Cole Stevens, Chief Strategy Officer, welcomes us into the family atmosphere at Stevens Trucking, one of North America’s premier carriers.
A TRUCKING FAMILY
“This is not just a business – it’s our way of life. When all of us are in it together, we have to make things work.”
Cole Stevens, Chief Strategy Officer, is the youngest of three sons working at Stevens Trucking (Stevens), founded by his father Kenney in 1979.
Having been around trucks his whole life, it was an easy transition for Cole when he joined the family company 10 years ago after graduating from the University of Oklahoma.
“My two older brothers were already in the business; we live, vacation, and do everything together, so I always felt like I understood what was going on and it was really easy to dive into,” he reflects.
What started with one truck and a dream has matured into something much greater for Stevens as it now operates a specialized fleet of over 400 trucks and more than 1,800 trailers across the US.
“Currently, we have a corporate terminal in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (OK) and own some others in the state,” Cole informs us.
“We also have about 15 other drop yards that we lease across the country in the Upper Midwest, Southeast, and Central US, and service all 48 lower states as well as Canada.”
JUST-IN-TIME DELIVERY
Stevens has become one of North America’s premier carriers with Kenney’s hotshot mentality of just-in-time delivery at the core.
“We need to focus on delivering every load on time, which keeps customers around. If you don’t, then you’re going to have a lot of dwell time with people’s goods, they’re not going to be happy, and you’re not going to be making money doing it, so it’s not just some simple talking point,” emphasizes Cole.
“From a profitability perspective, we always want to play hot potato with these trailers. You want to get freight on and off as quickly, safely, and legally when it comes to hours of service as possible,” he insights.
The company therefore tries to deliver on time, every time for its diverse client base and, from a core business perspective, free up its assets to generate revenue.
Stevens offers a drop-and-hook solution that keeps freight moving quickly and securely. This methodology also equates to drivers getting the miles they’re promised thanks to its high trailer-to-truck ratio.
Its dedication to timely delivery is maintained by a team of just under 500 employees with many years of experience in the US trucking industry.
“Our entire team is based here in the US. When you’re dealing with people in our operations team, they know what’s going and they’ve driven trucks, unlike some of the competition who outsource a lot of things,” Cole acclaims.
FAMILY FEEL
There is a huge family feel at Stevens, whose upper management is almost entirely made up of family members.
From the top down, there’s a family member involved in every single department of the company.
“We work together, play together, and actually live together on the same family compound,” Cole shares.
“We genuinely love each other and drive the business forward because we all rely on living off it. You don’t get to choose your family members, so you should always try to work things out because family comes first.”
This family feel has been passed down the organization and there are no ulterior motives as everyone is trying to accomplish the same mission.
“We’re genuinely all in this together; that’s what gives Stevens the family feel. We lead by example because that’s what we do in our day-to-day lives.”
By focusing on building a family-friendly atmosphere for its staff, Stevens has reshaped the industry.
“We’re a group that is goal-oriented. That’s how our family operates and we’re trying to execute those goals,” affirms Cole.
Stevens is also a team when it comes to the business side of things and driving forward to achieve its goals.
The company tries to provide a healthy working environment for its people to operate in, which can be tough in trucking as it’s a very fast-paced, stressful, and tough industry.
“Our emphasis is always on trying to take some of the stress off our people. That means helping your coworker with an extra dispatch on a load of keying in some data for a customer, rather than just walking past the dirty laundry.”
As part of its family atmosphere, Stevens places its employees front and center through showcases and marketing campaigns.
This puts names to faces and provides a window into the inner workings of the business and an understanding of its morals and values.
IN-HOUSE MAINTENANCE
Stevens uses a lot of cutting-edge technology and software programs to carry out maintenance in-house.
“It requires true logistics when managing purchase orders, invoicing, stock keeping units (SKUs), and all these different things yourself, rather than just making a payment on a truck you’re leasing,” Cole enlightens.
Add in the fact Stevens has 400 trucks moving around the US in real time tied to another 400 active and 1,400 dwelling trailers, it’s a large operation with thousands of moving pieces per day.
“You need to have some form of centralized dispatch and maintenance programs to keep your core data together and ensure you’re all executing in sync.
“We always say we should be a well-oiled machine and moving like an engine. The pistons should be firing in tandem,” he elaborates.
Stevens is expanding with some terminals in Southwest OK – key real estate that will help the company better service customers and give its operations team more flexibility when it comes to equipment and maintenance.
“Whenever you get to open up a terminal that has a full-service shop, that’s a big thing. Because we do all our maintenance in-house, it’s really exciting what’s going on,” Cole concludes.
As well as putting its real estate acquisitions to bed, Stevens is focused on winning new business for some large blue-chip customers, keeping up its safety program, and building on vendor relationships as the company pursues sustained, healthy, and organic growth.
STEVENS TRUCKING PARTNER
