Same Day Courier Helping Night Time Customers

As the demand for American Expediting's same day delivery services expand, and we open new offices across the country, our shining star employees experience new challenges. Holiday weekends tend to bring special challenges with demand peaking just as businesses are shutting down for the weekend. As a 24/7 /365 operation, we never sleep.

This past Wednesday night, the Eve of Thanksgiving, brought a tremendous increase in business in our cities, including one special move out of our Seattle location. Our customer represents one of the larger Aircraft manufacturer's in the country. They had an Emergency parts move requirement, where a part was picked up at 10:00PM and needed to go delivered to an Aerospace repair shop in British Columbia four hours away. When the required paperwork to transport the product over the Canadian Border was delayed, our National Call Center agent, Bill Linko stepped to the plate and made sure that the delivery was made as quickly as possible. Here is the customer referral that we received, a true Thanksgiving Testimonial for using our company.

Please convey my sincere appreciation to your folks in PIT (Pittsburgh National Call Center) last night that did a fantastic job (especially Bill) getting our shipment through customs this morning. Any carrier can get a shipment from point A to point B. What differentiates the good carriers from mediocre carriers is how problems are handled as they occur. Your team was all over it until the issue was resolved. I also know that you were a part of the solution this morning as well; greatly appreciated. - Wayne, Owner , E.P.L.

When we are asked how did we grow our business in a struggling economy, I tell them that we keep our customers happy, giving them reason to use us again, and making them comfortable in using us in all of our offices. Customer Service is truly the backbone of American Expediting!

Same Day Courier Taking Orlando By Storm

SAME DAY COURIER TAKING ORLANDO BY STORM
In the midst of a struggling economy, local Orlando courier, specializing in same day deliveries, sees tremendous growth. Their dedicated 24/7 Operations team and local Sales/Support team are currently offering a FREE logistic evaluations for transportation professionals looking at options for increasing their own customer service offering. Crediting their success to a combination of factors including: expanded coverage, increased warehousing, and a national footprint service offering, with an end result of a 40% increase in year-to-date sales.
Orlando, Florida, November 18, 2010 – While leading transportation companies are experiencing six percent to 9 percent increases this year, American Expediting Company, a local Orlando courier company, is bucking the trend of a spiraling local economy, and is experiencing a forty percent increase Year-to-Date. Operations Manager, Bob Carabello, is predicting that their increase in both rush deliveries and routed deliveries foreshadows a better economy for the region. Bob states, “It’s probably a good thing that our business isn’t tied into the real estate industry.” “Our customer and our offering are extremely diverse, probably because our sales team, led by Joan Gordon, are clued into the current market trends.”
American Expediting is part of a National privately held company based out of Philadelphia, PA, with 36 offices across the country, and currently servicing over 200 cities. The Florida market also includes distribution centers in Tampa and Miami, and drivers throughout the entire state. The company is one of those amazing stories of a single entrepreneur, working out of his garage in the early 1980’s, with a determination to build a business based on customer service. This core principal has been integral to every office that they open, and has resulted in above average customer retention.
In the past twelve months the Orlando office moved their physical operation to Winter Park, Florida in order to accommodate the growing customer demand for increased parts storage. Six months after the move, they found themselves needing more space, and were fortunate to be able to double their space by occupying the spot vacant next door. They are centrally located to many key Orlando businesses and close to the MCO airport for customers requiring TSA certified drivers. Additionally, they have available couriers who are both HIPPA and OSHA-trained and are experienced in transporting blood specimens and transplant organs, as well as time-critical medical supplies and pharmaceuticals.
As a Sales Logistics specialist, Ms. Gordon helps her clients find efficient and effective solutions for expanding their delivery offerings. “With the growth of internet marketing, my customers want to find ways to step out of their local brick and mortar storefront, and offer their products to a customer base in a wider geographic area.” Says Ms. Gordon. In addition to working with retail based clients, American Expediting specializes in the following markets: Medical Supplies, Laboratory Specimen Testing, Emergency Parts Replenishment, Specialty Food Distribution, Process Serving, Transportation Partners, and Pet Deliveries. Ms. Gordon speaks about how her national sales team builds on the company founder’s philosophy of strong customer service. “We like to make a difference with each and every delivery made.” She ends her bi-weekly sales conference calls with the charge, AT AMERICAN EXPEDITING WE HELP TO SAVE LIVES.

American Expediting Courier Expands in Questionable Economy

Everyday, conflicting reports are issued by the media, the White House, and the economic experts about our economy: it’s improving, it’s holding steady, it’s declining. Who knows what to believe. This article studies a specific company in the same day transportation industry, and how their service industry is adjusting to the real market conditions by helping their customers to consolidate vendors.

Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) September 1, 2010 – American Expediting,a national courier and logistics company specializing in same-day delivery of time critical packages and freight, is experiencing growth in many regions across the country. With this expansion comes the need to hire new operations and sales staff, therefore bucking the unemployment trend. We’re told that the unemployment level is one barometer for gauging economic health. When the unemployment numbers go down, the economy is thought to be growing. But there is a flaw in this theory. Could it not be that unemployment remains high while the economy grows healthier?

The answer is yes. Years ago when this country began feeling the effects of the economy’s illness, companies everywhere learned how to operate more efficiently. Consider: what once took eight employees to accomplish now takes seven. Businesses discovered and pared their “fat;” they learned and utilized the endless available technological applications and they perfected the art of redistributing the workload.

In other words, companies, such as American Expediting Company, are now working smarter and, despite the economic gloom, it is paying off.

This transportation service provider has created a network of carriers and has positioned itself to offer the benefits of such a program to companies utilizing multiple carriers.

“This move has been a dream of mine since 1983 when I started this company,” says Victor Finnegan, President and CEO. “We are now able to provide same-day transportation solutions throughout the United States and into Canada through a highly skilled and professional group of employees and courier agents.”

Director of Marketing, Glenn Berger, says “CFOs from companies across the country love the idea because they can consolidate their vendor relationships using a single source rather than 20 or 200 different vendors. This enables them greater control of their spending and provides uniform pricing resulting in significant savings on all fronts.”

Mark Sanner, Director of Operations, heads up the company’s National Call Center. He notes the investments recently made in people and technology helped streamline order-taking and the vendor management aspects of those transactions. “We like being able to pass the savings onto our customers and it’s great when they express amazement at being able to rely on us to handle all of their delivery requirements and still see savings on the bottom line.”

As the positive results of the program became tangible, American Expediting Company sought to maximize their existing locations by expanding their warehouses. In one month, three of their facilities expanded: the Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Orlando sites.

In Pittsburgh the office moved into a new location to make room for added parts storage and medical distribution customers. The new office location also accommodates the addition of a National Call Center staff, which operates on a 24/7/365 basis.

An increased demand for airport pick-ups and deliveries resulted in the company’s Cleveland facility to relocate to a site 25 percent larger than its previous space. In the same time period, American Expediting’s Orlando office more than doubled their existing warehouse space due to a greater demand for computer parts storage.

“These moves were the easy part of growing our business,” says Finnegan. “We have always believed in a slow and controlled growth process, growing from a one-facility operation initially to 34 locations currently.”

Additional company growth is evident in the mid-year opening of three new branches in Chicago, Hartford, and Clarksburg, West VA. These geographical markets have a built-in customer base that is already using the company’s services in other parts of the country.

This is a prime example of how to prosper under questionable economic times. Growing a business model that fits what the customer is looking to accomplish.....Consolidation. Whether you are in the courier industry or another service industry, this is the future. Teaching us the importance of staying ahead of the competition regardless of the publics perception of economic climate.

Courier Lab and Animal Deliveries During the Dog Days of Summer

While most of the country is experiencing extreme heat, which appears will continue for the next several weeks, our Operations team is reiterating the American Expediting courier procedures for handling medical samples and live animal deliveries. All locations are posting the following reminder...

Please make sure that when we are transporting temperature sensitive materials, such as lab animals, medication, blood etc- we are reminding the drivers of our clients requirements. A significant temperature change can cause samples and medication to become damaged and in the event of animals, it can alter lab results or even kill them.These products can become rather expensive so please, ask the drivers when dispatching to keep their air conditioning turned up, bring a second set of keys with them so that they can leave their AC running in between deliveries, and try to avoid direct sunlight onto the boxes.

Our company has had an excellent success record, and with these subtle reminders, we plan on keeping it that way.

Same Day Delivery in Pittsburgh - Making A Difference

178 yard, Par 3, Island Green Golf Course, Philadelphia, PA. Two Feet from a Hole in One. Had it gone in the hole, I would have bought the clubhouse a drink at the bar, called everyone that I have ever known, and definitely would have had a story to tell for the rest of my life. Instead, my loyal blog readers are the only people who share in this story, and how I combine it with how going the extra mile can make a difference in someones life.

My mother, Rene, is struggling with various ailments including cancer. The doctors at UPMC in Pittsburgh have been doing a great job of caring for her, but now the cancer has spread to her back. The result is excruciating pain, and the inability to get up from her bed. Once she is up, she is fine, it's lifting herself that is the problem. The fantastic long term life insurance we purchased will not allow for in home care until 90 days have passed from the requested day, therefore my brother, Jay, has been by her side 24 hours a day. Yesterday she had to have a treatment of Radioactive Chemotherapy to try to kill off some of the cancer cells, which comes with a warning that other people should stay away from you for 48 hours. I always thought my mother glowed, but now everyone can agree. The result, mom has to be secluded, without the ability to get out of bed for food, drink, etc.,

The moment the therapy was over, my siblings, Debbi and Jay, called to ask if American Expediting can pick up a special chair from Medic Rescue Healthcare and have it delivered sameday. Apparently, at 4:30PM no medical supply firms in the city had the ability to get something delivered in short notice. I called our Pittsburgh office to see if they could expedite a pickup 40+ miles away, during rush hour, and in a torrential rain storm. Not only did the driver arrive approximately one hour later for pickup, no fewer than five American Expediting employees watched over this job to make sure that it was delivered. The result, this morning my mother had the first decent nights sleep in a week, she had one less thing to worry about, and she didn't spread the radiation to her family.

Thank you to the Pittsburgh team for helping to make a difference in my families life. To Mark, Scott, Jennifer, Dale, and Fred for executing flawlessly, to driver 3383 for going the extra step, and finally to my brother-in-law, Joe Manich, the best son my mother could have, who bought the expensive chair in the first place.

If you are curious if I made the birdie putt, please don't ask.

BEWARE OF THAT BIG BAD TANTALIZING DISCOUNT

Are you enticed by a product advertisement promising 10% off your best price?

Many people are and just as many are being hoodwinked by wily manufacturers; manufacturers who have assigned different model numbers or names to the same, identical product. They do this so that they can sell their branded product to both large discount retailers who can afford to resell those items for less, and to smaller retailers who specialize in “service.”

These marketing-savvy manufacturers know that the simple addition of the word “discount” in their advertisements guarantees sales traffic if not outright sales.

But now there are technical tools available for consumers that help them perform an “apples vs. apples” comparison of the same products on sale by competing retailers. Such websites as Nextag, Shopzilla, and Bizrate enable a shopper to find specific model numbers, the stores selling these models (both online and brick and mortar retailers), and the various prices. With their help, the potential customer can weed through the comparative features of each model and make an educated decision on whether a 10% discount off of a competitor’s best price is of any consequence.

Does a service discount entice as well?

It is my opinion that the service industry is a different animal that doesn’t lend itself to discount advertising. If you don’t agree or wonder why, consider the following:

Imagine that a same-day courier service advertised a 10% discount off the best delivery prices being offered by their competitors during a specific month. Now, try applying the apples vs. apples products comparison model to this “services” comparison discount.

I find it isn’t applicable. That is because for 50% of service customers price is the priority, but for the other 50% of customers value and performance are the deciding factors. For that group, customer service, reliability, communications, online access and reporting all come into play.

A recent presentation by one of the top pharmaceutical suppliers spoke to this exact scenario. According to the assessment, couriers who cut corners to achieve lower prices can leave customers vulnerable to fines, theft, and late deliveries.

Being cognizant of those possibilities would certainly give rise to other service questions by that courier among prospective customers. They may worry that the assigned driver often gets lost resulting in rush delivery delays. They may wonder if their assigned courier has working air conditioners for transporting sensitive medical STATs. Or, they may question if their assigned driver is the one who fails to lock his vehicle carrying their pharmaceuticals valued at $100,000. These are all legitimate concerns and all actual incidences from the courier industry’s archives.

“Personally, I believe these advertisements a 10% discount cheapens the entire courier industry” says Victor Finnegan, President of Philadelphia-based American Expediting Company.

Finnegan, who is opening four new locations over the next month, plans to promote his sites by guaranteeing better service for every month of the year, not only in the new Chicago, Hartford, Boston and West Virginia offices, but in his other 28+ locations. By promising “better” service across the board, Finnegan stands behind his Operations Team, a dedicated team of professionals committed to delivering the best value and performance of any courier in the nation at competitive prices.

So, when you’re looking for the best service and value for your important package deliveries, be “penny wise, not pound foolish,” in the words of another Philadelphian: the late Benjamin Franklin.

Courier Business Benefits from Service Changes in U.S. Postal Service

The changes, and possible collapse of the United States Postal Service as we know it should come as no surprise to any of us. Nor should the reduced level of service that is likely to follow. For example, mail that previously arrived in 1-3 days could possibly take 2-5. And I’m not talking about the cut in Saturday’s deliveries since that has never been considered a business day by the USPS anyway.

No, I am looking back at this past winter. No one blamed the mail carriers for not trudging around in 2-1/2 feet of snow, but after the storm, the delay in service lasted six weeks. In one instance, it almost cost our company a major client. On a Friday in late March, a request for a bid via certified mail was mailed to us from a large client 70 miles from our Philadelphia office. Normal delivery would have been the following Monday, but it took seven business days to reach us, allowing only a few days to complete and submit the complex paperwork, a significant undertaking in the best of circumstances.

Within that same period, on a personal level, my family was planning a party to honor a milestone in my daughter’s life. Invitations were mailed to family in Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, and Northern, NJ. Two weeks later, when we hadn’t received an RSVP from 3 members of our family members, we called them to learn that they hadn’t received an invite. How embarrassing for us, they thought we left them out.

Service failure? You bet. And you can bet it’s one of many to come. Really, can you imagine delivery times improving when the USPS makes the expected service cuts? And ask yourself this: how many customers would your company retain if you delivered on less than 50% of your advertised and contracted services?

In an April AOLNEWS article, author Mara Gay noted that “the GAO endorsed the five-day delivery week but encouraged even more extensive cuts, including hiring more part-time workers, raising prices, closing some post offices and even outsourcing delivery routes to private contractors.”

My view is that business will no longer be able to afford using the USPS to deliver to and from their local facilities, although cost, which will become a factor, won’t be the primary reason. No, it will be because of undependable service.

But it needn’t be that way. Courier companies like American Expediting could provide them with backup drivers to cover vacation schedules, sick days, and holidays, even deer hunting days. We’ve already addressed these changes. For years, we have been picking up and delivering the mail of large corporations. In addition to daily early morning pickups from the main postal station with immediate delivery to local businesses, American Expediting also offers inner-office service to and from branch locations, as well as drop-offs to the post office all day long.

The next time you speak with your local American Expediting office, your account representative may ask if you are interested in adding postal services to your program. By doing so your company will receive its mail much earlier than it is currently experiencing.

Any way you look at it, you’ll be ahead of the game with American Expediting’s cost-effective, reliable and fast services.

For a complete list of our services go to www.amexpediting.com.

It's A Family Affair in the Courier Delivery Business

How long have you been working for your current employer?

Online statistics show that the average worker stays on the same job for 4.5 years. This is a far cry from the days when our parents and grandparents retired from the company that hired them right out of school.

My company currently looking for qualified candidates (SAMEDAY COURIER SALES POSITION) in the courier industry, and it is disappointing to review resumes that show applicants change jobs every year or two. I ask myself if I really want to hire someone, train them, and watch them leave the company just at the moment we are breaking even on our investment in them?

Here’s another sentence ending in a question mark! Would you want your son or daughter coming to work with you at your current job? Be honest. They hear you complain about your job at the dinner table and they see you arriving home exhausted, oftentimes frustrated, from a hard day at the office.

Now, let me tell you about a secret gem of a company based in Philadelphia. It is in the same- day delivery business and has been for 26 years.

Much like those start-up computer companies of recent vintage, American Expediting Company began in the family garage with owner Vic Finnegan running the entire operation along with his small family. As demand for his services grew, his nuclear family couldn’t match the need for manpower. It was time to begin a company family. Enter Ray Keough. Ray was hired to handle the expedited delivery services. Shortly thereafter his daughter, Karen, came aboard to manage the accounting processes. She, in turn, hired her daughter Nadine to augment her growing department.

With the addition and growth of the company’s multiple vertical markets, i.e. Medical Delivery, Facilities Management Services, Legal Courier Deliveries, etc., there was additional need for Operations people. Enter Mike Murphy, an experienced dispatcher, a former corporate banker, and now the Operations Manager for the Philadelphia office. Joining him each day at the office are his kids: Lauren, Mike Jr., and Sean all experts in Customer Service and Dispatch functions.

These are just the blood relatives among the staff of people in the Philadelphia office who have been with the company 5, 10, and even 20 years. There is a family here, not just the blood families but a real company family and for me, in this society, that is incredible.

But, let’s look at the other American Expediting offices; the American Expediting service in Pittsburgh includes the Sanner Family (husband, wife, and son); the Raleigh site includes the Preston family; the Orlando location includes the Caraballo’s; Harrisburg has the Snow’s who just added their second set of twins to their family, who will be expect will be driving for us in 2026. And, finally, in Detroit we have the Matanzas family.

We are either masochists, or we really love what we do. The next time you are out shopping for a company to help you with your same-day, rush delivery, or expedited courier needs, ask yourself the question…do I want to work with that big corporate black hole where I am a small part of their business, or should I choose the company that will treat me like I am one of the family?

Let it Snow - American Expediting

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS FRIGHTFUL:

Staying connected and informed in the courier business is essential for Marketing Managers and can this be accomplished in a number of ways: reading magazines and blogs, joining relevant online networks or becoming active in various organizations. Through these channels, a manager can gain or refresh his or her knowledge, learn from others and become familiar with trends.

Recently I received several emails from various couriers who were replying to the following question posed by an interested individual: how should a courier handle bad weather deliveries for credit card customers? Before I share with you some of the answers, let me reiterate the American Expediting policy:


AT AMERICAN EXPEDITING, THERE ARE NO EXTRA CHARGES TO CUSTOMERS FOR DELIVERING IN INCLEMENT WEATHER!

Here are a few of the responses I read from competing companies…

1. “When a winter storm is a level 2 or higher, all deliveries will be charged at an Emergency

rate.”

2. “We at (name deleted) logistics charge for inclement weather a flat rate of additional $25.”

3. “Here at (name deleted) we state that we deliver in small passenger cars- therefore on

snow days we do not go to many areas. The clients are all offered to meet us or use

common drop locations for our services. We also do turn down business thru the day-

depending how busy or slow we are.”

American Expediting views bad weather as an opportunity to shine. It is never the customer’s fault when the weather turns bad, so why should they be penalized? If the delivery can get there without questioning the safety of our driver, we bill at the same rate as we do on a sunny and mild day. Our team members should know that not every competitor feels the same way and we should capitalize on the advantage our policy offers. Furthermore, our customers should be assured that we have their best interest in mind as well as our drivers’ welfare.
The weather outside may be a fright but for a company committed to customer service, it brings bragging rights.