For the first time in more than two decades, the National Private Truck Council has published an up-to-date compilation of private fleets, the story of corporate trucking's $300 billion-a-year market and the largest sector in the trucking industry. Called America's Private Fleets, the publication is available free as a download from the Council's web site at www.nptc.org.
The main topics covered are a chronology of transportation milestones over more than a hundred years affecting, or of interest to, private fleets; an overview of government regulations, court decisions, public work projects, and trade associations which have impacted private fleets — especially since the advent of federal trucking regulation in the l930s; and a statistical profile of how predominant private fleets are in the nation's total logistics cost of $1.3 trillion (as of 2007).
Also featured are chapters on the world-class service which private fleets provide; the fundamentals of running a successful private fleet; and the importance of having a seasoned, well-trained professional management team in place. Additional focus is given to the correlation between technology and improvements.
America's Private Fleets offers a strategic perspective of corporate trucking in the United States, its story, its numbers, technology and people. Highlighted are success stories and examples of best practices which typify many private fleets. Some basics of private trucking are outlined as well as some of the more esoteric methods used to gain optimizations, cut costs, and help run the most efficient commercial truck fleets in the world.
Important underlying fundamentals are noted, such as sustained commitment from corporate upper management plus having a first-class team of trained and experienced professional managers. We emphasize how experience shows that virtually all successful private fleets have both long-term corporate support for their business model and also top professionals on board — from drivers to transportation directors — who consistently meet the highest, most demanding standards of service.
We spotlight the rising class of private fleet managers who are wearing more hats within the corporation than ever before. Further noted is the critical role the NPTC plays in helping build and sustain this new class of professional through its Certified Transportation Professional® program, its Private Fleet Management Institute, National Safety Conference, Annual Education Management Conference, webcast training series, and dozens of other Council programs designed to replenish the knowledge and information necessary to stay “cutting-edge.”
America's Private Fleets concludes that regardless of the challenges confronting today's professionals, they continue to unleash innovative new strategies to enhance their value proposition.
This publication is being distributed to thousands of CEOs of companies that use transportation services, to hundreds of national trade association leaders, and to all national media outlets. America's Private Fleets is published as a service to NPTC member companies in order to help reinforce the values and benefits typically found in the modern private fleet operation.
But it also has a broader purpose, namely, to tell the private fleet story to a wider audience that may not be aware of the history, importance and advantages that private fleets bring to U.S. corporations and the nation's economy in general.
Gary Petty is president and CEO of the National Private Truck Council. The council's web site is www.nptc.org. His column appears monthly in FLEET OWNER.
