holdings, for the group’s real estate, including two warehouses; and Nagle Logistics Group, which is the brokerage arm. Nagle today employs 66 drivers and 115 total people, hauling fresh and frozen products for food retailers across the Northeast, including Costco Wholesale, Kroger, and Meijer.

Nagle moved from a leased space to Walbridge, a Toledo suburb, in 2005. The 15-acre property boasts a 15,000-sq.-ft. office and 18,000-sq.-ft. maintenance facility. A 17,000-sq.-ft. warehouse and a new 50,000-sq.-ft. warehouse were completed last year, both primarily for dry goods. The combined operation generated $25.7 million in 2023, with $13.6 million in truckload revenue and $10.2 million from third-party logistics services—and Ed is optimistic about further expansion. “We expect to see good growth over the next five to seven years in logistics and dedicated transportation, and somewhat in over-the-road,” he said.

Dedicated service

The post-2008 “commoditization” of long-haul trucking devalued relationships, Ed laments, especially when capacity was overly abundant, as it is now in the wake of the spot market high that followed the pandemic. That’s why Nagle is focused on cultivating dedicated business, which is the group’s fastest-growing segment, generating $9 million in service of local manufacturers last year.

“The dedicated division is important because it’s two partners who depend on each other,” Ed explained. “They need us to produce their goods, so it’s an open book. Here’s our costs, and here’s our margin. We actually include our profit as a cost of doing business. So it’s not as subject to market fluctuations, whereas in regional over-the-road, you’re at the mercy of economic pressures.”

Dedicated services strengthen relationships, providing long-term stability for customers and employees, who are then more likely  to provide personalized, “extra-mile” care to the people they interact with on a daily basis.

“The big carriers run phenomenal programs, but they’re ‘cookie cutter.’ If you want their best pricing, you must do everything the same way as the rest of their customers,” Ed contended. “With us, when customers have different needs, or idiosyncrasies, we can be more flexible, which helps a lot.”

The division’s predictability, along with Nagle’s third-party shop business—which last year generated an additional $1.9 million in revenue—also allows the carrier to withstand persistent freight recessions and keep expanding at a measured pace.

“We’re not going to grow the fleet just to grow the fleet,” Ed said. “What’s important to us is to maintain an OR [operating ratio] that is acceptable. Trying to run at 98 or 99.5% just to have bragging rights about how big you are is of no interest to us.”

Driver appreciation

Nagle runs 25 OTR drivers, 29 dedicated drivers, and 12 non-CDL holders who deliver parts in straight trucks—and caring for them is of great interest.

For one, hiring and retaining dependable drivers is increasingly difficult. According to the American Trucking Associations, trucking is short 60,000 drivers—and Nagle only hires drivers with at least two years of experience. “The biggest challenge we have right now is finding quality drivers,” Nagle COO James White said. “And what we’re seeing is drivers have a lot of options, so we might get one who is here three months, and the next thing you know, they’re going elsewhere because they were offered a different rate.”

To boost loyalty, Nagle treats drivers like family, and keeping them safe is priority No. 1. The carrier primarily pulls “no-touch freight” from manufacturing facilities to distribution centers, so its drivers—who average 62 years of age—don’t do a lot of heavy lifting. In addition, Nagle drops trailers 75-80% of the time to prevent unproductive detentions, and pays OTR drivers a weekly salary while dedicated drivers are paid an hourly rate issued weekly, ensuring that their time is accounted for.

Nagle regularly invests in equipment that appeals to drivers and advanced technology that promotes safety, including forward- and driver-facing Samsara cameras that monitor for distracted driving and driver fatigue. “That technology is priceless,” said Darrell Tarry, Nagle director of maintenance. The system also unlocks coaching opportunities, but Nagle maintains a strict policy on cell phone usage, which Ed insists is “the most under-reported cause of accidents in this country.”

The first incident results in three unpaid days off, the second leads to five—and a third triggers termination. “In today’s litigious society, the threat of a nuclear verdict is so great that we have an incredible responsibility to all of our employees to make sure a lawsuit doesn’t put us out of business,” Ed said.

Equipment care

Nagle's fleet of 78 temperature-controlled trailers and 40 dry vans, as well as customer trucks and trailers in a mutually beneficial affiliation, are maintained by nine mechanics and two parts managers.

“We may not run Paccar equipment, but because we see the pros and cons other fleets experience, it helps us make decisions,” Ed said. “We’re learning about different types of fuel-water separators, or alternators, and from a statistical standpoint, the greater the sample size, the more confidence you have in the decisions you make.” Nagle, in turn, offers up informed equipment recommendations to customers—whose repeat business bolsters the group’s bottom line.

Nagle also is extending tractor trade cycles by a year to boost profitability in the soft freight environment, Ed shared. “The equipment is paid for, so even if we have an unexpected $30,000 repair to make, that’s still better than spending $200,000 on a new tractor in this market,” he said. And he isn’t overly concerned about maintenance costs rising because the six-bay shop administers an “over-the-top” maintenance program supported by intelligent telematics that enable “predictive” maintenance.

The carrier runs Thermo King S-700 transport refrigeration units with TracKing telematics. “It’s a game changer for me,” Tarry said. “It takes what four people used to do down to a simple one-person assignment. I check it three times a day to make sure everything is rolling smoothly.”

The refrigerated trailers are Utility Trailers equipped with P.S.I. tire inflation systems and Samsara tracking devices. Dry vans are Stoughtons. Nagle specs reefers with 2½-in. insulation, enough to maintain “ice cream” temperatures due to the S-700’s cooling capacity, and flat floors that are well suited for palletized freight, Ed asserted. They’re heavier than aluminum duct floors but more durable, extending serviceability. “We don’t gross out on weight, so we’re now hoping to achieve a 10-year [trailer] life,” he said.

Nagle’s tractors are Freightliner Cascadias equippedmwith Thermo King APUs, pure sine inverters, and Ex-Guard grille guards—an invaluable investment, Tarry said. “They have saved us over $100,000 in repairs, at least, since we started equipping them,” he maintained. He’s equally appreciative of the Cascadia. “It’s been a great truck for us,” he said. “It offers driver comfort and accessibility and gives us good value.”

Relationship driven

Nagle sticks with Thermo King for the “phenomenal” aftersales support—and because the manufacturer was the only brand in town when Nagle bought its first truck in 1984. “Toledo has a nice Carrier Transicold dealer now, but we’ve maintained such a solid connection with Thermo King and have great familiarity with their product,” Ed said. And the carrier now runs Utility trailers because of his appreciation for the Wannemacher family, which owns Double A Trailer Sales in Delphos, Ohio.

“We’ve followed the product line they carry because of our relationship,” Ed stated. “So we typically don’t make decisions based on pricing. Double A is trustworthy and ethical, so we’re confident in them.”

The carrier also depends on its OEM network to inform its approach to zero-emission vehicle adoption. “I’m confident our company will never run electric trucks,” Ed predicted. “I don’t believe the technology is appropriate or sustainable. ATRI published a study saying there aren’t enough rare-earth minerals on this planet to provide all consumers and commercial industries with electric vehicles. And we’re just pushing pollution away from the United States to poorer countries that do the mining.”

EVs also are heavier and more expensive than diesel-powered tractors, so they won’t make any sense until customers demand them, he added.

“We can’t afford to be the guinea pig for these new technologies,” Ed said.

Instead, Ed is focused on strengthening its most important relationships—the ones with employees and customers—by growing dedicated and third-party logistics services, filling the new warehouse, and considering moving into cold storage, if the company finds the right partner to anchor the facility. And association involvement aids their cause, Ed emphasized, uniting stakeholders large and small in the shared goal of improving trucking safety, efficiency, and long-term viability.

Ed is a former Ohio Trucking Association chairman, and he’s the current Truckload Carriers Association vice chair to ATA, and he is wholly committed to uplifting Nagle, the entire industry, and the profession he holds dear.

“This is who we are,” Ed  said. “Trucking isn’t just in our blood. It’s our DNA. It’s what makes us whole. This is why we exist.”