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As capacity is expected to shrink in the years ahead due to
a shortage of drivers and an increase in regulatory requirements that could take many smaller operators off the road,
deep-pocketed asset-based carriers like Red Classic will be
well positioned to benefit, he said. Armed with sophisticated transportation management system (TMS) technology,
for-hire, dedicated, and private fleets, in theory, could optimize their equipment by better positioning headhaul and
backhaul movements to capture available loads.
There is little doubt that empty miles are inefficient,
fuel-wasting, and non–revenue-producing albatrosses.
About 12. 5 percent of all truckload miles driven in 2012
had no freight, according to estimates from consultancy
DAT Solutions. Yet for big companies, the logistics of repositioning private fleets just to fill empty trailer space may
make it more trouble than it’s worth. Big corporations that
use private fleets are generally more concerned with getting
their trucks and drivers back to their distribution centers
as quickly as possible to reload their trailers for another
move, according to Charles W. Clowdis Jr., managing
director, transportation, for consultancy IHS Economics
and Country Risk. Unless backhaul freight is available near
headhaul dropoff points, it is counterproductive for fleets to
waste their time looking to fill backhaul miles, Clowdis said.
Richard Armstrong, founder and chairman of consultancy Armstrong & Associates Inc., said at a recent conference
when the subject of empty backhaul miles came up that
Undeterred by the risks, Red Classic is moving forward
on the back of its parent’s geographic expansion. On
Oct. 30, Coke Consolidated, which at this writing had
operations in 13 states, said it would expand its distribution territory into Norfolk, Fredericksburg, and Staunton,
Va., and Elizabeth City, N.C., under an agreement with
Coca-Cola Refreshments USA Inc., a Coke affiliate. Coke
Consolidated also signed a definitive agreement to acquire
Coca-Cola Refreshments’ plants in Sandston, Va., and
Baltimore and Silver Spring, Md., for undisclosed sums. In
addition, Coke and several of its bottlers, including Coke
Consolidated, have formed a “National Product Supply
Group” to oversee nationwide supply activities such as
infrastructure planning and product sourcing for participating bottlers, Coke Consolidated said in a statement.
