Page 28 - ATR 3 2014 web

Jeff loGGins: At A GlAnce 1997, when he fell trying to tarp a
Loggins drove until December
load of lumber and broke both elbows
and wrists. From that point forward,
first cAr: MY FIRST CAR wAS A 1964 FORD PICkUP, THREE-SPEED On THE he built the company from the office
COLUMn. I ACTUALLY wEnT TO MICHIGAn FOR THE SUMMER AnD instead of the road. The company grew
PICkED FRUIT SO I COULD COME BACk AnD BUY THE TRUCk. IT wAS steadily until it reached its current total
$600 SITTInG On A USED TRUCk SALES LOT, AnD I TOLD THE GUY I’D BE of 110 flatbeds. He built an office in
BACk AT THE EnD OF THE SUMMER TO GET IT.
1999 when the company had reached
fAvorite thinG About truckinG: THE PEOPLE. THE PEOPLE In THE InDUSTRY. about 20 trucks. A second office was
THEY’RE GOOD PEOPLE. later opened in Amity. Today Loggins
best rAzorbAck coAch of All time: wELL, I’D HAvE TO SAY FRAnk BROYLES serves 28 states hauling primarily steel
FOR wHAT HE DID BEFORE I REALLY BECAME A FAn. SInCE I’vE BEEn and building materials.
wATCHInG, I’D SAY BOBBY PETRInO.
fAvorite plAce to eAt on A fridAY niGht: THAT wOULD BE ROn’S CATFISH. THEY a famiLy of empLoyees
HAvE SOME OF THE BEST CATFISH AROUnD. EvERYBODY GOES TO Loggins Logistics uses only owner-
ROn’S On FRIDAY nIGHT. operators. Why? “Because I was one,
best deer huntinG memorY: I wAS 18 AnD In HAMPTOn, ARk. wITH MY DAD. I and I knew that I really couldn’t go
ACTUALLY kILLED MY FIRST BUCk DOwn THERE wITH HIM, SO IT wAS out there and buy company equipment
SPECIAL; A FOnD MEMORY. at the time anyway, and I just felt like
WhAt does Your GrAnddAuGhter cAll You? PEPAw. SHE wAnTED TO CALL HER owner-operators took better care of the
GRAnDMOTHER ‘MEMAw’ SO I TOLD HER SHE COULD JUST CALL HER customers than a driver would,” he said.
‘MEMAw’ AnD ME ‘PEPAw.’ “A lot of people who run company
trucks come back to me and say, ‘We
i never... THOUGHT THAT I wOULD Own A HUnDRED-TRUCk-FLEET
TRUCkInG COMPAnY. tried owner-operators. We couldn’t
make it work.’ What we try to do is
was a lot more enjoyable than manag- that kept calling me and asking me if I educate our owner-operators that, num-
ing a Fred’s. wanted to start a company and they’d ber one, we’re not the biggest fleet out
“If something happened, if I had come lease on to me, so I guess I had there. We’re still considered a small
to go back to doing anything, I’d prob- a good enough reputation that they fleet, so you can’t go out there and ask
ably get back in a truck. The relation- trusted me.” a customer to offer you 20 loads, and
ships that I’ve built over the years have His wife Linda, who at that point you’re only going to take one. That day
just been phenomenal. It’s a tough was managing a Fred’s in Marked Tree, is gone anyway. So the loads you’re tak-
life. I understand that, and it’s prob- would leave the store every day at 9 a.m. ing, the customer expects service, so
ably harder now than when I did it,” and dispatch drivers from her car. Every you’ve got to have reliable owner-opera-
he said. “But I just think the greatest night when he would call home, she tors to get it there.”
thing about trucking and being an would tell him about the faxes she had Loggins has tried to take care of
owner-operator was always the fact that received from shippers needing freight his owner-operators. It makes him
as long as I was willing to get out there hauled. When Loggins Logistics reached proud when one of them is able to buy
and work, I could be successful. There’s six or seven drivers, they turned their a new truck. All of his drivers are home
a good living to be made.” bedroom into an office, and she began almost every weekend, which he consid-
In January 1997, he started his own working for the company full-time. ers a high priority. It lets them rest and
company by buying two more trucks In the early days, he built his spend time with their families, and it
for a dedicated haul from Malvern to customer base by relying on the rela- also gives them time to maintain their
Corning. In May, he stopped hauling for tionships he had developed as an trucks. He also makes sure that rates
Fikes and posted his own signs on his owner-operator with forklift drivers and are high enough that everyone can
truck. His former bosses, Gary Salisbury shipping office employees. profit.
and Jerry Davis, were supportive of his “I didn’t know the home office “I never went after freight where
decision and answered his questions. people to call to look for business so I I had to cut the rate,” he said. “I don’t
His early success surprised even him. would call the shipping office or talk to play that game. I always said, ‘Here’s
“I wasn’t planning on starting a the forklift drivers. I’d show up at their what it takes for our guys to be success-
trucking company when it happened,” business and ask, ‘How do I get your ful, and if we can’t have that rate, then
he said. “It just kind of snowballed into business?’ And they would help me get we’ll move on.’ And so we’ve partnered
one. There were other owner-operators in contact with the correct people.” with some good customers that pay us

28 ArkAnsAs truckinG report | issue 3 2014