We've Got Your Back American Expediting

American Expediting has the backs of many of our customers, 24/7/365. Every day, all yearlong, we help thousands of customers in countless
situations whether there is an AOG (aircraft on ground) delivery to get an airplane back in the air, a replacement heart rushed to a local hospital, or
a critical part required to get computer systems and production facilities back online.

Just last night, the need for backup coverage hit home when an accident to a telecommunications pole knocked out the phones and internet systems at our headquarters. Who came to our rescue? Our own National Call Center in Pittsburgh. Their managers worked through the night helping us
cover the Philadelphia and South Jersey markets. Using our mobile phones, we dispatched
all of our jobs to local drivers and captured critical updates in our Courier Management System software.

While this was a successful, yet unplanned test on our backup, it reminds us, and our customers, of the importance of having a round the clock solution for covering critical deliveries. With over 30 locations coast to coast, American Expediting plans hard for all contingencies.
American Expediting now has four offices operating 24 hours a day:Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Raleigh. Each is staffed with trained dispatch specialists to handle calls from multiple markets, and each has emergency activation procedures to ramp up personnel on a moment’s notice when situations arise. We’ve covered our three Florida locations when hurricanes caused local evacuations; Denver and Chicago sites during snowstorms, and our midwestern locations in Indianapolis and Columbus when recent tornados leveled entire communities.

So today we give a shout-out to our Pittsburgh call center for their excellent job and promise that we’re prepared to do the same in return.

Soldier's employer gets Patriot Award - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Soldier's employer gets Patriot Award - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Our Fearless Operation Director, Mark Sanner, receives award on behalf of American Expediting.

A true Red,White, and Blue experience. We are all so proud!!!

Beantown Here We Come - American Expediting Grand Opening in Boston

What do Gisele Bundchen, Bobby Valentine, and American Expediting have in common?

They all know how to score big in Boston. Gisele married three-time Superbowl champ Tom Brady, Bobby Valentine signed a multi-year deal to manage the Red Sox, and American Expediting opened its newest location strategically close to downtown Boston and the Boston International airport.

Why did American Expediting expand into Boston? For two reasons: (1) we’ve been delivering in the Greater Boston area for a few years through our remote call center and have experienced a strong demand from existing customers to expand our coverage area and service availability; and (2) as part of our national expansion across the United States, we believe Boston is an important piece of the puzzle and completes our core coverage along the Eastern seaboard. Along with our August opening in New York City and now Boston, American Expediting now covers all major cities from north to south: Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Atlanta down to Miami.

The types of customers that use our services in the Boston market are usually from our existing database of clients. Not only are they already pleased with our high levels of service and competitive price structure, they are often on a quest to reduce the numbers of vendors they are managing across the country. What they’ve found is that American Expediting is among the best covering multiple cities. Our after hours call center, local operations management, and consolidated accounting solutions help customers to add to their bottom line.

An example of one such customer is a national logistics and freight management company that utilizes American Expediting in multiple cities. When their local Operations Manager moved from Columbus, Ohio to Boston they found that the local branch was using multiple courier companies to handle their work. Learning about the grand opening in Boston helped this client make the decision to consolidate the amount of their vendors, as well as ensure that the local rates became more competitive. Another such customer specializes in servicing medical specimen deliveries. With our corporate training program, all of our drivers are trained and tested on the policies and procedures needed to ensure that our company maintains its high level of compliance with the TSA, OSHA and with HIPAA.

Whether you need to review your existing same day courier solutions, or are looking for a partner to help you design local and national logistics solutions, please consider American Expediting as your vendor in Boston or around the country.

Funny Stories in the Courier Industry

When this blog began publishing over two years ago, we stated that the purpose of the blog was to share the trials and tribulations of the courier industry. Included in this description was the desire to share funny stories that have come our way during the everyday course of doing business.

Many of you know that American Expediting handles animals in a variety of ways. From transporting specialty (high value) lab mice to a lab, tropical birds to your local pet stores, as well as handling the family pet. As many people find out the hard way, it is not so easy to transport your pets on a commercial flight. Enter, American Expediting. We know the multitude of rules and regulations that need to be followed and can make your move less stressful, as well as that of your pet.

Recently, we received an email requested through our website, http://www.amexpediting.com/, requesting us to handle their precious family pets. Before you read on, please make sure you don't need to use the bathroom. We wouldn't want to be the cause of a "people accident".

To whom it may concern:
I need to transport 2 Chihuahuas under 10 pounds each from Boston to Dallas. My ex and I share custody. I just moved to Boston making this difficult. He needs them in the winter months because it is just too cold for them in the Northeast. The airline carrier restrictions prevent me from bringing them on the plane. Could you please provide a quote?

You'll be happy to hear that both pets made it safely to their winter home, and with only a small amount of doggie accidents in their kennel.

American Expediting. The newest member of the Animal Transportation Association

FULL SERVICE COURIER OFFERS LIFECYCLE SUPPORT

Twenty-eight years ago when we started in this business, courier delivery was synonymous with document delivery. Attorneys, accountants, and engineers drove our business. As time passed, we acquired a wide array of customers, many with deliveries of a time-sensitive and time-critical nature. We were discovering that the service needs of our clients changed daily making the same-day delivery business truly unique.

Today, the term courier is more frequently associated with medical deliveries, including lab specimens and human organs and has pretty much become the backbone of our business. Now, with the predominance of medical work, we’ve noticed another aspect of our business that is particularly striking: the human element involved in our daily work. At the end of each day, as we evaluate our operations, we see the lives we’ve affected while doing our jobs, the people we’ve helped in ordinary and extraordinary ways. Those are the jobs most rewarding and of the greatest import to us and are exemplified in the following examples of jobs we did in a single day:

• Driver is dispatched in the early morning to pick up prenatal medications for an expectant mother on bed rest in her final trimester, helping to safeguard her from a premature delivery.

• Driver transports cord blood from a new mother donating it to a regional community cord blood bank, a future benefit for a needy recipient needing the cord blood to save their life. The delivery is performed via a flexible route pre-established to our clients evolving needs in the tri-state area of Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The route services multiple hospitals and a centralized storage facility.

• A college-bound student studying abroad depends on an American Expediting driver to get his personal belongings to a local Freight Forwarder for loading onto an ocean container ensuring the necessities of his life will be waiting for him upon his arrival.

• Reputed for their conscientious animal transport services, American Expediting receives requests from empty-nesters relocating across the country to move their special pets to their new residences. We handle hundreds of pet deliveries every year, offering door-to-door service and safe delivery for anxious pet owners.

• Out for a night on the town that includes a movie? You can bet that one of our drivers picked up the film reel at the airport then hand delivered it to the theatre. We assist the movie studios to ensure that their new releases are protected and not replicated without their permission.

• Diabetic patients in need of continuous insulin flow can receive it at home thanks to technological advancements in medicine. The insulin pumps and bags required for the process are stored and delivered around the country by American Expediting, a preferred courier of national pharmaceutical companies.

As you can see, our couriers touch many aspects of life each day and yet so many people still believe that couriers only deliver legal documents. We take real pride in knowing that we are helping others live their lives as safe and secure as possible.

Please send in a comment to our blog with your unique experience with a courier.


This blog is dedicated to the memory of Jennifer Blakely, a valued employee of American Expediting Company who managed our office in Toledo, OH.

How Emotions Affect Buyer Decisions in the Courier and Messenger Industry

The landscape for acquiring new customers in any business has changed dramatically since the expansion of the Internet and the growth of online advertising. Entire business models are shrinking to extinction. The days of print ads and regional trade shows to promote a company are but a fraction of their glory days, impelling entire sales divisions into revisionary actions. Old sales programs and presentations have been chiseled, sharpened and streamlined into attractive and user- friendly online campaigns--an undeniable necessity since potential customers will find your company more often then you will find them. Today’s new breed of customers have trigger points for qualifying a new supplier so instituting these contemporary pitches increases chances of acquiring new business. According to the Rapid Learning Institute, there are six emotionally based reasons that customers choose a new product or service. In the following paragraphs, we have used real-world business scenarios from American Expediting Company’s files, along with the question and specific emotion that drove a buyer to select us as their courier. Desire for gain: Will, and how will, this courier help me land more business? When a declining market for an industry leader in the secure document retrieval, storage, imaging, and destruction business was traced to an inept courier service, they turned to us, American Expediting for help in retrieving that business segment. We launched a two-fold plan that entailed training and testing our company’s Detroit office staff as well as the courier team to be used. These training sessions covered the specific “how’s” for handling our new client’s confidential documents as well as the importance of both courier and vehicular appearance. Almost immediately confidence was restored among our client’s customers and business picked up. Additionally, our client’s internal sales staff, which had ceased targeting that particular business sector, was inspired to renew their efforts. Says the client’s Director of Development, “The couriers’ professionalism won the confidence of our sales group who re-doubled their energies in selling that service.” Fear of loss: Will the services of this courier be 100% reliable to ensure continued loyalty on the part of my current customer base? “When plumbers, builders, contractors, engineers, and other trade professionals are working at a client site and need a replacement part, they call our client to supply them from one of their 1,000+ service centers,” says the Operations Manager of this national company. “Our ability to assure our clients that we have their part in stock, and that they can have the part delivered promptly, ensures that they don’t look to our competitors for order fulfillment.” A key part of that “assurance” is derived from their courier, American Expediting Company. Our national network of agents in over 250 cities, helps to secure on-time pick-up and delivery of time sensitive critical parts with a single call to our National Call Center. Comfort and/or Convenience: Can this courier effectively manage my deliveries and provide me worry-free time for other work as well as recreation? The work of a Pennsylvania facilities management service for a brand name motorcycle company is keeping the production line equipped with parts and other supplies round-the-clock. Failure to do so results in tens of thousands of dollars of production downtime. With suppliers for the motorcycle company scattered over a 300-mile radius of the facilities management service, the facilities manager chose American Expediting Company as its courier. “One selling point for us was their office locations,” says the facilities manager. “They have major sites in Newark, Baltimore, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Columbus and Philadelphia so they were able to guarantee prompt pick-up and delivery to our client.” But that wasn’t all. The management service is also responsible for emailed progress updates to multiple parties covering numerous personnel shifts. They needed a courier that could provide ongoing and solid delivery status from pick-up to destination to all parties involved, a function coordinated and readily executed by American Expediting. The result is that the facilities management team, knowing that American Expediting is involved, can go home, worry-free, to their families. “It’s nice waking up from a solid sleep and seeing email confirming a completed, signed and sealed delivery,” notes the facilities manager. Security and Protection: Does this courier have back-up drivers who can substitute for my fleet in case of massive outages, vacations, or an unexpected increase in demand? When a world leader in medical diagnostics testing has one of their Western Pennsylvania internal drivers call off from work at the last minute business must still go on. Their clients expect a 24/7/365 pick-up/delivery option given the life and death issues in this line of work. Consider that biological samples must make it to the lab for testing so physicians can get results immediately and determine treatment. By partnering with American Expediting, which offers back-up assistance, this medical diagnostics testing lab has ready use of our routed and STAT drivers, day or night. Pride of Ownership (Prestige): Can this courier help me maintain the appearance of national coverage? Customers often like to work with a single vendor who can manage their national delivery needs. No matter the goal--facilitating vendors, vendor loyalty, lower prices, or increased support--many customers prefer to work with fewer vendors and often the local ones. However, the local couriers must give the appearance of countrywide coverage. To achieve this image, they turn to the larger vendors such as American Expediting for help in completing the deliveries outside of their home territories. Result: local mom and pop courier companies, thanks to the larger players such as us, give the impression and service of size and win the hometown clients. Ego Satisfaction: Can this courier convince my Sales group and/or Executive Management that a transportation service can improve on the company’s bottom line? Like any manager or supervisor, inventory managers for national medical distributors want to shine for their bosses. However, with the responsibility of securing the availability of thousands of supplies and parts to surgery teams around the country at a moment’s notice while controlling the costs of each distribution site’s inventory, failure is inherent in the job. “Shining,” is a luxury. But, depending on the reliability of American Expediting Company to help replenish inventory among locations within a 100-mile radius and reduce their risks, these managers are able to demonstrate a higher rate of fulfillment, a reduction in overall costs, and finally, an improved bottom line. Let ‘em shine! Capitalizing on customers’ emotions with understanding and supplying them with real world examples of how you have helped other companies with similar needs, such as those above, will help reinforce their reasons for contacting you in the first place, and give you a better chance to earn their business.

American Expediting Company, a Logistics Solutions Provider and Same-Day Delivery Service, Launches PA CoStar Supreme Services for Pennsylvania State

On March 1st, 2011, American Expediting Company initiated the service operations of the CoStar SUPREME Program, a customized statewide same-day and next-day delivery service established by the State of Pennsylvania. The programs goal is to help State and Local agencies save money during recent budget cuts, by creating optimized shipping routes throughout the State of Pennsylvania for maximum efficiency.

All businesses, whether or not they fall under the Pennsylvania State CoStar program, now have access to the expanded service levels for same-day and next-day deliveries available from American Expediting Company. The company was recently awarded the State’s contract for courier service (No. 4400007816). This contract allows for same day and next day shipments under its guise by PA’s 7150 CoStar members, local governments, school districts and most non-profit educational or health institutions. At the same time that CoStar members are reducing their shipping expenditures, local business may also piggyback onto these predetermined routes, and can save up to 50% on their current supplier rates.

Since 1983 American Expediting has been evolving and improving the speed and reliability of expedited shipping instead of simply maintaining proficiency in only one sector of shipping. Evidence of this is found in their certifications and/or training modules for TSA and HIPPA deliveries. The former permits the courier to deliver packages scheduled on a commercial airline, and the latter provides essential training for handling secured information within the healthcare industry. Both moves have resulted in an expansion of markets throughout the nation and assured a foothold in growth industries. This foresight and planning has propelled the Company upward, gaining them recognition as one of the premiere state and national courier services to date.

Handling the shipping needs of Pennsylvania State agencies is the company’s newest branch on its service tree. Among the agencies using the service are the Departments of Environmental Protection, State Parks, the Department of Health, Workers Compensation, Forestry Service, and the Inspector General.

Thus, on a day-to-day basis across Pennsylvania, American Expediting is moving hundreds upon hundreds of time-sensitive and chain-of-custody documents, samples and products to help keep the state functioning properly. Shipments include water samples testing for the West Nile virus, Rabies samples, drug test specimens, and payroll checks to name a few. But their Supreme Service can offer all state companies solutions to the budgetary cuts affecting their business. A list of various services include:

Routed Deliveries: For a substantial savings, place your Next-Day packages on CoStar’s pre-

determined routes.

Next Day Service: CoStar members enjoy next day deliveries at prices that are specifically rated

for the State of Pennsylvania.

Same Day Direct Deliveries: Direct pick-up and delivery with no stops. Shipments completed

quickly, safely and securely.

Warehousing Capabilities: Secured facilities for all types of storage.

According to Hank Minskoff, American Expediting’s CoStar Coordinator, the company is adding new agencies to this service daily. “We’ve come so far in three short weeks,” he says, “ and many agencies are choosing to use the web portal we’ve created to place their orders.” The use of technology for placing and tracking orders has instantly improved the level of service that existing customers were previously experiencing. Reducing the time needed to place orders, automatic confirmation of deliveries, and easy billing are all features of this customized, upgraded service. Aggressive pricing and increased levels of service are truly the

S-U-P-R-E-M-E reasons for all businesses to select this alternative delivery service.

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.