Dallas Courier & Delivery Blog

Day in the life of a courier company - Day 3

2009-07-14T22:04:00.002-05:00

Have you ever had one of those days where everything just fell into place and you couldn't do anything wrong? A day where you were the king salesman and showed your company why you get paid the big bucks.

Well, today was one of those days... almost.

Let me run down the list of what my day was shaping up to look like:

Today was the day that I was supposed to finally close the deal on a very large medical laboratory. I have been working on this for at least 6 months now. Actually, I first contacted this person 4 years ago. But, it wasn't until a few months ago that our drivers got OSHA & HazMat trained & certified through Integrity Corporate Services.
Had a delivery set up for General Dynamics to go from Dallas to Corpus Christi. Might turn into some steady work with this very large company.
A company called me that wants us to warehouse & delivery cleaning equipment. The deliveries are between Dallas, Oklahoma & Arkansas.
Another company wants us to warehouse & deliver HazMat materials in Dallas.

Oh yeah, today was looking to be one of those great days indeed. But, like a set of dominoes, every one of them came crashing down.

My contact at the medical lab had to leave town for a family emergency. So, everything is just put on hold.
The guy from GD called back and said that his customer decided to do their own deliveries and they would not need to use our service.
After I got all the details about the warehousing and delivery for the cleaning equipment, I realized that our warehouse is not large enough to store the customers 20' containers. Yes, we are still a small time operation :-) But, being a good neighbor I did give the customer the name & number to one of our local competitors that I thought could do the job. See there is such a thing as friendly competition.
The HazMat deliveries met the same fate as the GD stuff. Their customer changed their minds and don't want to start this project.

All of this took about 5 hours of my time today. What could have been a motherload of new business, turned out to be a bunch of phone calls, emails, bids, emails, phone calls, price lists & phone calls that all amounted to... well, at least there is still beer in the fridge.

Thankfully the Bible gives us some comfort here: Ecclesiastes 10:19 says "...wine makes life merry". Just like Benjamin Franklin said: “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”

So, I will happily go home, kiss my wife, play with my kids & be merry.

Tomorrow is another day. I'm ready. How about you?

Day in the life of a courier company - Day 2

2009-06-17T09:31:00.003-05:00

Will this be the day that changed the world? Or will it at least be the day that changed our company?

For 10 years now, I have been the only salesman for our company. But, as you can imagine, there comes a point where a company grows so much that one person just can't do it all. For us, that day came about 6 years ago. Ever since then, we have been trying to hire another salesman. The key word there is "trying". I can hear the words of the great Jedi Master now... "Do or do not. There is no try."

Well, for 6 years we needed another salesman and we did not get one hired. It has been a very interesting process and we learned a lot. We got close a few times. One of the most promising candidates was just last year. He had a good personality and tons of experience. In fact, his resume made him over qualified for the job. Everything was looking good. We agreed on a pay structure and we were set to go. Oh boy, I was so excited to start working with another salesman. Just thinking about sales meetings, brainstorming sessions & such put a smile on my face. J

But, it didn’t work out. The day before he was supposed to start with us, he told my business partner that he and I agreed on a different pay structure. But, we hadn’t. One thing that is completely unacceptable in our company is dishonesty. I never could determine if he was being dishonest or he really had his figures off that bad. Regardless, we couldn’t hire a salesman that was either dishonest or that incredibly bad at numbers.

So, year-after-year we carried on. Stretching our resources to its limits. Using everyone in the office to help with sales. Using selected drivers to help with sales. But, nothing is quite like a dedicated, professional salesman.

Well, today everything has changed. It is funny how things happen sometimes. There is a particular company in Fort Worth that I have been trying to get their business for 10 years. The decision maker’s name is Kenny. Kenny is a great guy. But, he would never give us their business. We just never could get our prices low enough for him to justify the change. But, every 6 months or so, he would meet with us. Always a very nice guy. Now, his company is downsizing and he was laid off.

Well, in an effort to make this long blog a little shorter. Kenny is now the new salesman for JetStar Courier. It’s just funny that for 10 years, I have been trying to get Kenny’s business. Now, Kenny will be selling for my business. Today could be the day that changes our company. Man, it is going to get real fun now.

Looking for struggling, dying courier companies

2009-06-04T17:22:00.004-05:00

Do you know anyone who owns a courier company that is struggling or on the verge of going out of business? We can help.

Losing customers, losing money, losing your mind? We can help.

email: erich@jetstarcourier.com

Looking for courier companies in any city or any state. dallas, houston, austin, san antonio...

Alabama
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Day in the life of a courier company - Day 1

2009-06-02T17:37:00.004-05:00

What a day to start the “Official Blog of the courier industry". Lol

Today started like any other day. A couple of drivers out with car issues. But, hey it’s only a Tuesday. We can handle it. Despite an early morning rain, everything was running very smoothly. In fact, I was wondering if there was going to be anything to blog about today.

Then, at 12:15pm, our dispatcher said that he needed to leave immediately. Sharp pains in the back & nausea. Yes, you guessed it… Kidney Stones! Ouch! Now, this is our only dispatcher right now. But, there are three owners of JetStar Courier and we were all full-time dispatchers at some point in our career. I was out doing sales calls and Thomas was at a school function with one of his children. Fortunately, our other partner, Janan, was in the office and she was able to take over dispatch and I continued with my sales calls. Once again, the small business triumphs over adversity because we are flexible, cross-trained & prepared.

Now I thought this would make a pretty funny story for my first blog. But, no… the day was not over yet. At 1:00pm, Janan (who was dispatching now) called me on my Nextel radio and said that she would have to leave for the doctor too because she was developing pink eye. I told her that I would cancel all my sales calls and head into the office. But, she didn’t want me to be exposed to the dreaded pink eye germs. So, I went home and logged into the computer. Thankfully, we have a computer system that allows us to login from anywhere using the internet. Janan was unable to tell me what all the drivers were doing because she could no longer see the computer monitor. The pink eye had almost completely shut her eyes.

Man, technology is amazing and wonderful. Ten years ago there is no way I could have run the entire dispatch operation from home. But, today because of our Nextel radios, LADS computer software & the internet, what could have been a disastrous day really turned out to be quite uneventful. At least from the viewpoint of our drivers and customers. Not a single delivery was late today. Plus I didn’t have to worry about the commute home since I was already there. Today was a good day!

The New "Official Blog" Starts Now

2009-06-01T15:43:00.001-05:00

Hey everybody,

I have been asked by a large organization to start writing a daily blog. This blog may, in the future, be picked up by said organization sort of an “official” day in the life of a courier. Previously, this blog has been just an experiment to see how blogger works, to see how Google Ad Sense works & to have a little fun. Well, now I am going to move this blog into a real-live grown-up blog. I will publish my first post later this evening. So, get ready.

The world is a safer place today...

2009-05-28T14:49:00.002-05:00

...well it is safer for those medical patients that get their tissue samples evaluated by a certain medical lab here in the DFW area.

Now that JetStar Courier is HIPPA & OSHA trained & compliant, we offer superb medical deliveries for labs, hospitals, doctors, etc.

Today we signed up another new doctor. All of his patients will now be receiving the best, most secure, deliveries of their specimens between their doctors office & hospital.

Of course I can't mention what doctor it is. But, isn't it cool how his patients will now get better & safer service and they don't even know. Life has just gotten better for these people.

This is what a courier company should offer. Better, faster, cheaper. And hopefully, nobody even notices.

If you need a medical courier in Dallas, feel free to call us at 214-343-7212.

FedEx ripped me off. What do you think?

2009-05-06T14:40:00.003-05:00

So, I needed to get a document from Dallas to Austin overnight. For whatever reason, I think of FedEx first. Prolly because they built their model on guaranteed overnight service. It is burned into my brain from a child seeing those commercials... "when it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight". Remember that?

Ok, so I goto FedEx/Kinkos in Frisco, TX yesterday at 3:30pm. I put the documents in a FedEx Express envelope and ship it via Priority Overnight. That option is supposed to be delivered by 10:30am next day.

I call my customer in Austin today at noon to see if he got the papers. "Nope". Nope? "Nope". So, I get back to my computer at 2:30 pm and see that it was delivered at 2:21pm. 2:21pm?

So, I call FedEx to find out "wht the delay" and what they are going to charge me. Are you ready for this? Listen up all you courier company owners... Here is what the customer service lady said to me (in a real snobby tone by the way):

FedEx Rep: Everything was delayed at all our hubs last night due to bad weather, so that is why your package was late.

ME: ok, so what are you going to charge me?

FedEx Rep: It is the same charge. There is no discount.

ME: But, my package was not delivered by 10:30. I paid to get it delievered by 10:30. Shouldn't you just charge me for the Standard Overnight?

FedEx Rep: No. It wasn't our fault. It was raining last night. So, everything was delayed.

ME: But, I paid for Priority Overnight and I didn't get Priority Overnight.

FedEx Rep: But, that is not our fault. It was raining.

ME: Right. I get it. I own a courier company myself and I understand how bad weather can slow everything down. But, if my customer requests a one-hour delivery and it takes us 4 hours to make the delivery, we surely wouldn't charge them for the 1-hour.

FedEx Rep: Hmmmm.

ME: So, you're saying that it is the FedEx policy to charge me for a service that you don't provide just because you were delayed by weather.

FedEx Rep: Yes.

ME: That's kind of a ripoff, don't you think? Nevermind, I know you can't answer that. Please tell your boss or manager that I am really upset and that I don't think I should be charged for the Priority Overnight service.

FedEx Rep: ok

click....

ok, you business owners out there. What do you think about this? If you own a delivery service, please comment and let me know what you would do in this situation. Does UPS & Airborne have the same policy? If we did this to our customers in Dallas, we would not last very long. How about you?

New Jack in the Box logo

2009-04-27T13:48:00.003-05:00

I know this has nothing to do with the courier business (except that prolly alot of couriers eat there). But, I just saw a location with the new logo. I like it. reminds me of the YouTube logo a little bit.

Here it is. What do you think?

Medical Courier delivery

2009-04-25T11:38:00.002-05:00

So, I just finished an OSHA / HazMat training webinar. The trainer was Kevin Arnold with Integrity Corporate Solutions. I highly recommend them. Their number is: 719-502-7081 and their website is: http://www.integritydelivers.com/aboutus.html

Freddie Mac CFO, David Kellerman, found dead...

2009-04-22T09:54:00.003-05:00

"David Kellermann, the acting chief financial officer of mortgage giant Freddie Mac, was found dead at his home Wednesday morning in what police said was an apparent suicide.

The 41-year-old Kellermann was named acting chief financial officer in September 2008, after the resignation of Anthony "Buddy" Piszel, who stepped down after the September 2008 government takeover. The chief financial officer is responsible for the company's financial controls, financial reporting and oversight of the company's budget and financial planning.
Before taking that job, Kellerman served as senior vice president, corporate controller and principal accounting officer. He was with Freddie Mac for more than 16 years. "

Crazy man! I will be 40 ths year. It is crazy seeing these guys, my age, running multi-TRILLION dollar companies and ending it all. Leaving wife & children. Just crazy... and sad.

Collin County Courthouse is moving

2009-04-14T13:29:00.002-05:00

This will be of interest to all Title Companies and Courier Services in Dallas and surrounding cities...

The Collin County Courthouse in moving to: 2300 Bloomdale Rd. McKinney, TX 75071.

The will be open at that location on Monday, April 21. In the meantime please make note of their hours this week:
4/15 - Must have all filings in by 10am
4/16 - Closed
4/17 - Closed

Be safe on the road my courier friends.

Easter Egg Deliveries

2009-04-10T08:46:00.003-05:00

It's not too late to get all you Easter decorations and Easter presents. Did you know that you can use a courier service to do your shopping & errands for you? Call it your personal concierge, call it your personal valet service or call it your personal errand boy. Whatever you want to call it, just call. Don't waste your time sitting in traffic and standing in lines. Don't spend your day off running errands. Spend your free time with your family and call the courier.

JetStar Courier is your courier service in Dallas, TX. Call now: 214-343-7212 or 817-640-3106.

Company Bank Deposit

2009-04-09T13:45:00.005-05:00

So, your company has a bank deposit that needs to be made every week or even every day. Your first thought is: "who can make the deposit?" You decide to use the receptionist or some other employee in the office. "Heck, the bank is just 10 minutes away." They can do it on the way home or during a lunch break, right?

Well, yes. But, is that really the best solution for your company? Probably not. Especially if that person is on the clock. If that bank is "just 10 minutes away", that is 10 min there, 10 min back plus however long they have to wait at the bank. So, you're starting to look at 30 minutes and if that person makes $10/hr, then paying $5 right off the bat. Then, you have to reimburse them for mileage. I think that is 55 cents per mile now.

In addition to out-of-pocket expenses, what about lost work? If they are on the clock, not only are you paying them to do the delivery, they are not doing any work at your office (the thing you hired them to do). So, now they are not only costing you money for the delivery, they are not generating any money for your company.

If that's not enough, what about the liability? Do you know who is liable if they get in an accident while performing a delivery for your company? The person with the biggest check book. That is going to be your company. It's just not worth it.

So, what do you do? Call a reputable courier company in your town. Chances are you can get a courier service to do your bank deposit for very little money. Maybe even less than it would cost to send your employee. Plus, there is no liability for you. Just make sure that the delivery service has a significant insurance policy and bonding package.

Don't waste your time & money. In Dallas, you should call JetStar Courier at www.JetStarCourier.com

How to hire a salesman

2009-04-03T09:15:00.003-05:00

Most small businesses are operated solely by the owner(s). This usually includes sales. But, when you get to the point that you have to hire a salesman, what do you do?

I would love to hear from other courier company owners as to how they hire salesmen and how you compensate them. Do you advertise? Do you hire within? Hire a driver? Someone from the office?

When you find someone, do you pay salary, salary plus commission, or straight commission?

What is your success rate?

We are in the position where we would like to hire a salesman, but have not been able to find someone that meets all our desired qualifications that is willing to work under the compensation package we can offer.

Can anyone help me out? What have you done that has worked & not worked?

BTW, we are hiring a salesman. lol contact: jobs@jetstarcourier.com

Courier/Delivery Drivers vs. The Police

2009-04-01T12:28:00.002-05:00

Everyone has heard the story by now of NFL player, Ryan Moats, and the incident outside the Plano Hospital with Dallas police officer Robert Powell. And by now you prolly have heard that the wife of Dallas Cowboys player, Zach Thomas, also had a problem with office Powell last year. apparantly she was hauled into jail for 3 hours due to a number of traffic violations.

Being in the courier business for almost 20 years now, I have had my share of traffic tickets and funny traffic stop stories. Like the time when I got a speeding ticket in Plano. After receiving my ticket, I drove off and apparantly went over the speed limit again. The officer did not did not pull me over again, but they did send me another ticket in the mail. So, I wound up with 2 speeding tickets in the same block that were written 1 minute apart.

That being said, I'm sure all of you have some funny traffic ticket stories. I sure would like to hear them. I will even post them here if you want me too. Send in pictures too if you have them.

Car Share

2009-03-27T17:21:00.004-05:00

I just came across a great business in Austin, TX. They are called Austin CareShare. It is targeted to people who do not own a car.

They have a fleet of vehicles parked around town. You sign up as one of their clients and they give you a keyfob that opens the car. Then you drive the car to your destination and then return it to the same place where you picked it up from.

They charge a monthly or yearly service fee and then hourly plus mileage.

What a great idea for a city like Austin with a big college in the middle. I think there is a similar company in San Francisco. Seattle should have one of these too. But, I wonder if it would work in a city like Dallas or Houston???? What do you think?

courier service in dallas, tx

Outside Salesman Needed for Courier Service in Dallas, TX

2009-03-24T21:11:00.004-05:00

JetStar Courier is a courier service in Dallas, TX. We are looking for a friendly individual to do outside sales. This would include cold calls as well as prescheduled meetings.

Experience is not mandatory but extremely helpful. Knowledge of the courier-messenger industry would also be helpful. But, most importantly, we are looking for someone who is honest, reliable, friendly and motivated to make money.

There is a potential to make over $60,000 per year. This position is commission only. There will be a draw on commission that will cover all your expenses. So, we are looking for someone who is confident that they can produce new sales.

If this is you and you are confident that you can sell; then email jobs@jetstarcourier.com

Feel free to visit our website at JetStarCourier.com to see more about us.

Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk as Obama's Trade Representetive

2009-03-11T16:50:00.003-05:00

Well, i wasn't much into local dallas politics from 1995 - 2001. I was more foused on national politics then. So, I would really like to hear from some Dallas people that have opinions on Ron Kirk.

Trade policies do have some effect on courier , trucking & logistics companies. So, can anyone tell me what Kirk's polocies were in Dallas?

Texas Courier & Logistics Association

2009-02-18T15:47:00.003-06:00

Well, the TCLA annual meeting was last week. We couldn't go this year. So, can someone tell me how it was?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2ihis9gea0

Ponzi Economy Scheme

2009-02-11T22:13:00.002-06:00

Look up "Ponzi Scheme". The United States is just a huge Ponzi Scheme. Did I invent a new phrase? "Ponzi-Economy"

The Return of Optimism

2009-02-05T16:39:00.004-06:00

During this economic downturn, it is easy to get discouraged, depressed and generally negative. That is why I enjoyed reading this email from the sweet Claudia Post. Claudia is the owner of Diamond Transportation Group in Pennsylvania. Thank you Claudia for sending out such a positive and uplifting email.

It's not always easy to be optimistic, especially in tough economic times. But although we don't always have control over whether things are running as smooth as silk or as bumpy as an eye-laden potato, it's important to remember that we do have control over how we react to them. And that is the single most important thing you can do to re-set your optimist-pessimist gauge.

If you find yourself leaning toward the cynical, don't blame yourself. The physiology of the brain is set to react more intensely to negative images and events. It's part of our survival instinct. We sense danger; we take steps to avert it.

Pessimism is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you are sure that your bad luck will follow you wherever you go, it will. If you believe that one bad day will be followed by another, it will. And if you decide that you are powerless to change anything, you will be correct. Remember, though, that optimism works the same way, but with better results.

SO WHAT CAN YOU DO? TIPS FOR REMAINING POSITIVE

ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE - Make a conscious effort to hold on to the moments when good things happen.

TAKE ACTION - Pessimism is fraught with inaction. When you give in to the powerlessnessof pessimism, you give it the power to control your reaction.

GO ON A MEDIA DIET- Take a break from watching the news and reading the paper. Use your free time to take a walk, play with your children or read a book.

USE POSITIVE LANGUAGE- Use words like can and will instead of their negative counterparts. Hearing your own voice telling it that you have power or that setbacks are only temporary are very convincing.

Courier Service Dallas

How can you lose 2.8 billion dollars?!?!?!

2009-02-04T21:24:00.004-06:00

So, Im reading an article in the Dallas Morning News' Briefing Edition and it says that the United States Postal Service lost $2.8 BILLION last year. Not million, but BILLION. Didn't the postage go up last year?

Anyway, listen to this... last year USPS delivered 202 BILLION packages. Again, BILLION not million. This was 9 BILLION less deliveries that they did in 2007. Can you imagine losing 9 BILLION deliveries in one year? The numbers are stagering.

The Postmaster General said that if the trends continue they are looking at losing 9 BILLION dollars in 2009. How is it that the USPS can lose $9 billion and stay in business. If we don't break even, we can't stay in business.

So, what is the solution? Less deliveries. Yes, they are contemplating going to a 5-day delivery schedule instead of a 6-day schedule.

You know, this would never happen with a courier company. That is the great thing about small businesses... we figure out how to get things done and get them done efficiently. Otherwise, we are out of business.

Anyway... keep on keepin on, fellow couriers. Even with the economy the way it is and likely most of us being slower than normal... you probably probably didn't lose 9 Billion deliveries last year, so we're all doing better than the United States Post Office. Good job!

courier service in dallas

JetStar Courier Radio Ad #1

2009-01-28T17:11:00.003-06:00

This was played on KTCK 1310AM "The Ticket" for a few weeks. The Ticket is a Sports Talk RAdio show in Dallas, Texas.

It didn't produce much sales. Has anyone else out there used radio advertising?

dallas courier

Advertising your courier service - what works?

2009-01-27T15:35:00.002-06:00

Ok, fellow courier company owners... we are all trying to get our brand out there in the minds of potential customers. What has worked and what hasn't worked for you.

Have you had any results from:

Yellow Pages
Chamber of Commerce
Referrals
Newspaper ads
Radio ads
Television ads
Flyers
Trade publications
What else?

Dallas Courier Service

Bailout package for courier services and logistics companies

2009-01-17T10:58:00.003-06:00

Man, this thing is a mess. I am reading a story on Excite News about Circuit City closing its 567 US stores which will send 34,000 people to the unemployment line. That is THIRTY-FOUR THOUSAND more people without a job!

Not to mention KB Toys, Linens 'N Things and Mervyn's. All of those stores are closing also. Wow, my mom worked at the 5th Mervyn's store in California in the early 1970's. Now they are gone.

Oh, I just read one more... Hertz Car Rental Company is going to layoff 4,000 employees.

All of this while congress starts their new year with another 2.8% cost of living salary increase.

So, here is my question... where did the $800 Billion go? I bet nobody really knows. My guess is that most of it went into somebodies pocket. You just know when the government throws out almost a trillion dollars, somebody is going to get rich. There is a major money grab and power grab going on in DC.

That $800 billion obviously isn't helping the people that used to work at KB Toys, Linens 'N Things, Hertz and Mervyn's. I can't even get into the economics of how there really isn't $800 billion. The government is just making new money out of thin air which makes all your money worth less. So, the $800 billion "stimulus" package is really just a tax increase on you and I.

How about instead of giving a trillion dollars to all the bankers that put us in this mess, they give that money to the people that actually produce wealth and prosperity for this great country. I'm sure the 34,000 ex-employees of KB Toys would appreciate a bailout.

How about the industry that gets product from one place to another. Yes, the truckers, expediters, couriers, messengers, delivery drivers, etc.

Sorry, this post is such a ramble. I just woke up and started typing. But, doesn't this stuff make you mad. Our elected politicians are selling our country to China right before our eyes. We're not going to have to worry about a future war with China because pretty soon they will own us.

Forget about learning Spanish. We all need to learn Chinese.