BACKGROUND:

As part of Phoenix-based Knight Transportation, North America’s largest full truckload company, Knight Port Services provides a customized drayage solution scalable to meet the ever-changing needs of its customers. With 250+ trucks and chassis based out of the L.A. and Long Beach ports, Knight offers a network of facilities strategically located near major freight centers nationwide.

CHALLENGES:

Ongoing supply chain issues that began in 2020 with the pandemic severely constrained chassis capacity nationwide. For Knight, this created a critical need for reliable chassis with minimal maintenance. And they needed a provider that offered a level of service that enabled Knight to focus on its core business rather than dealing with account issues. Unfortunately, their chassis provider at the time was unable to meet these needs.

The first challenge Knight faced was a significant decrease in the quality of the chassis from the provider’s chassis pools at the L.A. and Long Beach ports. The age of the chassis offered increased to as much as 25+ years in some cases. Many had unreliable bias ply tires and significant maintenance issues – leading to frequent breakdowns and lost revenue. Finding replacement parts for these outdated chassis was difficult and time-consuming.

“These older pool chassis also became a driver retention issue,” according to Matt Sciascia, Director of Port Accessorials for Knight. “Our drivers did not want to drive pool chassis due to safety concerns and the higher probability of having a breakdown, which would cost them money waiting on the side of the road for repairs. We even lost drivers over this issue.”

Another challenge was a significant increase in billing errors – 40% of all line items were erroneous in 2021 according to Sciascia. Knight’s administrative costs increased dramatically as it had to review each invoice, denote errors and request corrections that were often disputed by the provider. The administrative burden became so great that Knight had to outsource billing to handle these issues – increasing costs even more.

The final challenge was ineffective customer service due to the provider’s multiple departments and layers of contacts that were required to resolve issues with their account. This lack of personalized, responsive service negatively impacted Knight’s ability to effectively manage their chassis fleet.

SOLUTIONS:

As these challenges continued through 2021 without resolution, Knight turned to another chassis provider: Milestone. Unlike large chassis pool providers, Milestone focuses on maintaining the newest and best chassis on the road and has a team dedicated to providing personalized service and flexible leasing solutions customized to the clients’ needs.

With an average age of less than five years, Milestone’s fleet of 20,000+ chassis is the newest in the industry. Every chassis is built to Milestone’s specs with the latest safety and technology features including ABS brakes, hub-piloted disc wheels, LED lighting, OEM radial tires and available auto-inflation. “Milestone separates itself from competitors by providing newer chassis that drive down maintenance costs and boost driver retention,” said Sciascia.

Milestone also solved the billing errors challenge for Knight. Milestone’s invoices were timely and accurate, with any minor discrepancies quickly resolved. “We have no problems with Milestone invoices,” according to Sciascia.

“This reduces the time, effort and expense to process invoices – creating tremendous soft cost value for us.”

Finally, Milestone eliminated the customer service challenges Knight faced with the prior chassis provider. Rather than navigating a maze of contacts, Knight was able to work directly with a dedicated Milestone salesperson and sales manager to quickly get answers and resolve issues. Milestone designed flexible, long-term leasing solutions that better adapted to Knight’s chassis demands and reduced overall costs.

“This solution for Knight demonstrates our commitment to providing exceptional and personalized service through teamwork and flexibility,” said Milestone Chassis Regional Sales Director John Kiss.
“Milestone’s approach of providing premium equipment with lower maintenance costs, ensuring clean billing, and delivering outstanding customer service has not only solved our prior challenges and improved driver retention – they have become a valued partner as well,” concluded Sciascia.