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| New Company Offers Quality Services And Enjoys Explosive Growth | |||||||||||
(1991) - Central Penn Business Journal: "It was the worst of times; it was the best of times," is the way that David Metzler, president of Carlisle Carrier Corporation, might paraphrase Dickens' most oft-quoted line. While declining traffic and profits mark the last two years as one of the worst times in the intensely competitive trucking industry, Carlisle Carrier has generated a consistently increasing sales growth since beginning operations in April, 1990. Starting with five trailers and four owner-operator drivers, sales during the past year and a half have justified expansion to 40 company drivers and 26 owner-operators, with operations, clerical and administrative support provided by an in-house staff of 12 employees. A fleet of 75 tractors is planned by year-end 1991; and the company's immediate goal of operating more than 100 tractors generating $10-12 million in, annual revenue is expected to be reached early in 1992. "We started a capital-intensive business in a recession!" says Metzler, which has proven to be the best of times or us since capital costs have been low. Just as important, the market has been very responsive to our competitive pricing and our dedication to the highest level of service. While we didn't have a large customer base when we started, we've been growing rapidly and generating a loyal customer following in the food stuff business-our core market to date." Located off I-81 near Carlisle, Carlisle Carrier is a motor carrier specializing in delivering full truckloads routed directly to their destination. Their service area is the Northeastern Region of the U.S., roughly bordered by Greensboro, North Carolina on the south, Columbus, Ohio on the west, Canada on the north and the Atlantic Ocean on the east. "When we started the company, this regional territory was selected because more than 60 percent of our nations population resides within it, " explains Metzler. "It's also a market that many of our competitors don't want to service, however, since there are often significant traffic delays, bad roads and high costs of operation." "We strategically focused on the transportation of foodstuffs because, in tough times, the consumer may not buy automobiles or other luxuries, but they will always buy food. The heavy population and good foundation of businesses located within this territory means that we have significant opportunities to expand our services into other shipping markets such as paper, cable, building supplies, plastic bottles and many other industries that ship dry good products. Our long-range goal is to have a 50-50 break-down in our business between food and other dry freight shipping, although we don't haul chemicals or garbage in order to protect our food shippers." According to Metzler, the large familiar names in the trucking industry are mostly "less than truckload" companies. These companies haul a variety of shipments from several clients on the same truck, all going to different destinations. This type of shipping necessitates higher rood mileage due to complicated truck routing as well as requiring a tremendous overhead in storage and handling facilities and high labor requirements, all of which must be passed onto the customer. By handling only full truckloads direct to their destination, Carlisle Carrier is able to run a much more efficient operation. Excess mileage costs are minimized and the physical overhead for storage, handling and labor are eliminated since the trailers become the rolling warehouses. Lower costs result in pricing levels which have helped Carlisle Carrier expand their customer list and their business. Before establishing Carlisle Carrier, David Metzler had accumulated more than two decades of experience in the motor carrier industry, starting in 1967 with a motor carrier in Denver, Colorado, of which he ultimately become president From 1978 until 1989 Metzler was president of Shaffer Trucking, Inc. of New Kingstown, PA. When he accepted the position in 1978 he was given a minority ownership interest along with a promise that he could run the company as if he owned it "lock, stock and barrel," in exchange for committing to stay with the company a minimum of 10 years. Metzler engineered company growth that turned a 6O-truck fleet into one with more than 400 tractors and 800 trailers during his tenure. More significantly, he oversaw sales growth from $8 million to more than $50 million during that time. With a history of success carrying over to Carlisle Carrier, Metzler believes his new firm's continued growth will be 00sed on the company's dedication to delivering the highest level of quality service and willingness to tackle the tough jobs. "We are opportunists," says Metzler. "While anybody can provide service for the easy jobs, we'll take on the worst problems our customers are faced with and handle them well. I can't tell you how many times our people have gone the extra mile for a customer and helped them out on a problem delivery .We consider these assignments an opportunity to please a customer who has trusted us to help them succeed. I've always believed that people do business with people,-do the job right and you make friends who'll trust you with their business. "At Carlisle Carrier, we make magic happen," concludes Metzler. "If an emergency comes up, we want our customers to know that they can call us and our people will get things done. We're confident that our service gives our customers reason to place their confidence in us.". Back to top © 2008 Carlisle Carrier Corporation. All rights reserved. Privacy Statement | Contact Us |