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Nevertheless, he anticipates a 30 percent to 40 percent equivalent savings with condensed natural gas compared with current diesel fuel prices, which he calculates would pay back the cost of the trucks in two to three years. Williams is researching the benefits of liquid natural gas and condensed natural gas for truck fuel – he could get a 650-mile range on a tank of liquid natural gas compared with 400 miles with condensed natural gas – but the new vehicles he is buying currently are using condensed natural gas. To offset rising diesel fuel costs, a shipper partner of Williams wants Venture to purchase a fleet of natural gas tractors and within the next year make them part of a dedicated operation. Venture Logistics’ current fleet consists of 400 late-model tractors along with more than 1,000 53-foot air-ride trailers. Venture Logistics has been sending shipments into Mexico for nearly 14 years. and Mexico, and our trailers cross the border with our partner carriers.” Much of this work is for the automotive industry and some for retailers. We have partner carriers that we utilize between the U.S. “Our tractors don’t actually go into Mexico. “We do a lot of work between Laredo and the Midwest and back,” Williams says. The company also has a facility in Laredo, Texas. “That’s our main focus – from the Midwest to the Southeast and back.” “We try to focus mostly on what we call the I-65 corridor, from Chicago down to Nashville and into Atlanta and Charlotte,” Williams says. Venture Logistics offers services nationwide including freight consolidation, but the company has its area of focus in several specific regions. “We can do economies of scale, bring many customers together and do it more economically,” Williams explains. Venture Logistics also does third-party fulfillment out of the distribution centers for companies that do not have enough volume to establish their own facilities. We also have a warehouse and distribution facility in Lafayette, Ind., and a smaller one in Elk Grove Village, Ill.”Īll three distribution centers are in leased facilities. “It enhances what we were already doing with our current business. “I started a warehousing and distribution division here in Indianapolis,” Williams recalls. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Venture Logistics has branched into additional services from its original business of trucking. In 2010, Venture Logistics leased a 500,000-square-foot distribution center in its hometown of Indianapolis.

#Venture express driver central drivers#

But we have quite a few dedicated routes, and most of our drivers are home several nights a week, so that was never really an issue.” Achieving Fulfillment “Some people worried in the beginning that it would restrict the drivers more and they wouldn’t be able to do as much as they had in the past. “We have not had productivity erode at all,” Williams insists. Because of that, Williams says it has not lost productivity implementing electronic logs as companies with longer routes might have. The company’s average length of haul is in the range of 400 miles. It’s a help to our company and the industry.” It’s almost like they’ve had it since the beginning. “It’s just a part of the system, and they’ve gone along with it. “There was a little bit of a learning period in the beginning, but for the last year that all of our drivers have had it now, it’s second nature to them,” he insists.

“We’ve been quite pleased – it’s worked out well for us,” Williams says of the logs. Williams is bullish on electronic logs, which the company began switching over to more than a year ago. These technological systems also are required for the 25 percent of Venture’s shipments that are transported by its owner/operator fleet.

Venture Logistics has incorporated electronic logs into its truck operating system.

His tractors and trailers are equipped with GPS systems and communication capabilities that allow drivers to receive communications with their dispatches.

#Venture express driver central full#

Williams is able to deliver that level of service to his customers through a full use of technology. Everybody expects it to be there on a scheduled basis, not like the old days when just the automotive people wanted that.” “It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in. “We found out over the years that everybody has become just in time,” President and CEO Doug Williams declares. “Just in time” is the name of the game in trucking nowadays, and not just in the automotive industry that comprises approximately 65 percent of Venture Logistics’ business.