The logistics and transportation market in the U.S. is massive and growing exponentially. In fact, the Department of Commerce estimates $1.3 trillion was spent in the industry in 2011 alone, accounting for about 8.5 percent of the total annual gross domestic product (GDP). Many companies are now choosing to turn over the IT portion of their transportation and logistics tasks to a managed service provider (MSP) in an effort to save money and improve efficiencies.
Texas MSP Enstep Technology Solutions understands the importance of staying on top of logistics, particularly as they pertain to transportation. The company specializes in offering managed IT services including VoIP, disaster recovery, cloud services and security in addition to logistics. CEO Brett Passmore pointed out the importance of staying on top of logistics to avoid some of the issues that plagued the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
“When the technology behind logistics works, you never see it,” said Passmore. “Our clients count on us to be thorough yet invisible.” Having a proper logistics system in place in Sochi could have prevented issues like having only four of the five Olympic rings materialize during the opening ceremony, as well as the construction and transportation logistics problems that plagued the Games. Failure to properly plan resulted in news agencies having to build their own infrastructure to transport equipment and personnel, with NBC reporting that their production costs for the event ran more than $100 million.
Proper logistics planning within the transportation industry is invaluable, as Texas Transload & Logistics understands. The freight company is a client of Enstep, relying on the MSP to provide the IT logistics solutions they so heavily rely on.
“Enstep is our preferred IT specialist because they understand the logistics industry and our competitive landscape,” said Johnathon Merrill, general manager of Texas Transload & Logistics. “We are freight guys, not IT guys. It’s good to know that we can depend on Brett and Enstep. They help us keep our costs down while providing us with the state-of-the-art technology that we need to grow.”
“Our role at Texas Transload & Logistics is an excellent example of the value we offer,” added Passmore. “We started working with this transportation and logistics company while they were still putting together their business plan. After establishing their baseline needs, we implemented an IT strategy to ensure their success.”
Edited by
Cassandra Tucker