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Garick Turns to Logistics

01/09/06

Traffic World , January 2006
Non-asset wood products distributor sets up logistics subsidiary; "We just keep things moving; says Schanz

When the logistics industry is hot - as it is now - it seems everybody wants to get into the act. But while few newcomers succeed, one shipper's recent start-up could buck the trend.
Cleveland-based natural resource products distributor Garick established GarTran, a transportation and logistics subsidiary, to move freight throughout North America for current customers and vendors as well as new prospects.
It's a risky step. Richard Armstrong, president of Armstrong &Associates, said, "Most people don't do it well enough to do it for the marketplace." But with six dedicated staff having already moved 100,000 tons of freight in 2005, "It's not trivial, because there is enough business to give them a floor and give them a chance of getting it to operate.? Bob Schanz, president of GarTran, said Garick's bulk wood products business had been moving its own and vendors' shipments for years before deciding to spin off the transportation business.
Schanz, who is also supply chain director for Garick, said the company also added college graduates in logistics and supply chain management in an effort to broaden its appeal to shippers.
GarTran is a non-asset based provider. It works with as many as 800 different carriers during a busy month and has moved equipment as far as Alaska. GarTran can move items by truck, rail or barge, or intermodally depending on cost. GarTran will do all shipping, handling, and paperwork as one transaction on a single bill, Schanz said, with special attention to avoiding demurrage and other penalties. "We just keep things moving", he said. "We really stay on top of it to avoid all those charges."
Armstrong said a few (usually large) shippers have successfully entered the transportation logistics business, but it's tough. Start-ups must have the financial wherewithal, organizational flexibility and expert human staff to compete with the Exels, Hub Groups, and C.H. Robinsons that dominate the market.
Yet GarTran might just have what it takes, Armstrong said. Two hundred million pounds of shipping means 100 to 200 shipments a week, he said, "and there are brokers and small freight forwarders out there that wish they had that many in a week." GarTran "is sort of a quirky, interesting development and I wish them luck with it," Armstrong said.

- William Hoffman