On this week’s episode of Taking the Hire Road, Jeremy Reymer, founder of DriverReach, is joined by Amber Edmonson, president and CEO of Trailiner Corp.
Edmonson is an industry veteran of nearly 25 years, having been with Trailiner since 1999.
But Edmonson’s connection to trucking runs deeper than just her years of employment: Her father became an owner-operator when she was 8, and Trailiner itself was started by Edmonson’s grandfather in 1976.
Trailiner, a long-haul refrigerated carrier from Springfield, Missouri, is hardly a stranger to the ups and downs of market cycles.
Given the company’s exposure to produce, particularly from the western U.S., something as simple as a rainstorm can influence financials for an entire year.
“This year there was too much rain in California, which really impacted the growing season in the Central Valley, so the market has been very similar to us as it was back in ’07 and ’08,” Edmonson stated, alluding to challenges faced during the Great Recession.
Yet reefers are not alone in experiencing hardship, as the whole of the trucking industry is struggling against a downturn. In such difficult times, carriers need to ensure that they have the fundamentals correct.
For Trailiner, “safety is the most important thing. Our drivers are out on the road, day in and day out, and getting them home safely while protecting the motoring public is our No. 1 priority.”
“Obviously,” Edmonson added, “it makes good financial sense as well.”
When margins are tight, controlling operational costs can be the difference between a carrier’s long-term success or failure. A clean safety record goes a long way in combating rising insurance rates.
Carriers do not, however, have to go it alone when facing adverse market conditions. Connections and relationships matter deeply.
Edmonson’s history of leadership and advocacy within the industry demonstrates that she understands this point all too well.
In her time as a LEAD ATA candidate, Edmonson found that “networking and those ongoing relationships were the most important thing” that she retained.
As the chair of TCA’s 2024 Refrigerated Meeting, Edmonson sees her main task as providing attendees with relevant information that can help them navigate a tumultuous industry — in other words, giving members “what they need to hear, when they need to hear it.”
Networking at such events is important because others within the industry can often be a carrier’s greatest support.
“Being able just to talk with another person about looking at new ELDs, having some issue with hiring — or whatever issue you might have — and getting some feedback from them” is indispensable, she said.
At the end of the day, Edmonson stresses that leadership in this industry is about “being a good steward of all that you have as a business owner, protecting your employees as best as you can and coming out on the other side.”
Click here to learn more about Trailiner.
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