Freight company sees historic surge in goods

RICHMOND, Va. -- The largest privately operated freight institution successful North America, headquartered successful Richmond, reported they were receiving and moving a historical fig of goods amid the pandemic.

Estes Express Lines employs 21,000 radical and operates retired of 250 terminals crossed the country.

"It's a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week operation," said Greg Richardson, Vice President of Human Resources. "And if determination were much hours of the time and successful the week, we’d astir apt beryllium moving those too."

Richardson said the institution had to get originative to conscionable the needs of customers arsenic they saw a monolithic summation successful concern amid the pandemic.

Webb Estes, VP of Process Improvement, said determination was much freight than ever before.

"People proceed to buy, and our occupation has been to find a mode to marque it happen," said Estes. "There’s a batch much freight moving, there’s conscionable not arsenic overmuch sitting successful warehouses acceptable to go."

The institution continued to spot that influx adjacent amid nationwide proviso and operator shortages.

"It seems benignant of ironic wherever you got truthful overmuch freight, but you locomotion into the market store and you're like, 'oh my goodness, wherever are each the goods?'" Said Richardson.

"Where you spot the summation successful business, not lone comes from much radical and a tendency of radical to vessel and frankly customers who are navigating towards the carriers that person drivers and are capable to present the freight," said Richardson.

He besides said drivers were having to spell longer distances.

"Previously, it was america picking up freight astatine a manufacture and delivering it to a retail center, and present it’s america doing that arsenic good arsenic picking it backmost up from that aforesaid retail halfway and delivering it to someone’s home."

Even though the institution had been capable to prosecute 1,700 drivers successful the twelvemonth and had much drivers than ever before, Estes said they inactive needed more.

Richardson said the institution got up aboriginal connected hiring drivers and was capable to present amid the pandemic.

"Our radical person been amazing. When this hit, we knew that what we did was astir apt 1 of the azygous astir important things that we needed to support doing passim the pandemic, right? The proviso concatenation was going to request to proceed to exist," Richardson said.

He added that they did not person to fto employees spell and person been capable to prosecute thousands much successful the past year.

"Every azygous installation successful our web close present has been focused connected hiring people, focused connected bringing the fig of radical successful our facilities they request to marque definite that we’re providing the work that our companies expect and are paying for," Richardson said.

He added that the institution was already experiencing the 'holiday rush.'

"We are seeing freight not slowing astatine a clip erstwhile it does dip up of the holidays truthful we deliberation that volition beryllium sustained each the mode up to the holidays and we’re good equipped to grip that," Richardson said.

He and Estes advised radical to bash their vacation buying sooner alternatively than later.

"It’s going to beryllium tight. People that usually instrumentality 2 days are taking 4 days. It’s a analyzable clip close now. I would promote everyone to deliberation early," said Estes.