Active International, a Pearl River, NY-based corporate trading firm, is looking to expand its network of truckload, LTL carriers and owner-operators to offer a broader portfolio of services.
Active’s business model involves acquiring assets that its clients don’t need in exchange for trade credits or cash valued at up to wholesale or book value. The trade credits could then be used to purchase real estate, equipment and inventory, or services among other clients in the company’s network.
Carriers acting as clients benefit from being networked with the company’s extensive list of potential Fortune 1000 customers in the apparel, automotive, electronics, food and beverage, and retail industries at both the manufacturing and retail levels, explained Rick Fuest, president of Active’s International Division.
“We might work with a trucker or carrier and pay partially with cash and partially with Active trade credits,” Fuest told Fleet Owner. “Some trucking companies would use the trade credits for advertising-- especially to recruit drivers. Credits could also be used for hotels or sales meetings.”
Trucking company clients are incorporated in Active’s network of freight services, which acts as a broker. The company anticipates that demand for freight services will continue to mount among its clients.
“We’re looking for freight services to over time be a significant portion of how we take credits,” said Fuest.
Active has 650 clients, which includes companies such as Casio, Colgate-Palmolive, and DHL. But the company’s major stronghold is in advertising and media, having placed $700 million in placements in television, radio, newspaper and Internet advertising in one year.
“We’re considered the ninth-largest media mover in the world and are very well known in the community,” Fuest said. “We’re looking to have that same type of reputation with trucking in the future.”
