IN THE NEWS: Trucking CFOs, Leaders Eye 2025 Recovery With Tight Budgets

Transport Topics
December 2, 2024
Mindy Long

FROM THE ARTICLE: Looking toward the new year, carriers are grappling with a tough freight market, relying on cost-cutting measures, operational efficiency and strategic revenue opportunities to stay ahead.

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Stan Kolev, CFO of ITS Logistics, said there is a general notion that the freight recession will begin to subside.

“We believe that the market is going to start seeing a certain level of recovery, but we will remain laser sharp on controlling costs, capturing more shared wallet with existing customers and penetrating different verticals,” he said. “I don’t think any CFO is going to tell you any different.”

ITS Logistics made a conscious decision several years ago to realign the number of tractors and trailers in its fleet, reducing its size. “We’re more selective with the freight we’re moving, particularly with our fleet,” Kolev said. “We don’t want to keep assets just to have assets.”

When sourcing capacity, ITS Logistics has focused on buying better. “We use more than 2,000 carriers but most of our freight is moved by a couple hundred carriers we have a strong relationship with,” Kolev said.

He added that ITS Logistics focuses on getting the lowest price possible without sacrificing operations. When working with the Fort Worth Economic Development District on a new transportation center, he was able to get significant tax benefits. “Negotiating real estate rates and targeting available tax abatements adds up to a significant amount of cost,” he said.

Earlier this year, ITS Logistics launched its AI-backed tool, ContainerAI, to manage the flow of containers. It aggregates data in real time and applies machine learning alongside historical context to make predictions and increase visibility.

“It has decreased the time of execution of the loads. Our teams are moving loads and servicing containers much faster,” Kolev said. “This allows the production teams to focus on servicing the customer more efficiently rather than managing documentation flow.”

ITS Logistics has added to its commercial team and has a sales strategy in place. “We have a very capable chief commercial officer. He runs the team and redesigned it to address different verticals,” Kolev said.

Read the full article.