44 DC VELOCITY JULY 2016 www.dcvelocity.com
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Property brokers and the federal government are like oil and water. A
hard-nosed and fiercely independent
bunch, brokers oppose any government involvement beyond ensuring the
motor carriers that haul their customers’ goods are being operated safely.
Geoff Turner has sampled the oil
and the water. Turner started in logistics while in college driving grain and
produce trucks over his breaks. He then climbed the
shipper and carrier ladders before starting Salisbury,
Md.-based Choptank Transport in 2003. Today,
Choptank handles more than 150,000 shipments
annually with approximately 300 employees. Turner
also got involved in the politics of brokerage, serving many years on the board of the Transportation
Intermediaries Association (TIA), the industry trade
group, and recently completing a two-year stint as
TIA chairman.
Q You are what could be called an old-school bro- ker. Are you concerned about the Uber-broker
model, and is there a place for the model even working with, rather than against, traditional brokers?
A Old school to us means great service, relation- ships, and personally handling all the issues
that may come up during the shipment process.
Technology has driven significant efficiencies into
our business and will continue to do so. However, we
strongly believe that personal communication, and
everything that revolves around it, will be the key to
our success.
Q What was your biggest challenge when you start- ed your own firm?
A When you get started, lots of folks feel the need to tell you what you can’t do. My biggest challenge was finding the right team that agreed on what
we could do. We executed from there.
Q As a business owner and former TIA chairman, you have been
involved with legislative and regulatory issues that impact your business
and those of your peers. Of those,
which one is the most potentially
damaging to brokers?
A In today’s hyper-regulatory cli- mate, it’s hard to pinpoint just
one. However, I believe the [FMCSA’s
Safety Fitness Determination rulemaking, which creates one standard for determining a motor carrier’s
fitness] to be the most dangerous. If not properly
written, the rules will pave a clear road for flawed
data to be used by the plaintiff’s bar to file more
negligent-selection lawsuits against brokers and shippers. We worked hard last year for passage of the
“Transportation and Logistics Hiring Reform Act,”
which would help create a clear standard for hiring
motor carriers. Though it failed to pass at the 11th
hour, we will continue to work toward getting this
measure through Congress.
Q What is the most significant change in the bro- kerage field since you entered it?
A The bar that’s been raised on shipper expecta- tions. Brokers with a proven track record of living up to commitments, investing in technology, and
focusing on work-force training are being rewarded
with consistent business.
Q What advice would you give to someone, wheth- er they are just starting out in their career or
transitioning from another industry, entering the
brokerage world?
A We are in an industry where relationships and personal communication matter. If you take
great care of your customers and carriers, and invest
in your employees, those relationships will continue
to flourish for many years to come.
Geoff Turner
our chairman said something that stuck with me: It’s
more important to get things done than to get things
perfect.
Q What advice would you give someone just start- ing a career in supply chain management?
A You need to find the balance between people, process, and technology, and the thing I see is
that sometimes the toughest element to get is the peo-
ple side. So I recommend getting operational experi-
ence as early in your career as possible. If you’re given
a choice between sitting in an office doing analysis
on some really neat material or going out and getting
experience with people working in a distribution
center or a manufacturing plant, go to the DC or the
plant. Don’t ever pass up the opportunity to work
with new people.
