ROADVision Provides BDR Transport the Tools for Coast-to-Coast Service
BDR Transport, a full service LTL contract carrier, provides expedited cross-country service in both directions between New England and the West Coast. Founded in 1970, BDR now serves a variety of customers in the machinery, manufacturing, furniture, and foods industries. Standard coast-to-coast delivery time for BDR is five business days. As a contract carrier, and by utilizing team drivers, BDR can tailor service to meet customer needs and frequently makes the cross-continent trip in three days.
For information on B-D-R Transport visit their website at www.bdrtransport.com.
BDR was established as the trucking arm of three shoe manufacturers—Bass, Dunham, Rosemont—to carry finished footwear from New England to California and return with processed leather. During the 1980s, the company was purchased by Gilbert and Richard Gay who owned a fuel oil delivery business in southern Vermont. Greg, Gilbert’s son, worked in the fuel distribution business until he moved into management of BDR.
“I really can’t remember if we approached ROADVision or if they approached us,” said Greg Gay, president of BDR, who, with his cousin Doug, bought the company from their fathers in 2002. “We needed a system that would serve a multi-terminal LTL and ROADVision fit the bill.
Today, BDR (the initials now stand for Best Direct Route) has a fleet of 50 trucks. Half the fleet is dedicated to coast-to-coast travel while the others operate from BDR’s headquarters terminal in Westminster (Bellows Falls), Vt., and terminals in Stockton and Santa Fe Springs, Calif., that give the company easy access to customers throughout California.
BDR serves customers within a few hundred miles of their terminals but the company’s principal business is line-hauling products (non-refrigerated and not hazardous) from coast-to-coast.
Virtually all of BDR’s tractors and trailers are equipped with air ride suspension. “That makes a big difference when you’re carrying products over 3,000 miles,” said Greg. “We don’t carry shoes these days but a good deal of furniture and some interesting special shipments like an antique mahogany boat or the carved statue of an Indian that’s now at Foxwoods (the casino in Connecticut).”
ROADVision’s transportation management software has helped BDR grow their business, operate more efficiently and deliver improved service to their customers.
One feature focuses on BDR’s need to “split” revenue based on the originating terminal and travel lanes. Before ROADVision, this was a complex, manual process that took many hours each month. Now revenue is apportioned automatically and instantly to appropriate P&L accounts.
As a line haul operation dealing with volatile fuel costs, BDR makes good use of ROADVision’s system to closely manage fuel surcharges. Changing rates are easily scheduled in advance and are automatically applied to freight bills based on the date of shipment.
Through ROADVision’s integrated imaging system, BDR has dramatically reduced countless hours previously required for copying and filing bills-of-lading and
proof-of-deliveries. Instant retrieval of information now benefits billing, collection and tracing functions.
Even in BDR’s small Vermont office upwards of 25 pickup calls come in every day. Everyone is responsible for answering the phone… before the second ring. Orders were hand-written before ROADVision. Now a simple form pops up on each computer screen, basic information is keyed in, and the pickup ticket instantly prints on the dispatcher’s desk.
ROADVision’s systems have helped BDR Transport grow into a business with over $7 million in annual revenues. And, as Greg says, “ROADVision helps us give careful attention to every shipment and provide the handling it deserves.”
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