Page 41 - ATR 3 2022 digital

 Walmart’s Private Fleet Development
Program prepares potential employees
from warehouse or store positions for
road-ready roles

help grow our fleet by doubling trailer
production versus 2021. By doubling
production from last year, we'll be
inserting approximately 4,800 new
units into our network in 2022.”
The 210,000-square-foot Searcy
plant, which turns out 28-foot pups up
to 57-foot city vans as well as straight
trucks and converter dollies, has made
other adjustments beyond just expand-
ing its production capacity.
“This is the first year we're not sell-
ing trailers to third parties, even though
beat-up, used trailers are going for
elevated prices because of production
“THE PANDEMIC HAD A TREMENDOUS IMPACT ON delays with the equipment manufactur-
LABOR AND THE AVAILABILITY OF RAW MATERIALS, ers,” Sterling said. “We’re putting all
WHICH HAS LIMITED THE NUMBER OF TRAILERS our units into our own network.”
In addition to reduced build times,
ADDED TO THE INDUSTRY. THE EQUIPMENT Sterling listed other benefits of build-
MANUFACTURERS ARE STILL CONSTRAINED, EVEN ing in-house. Recycling and refurbish-
THOUGH SO FAR THIS YEAR HAS BEEN BETTER THAN ment of parts save half the cost over
LAST YEAR. SPECIFICALLY FOR TRAILERS, WE HAVE new while allowing for tighter quality
control (trailers are spec’d for a 14-year
A COMPETITIVE EDGE, BECAUSE WE PRODUCE THEM lifespan) and the ability change specs
RIGHT IN SEARCY.” on a dime.

It also allows XPO to maintain
—KEVIN STERLING, more control over wildly fluctuating
XPO LOGISTICS, SENIOR MARKET STRATEGIST raw material availability and cost.
“No company is immune from
those raw materials issues; we’d like to
think we’re managing it better than
at that time taking more than eight 2015 could have predicted how well the most,” Sterling said. “While our suppli-
months. decision to keep Searcy open and run- ers are experiencing delays due to these
The situation has grown so dire ning would pay off in 2020, today the shortages, we’ve been able to forecast
that manufacturers have steadily facility is one-of-a-kind among XPO’s our production a year in advance. This
increased their grip on controlling how peers. is a real advantage for suppliers to
many orders they will even accept this “In January 2022, we added a sec- source and secure raw materials.”
year. By April, Transport Topics reported, ond production line to work evenings. The plant employs about 150 with
orders placed for 2023 were largely on Prior to adding the additional capacity, the company aggressively looking for
hold over supply chain uncertainties we processed an average of 3,300 trail- additional manufacturing talent. XPO
and labor scarcity. ers per year. It’s a combination of trail- has held multiple job fairs seeking weld-
Given all of that, it doesn’t take a ers built from scratch and refurbished,” ers and technicians to help bolster the
rocket scientist to see the value of an Sterling said. workforce and continues to do so.
operation like the Searcy plant, XPO’s “The additional trailers flowing “We’re not aware of any other LTL
only trailer manufacturing facility into the network have allowed us to carrier with its own trailer production
which is supported by a growing num- retire old or damaged trailers faster capabilities,” Sterling said. “It really sets
ber of company-owned maintenance and keep our fleet in top condition. us apart. Our trailer production capac-
shops nationwide. And while no one in This investment in our equipment will ity is a big competitive advantage. ATR

ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT | Issue 3 2022 41