You wouldn’t know it by talking to COO and co-owner Bella Williams, but Williams Transport Express is new to the transportation industry. Founded in 2020, the Waldorf, Maryland-based and family-owned car transportation company was born out of necessity—both for its owners and to fill a need in the market.
“It was the height of the pandemic, and we had been laid off from our jobs,” Williams related. “With a family to support, we needed to find a way to keep going. Then a friend who was hauling cars introduced us to the idea of going into the auto transportation business, and we’ve been growing ever since.”
Along with her husband, Darrell, who has an IT background, Williams applies her experience in the auto industry, and together, they are running a growing enterprise. The business, which began with a single Ram 3500 and a three-car trailer, has expanded to include a second truck and a trailer capable of hauling five cars. The fleet makes weekly runs between the DMV, Washington, D.C./Virginia/Maryland area, and Florida.
“Initially, we were using a central dispatch service and a load board to find customers, but now we’re focused on working directly with dealerships, auction houses, and private owners, and we’re starting to work with brokers as well,” Williams said. “Having set schedules is attractive to our customers because they know when we can handle their loads. We’ve realized that the path to success is to have partnerships.”
HOS, compliance management
Technology also is a key part of the early success that Williams Transport Express has enjoyed. Its trucks are equipped with Motive Technologies electronic logging devices so drivers can easily adhere to hours of service (HOS) regulations using built-in HOS countdown clocks and alerts. The solution also enables Williams to automate compliance management.
While it’s not often that you see a small carrier adopt a full-featured transportation management system (TMS), that is exactly what Williams Transport Express has done. Almost from the start, the company has been using the Ship.Cars Carrier TMS to manage orders and dispatch loads, handle invoicing and payments and plan its operations. Drivers who are connected to the software on company cellphones also use the TMS to record inspections of customer vehicles, including photos, access load details and manage bills of lading and proof of delivery documentation.
“The Ship.Cars Carrier TMS is tailored to our business,” Williams explained. “It also automates a lot of the manual processes involved in transporting vehicles so we can eliminate the need to enter data in multiple systems. Everything is easier because we have one platform and one screen.
“With the ability in the Ship.Cars TMS to record accurate inspection details when we pick up cars from customers, we’ve reduced damage claims significantly,” Williams added. “Since we started using the software, we haven’t had a single claim.”
Some of the biggest benefits that Williams said they are realizing with the Ship.Cars TMS come from the software’s reporting capabilities. “The ability to pull quarterly data illustrates trends in our business that we can use to plan ahead of time,” she stated. “It lets us see where we can improve and sell our capacity so we eliminate empty miles. Knowing where our business is coming from helps us reach out to dealer, auction house, and broker partners so we can improve productivity.”
The result for Williams Transport Express has been measurable. Compared to 2021, the company has increased revenue 81% in 2022 to date, Williams reported.
“We always want to add customers and more service capacity,” Williams said. “We also have our sights set on being licensed to broker loads on our own. Eventually, we hope to have enough business to have our own dispatching department.”
In Williams’ opinion, in the auto hauling market, there is clearly a need to provide customers with information. “We had to learn for ourselves how to work with them and run this business, especially with limited resources at our disposal,” she said. “We’d like to help change that in the future.”
