Blairco Transportation Inc. operates out of Aldergrove, BC, specializing in open-deck oversize hauling across Canada and the US. In this interview, owner Blair McDonald discusses how adopting Axon Software from day one eliminated the stress of managing their fast-growing fleet and multiple office locations.
Q&A
Tell us about yourself and the company.
My name is Blair McDonald, owner of Blairco Transportation based in Aldergrove, BC. We run 25 trucks across Canada and the US. All open-deck oversize – pretty much anything that will fit on a deck we’ll haul.
My family started in trucking in the 1950s, and we’ve been in long haul since then. We were farmers in southern Saskatchewan and always hauled our own stuff. We adapted and got into reefers and other things as we grew. I was never into vans; I was always into decks. It was just something that got in my blood, and I just carried on. I’ve helped set up five other companies. Then one day I just said, “Now it’s time to do your own.”
This is my fourth year running this company. We started with two trucks. The worst part is we started when COVID started. It’s like starting in the middle of a hurricane. I knew that I had to grow really slow and take my time. I’m known in the industry, so I just reached out to people that I knew and dealt with for years, and they helped me along. You don’t do this stuff yourself. You always have friends or partners, people that work with you. That’s the only way you get it done. Just about everybody I deal with is in flatbeds.
There are a lot of big companies that I’ve dealt with for over 30 years. They are really dedicated – they followed me, or I followed them depending on which way you look at it, and it’s a partnership of honesty.
If you haven’t got honesty and trust, you don’t have a business, you don’t have friends, you don’t have anything. You might as well be honest right from the get-go. We just tell you the truth, good or bad. That’s what they like, and that’s why we have been able to grow for the last four years.
When did you start using Axon?
Right away. For the four companies that I helped people set up, I installed Axon in all of them. I found out about Axon in 2008. When it was introduced to me, I liked the technology, but I didn’t think they could do what I wanted. I was wrong.
Everything that I need to be done in my business I do on Axon. I do the accounting on Axon. I do everything. If I didn’t have Axon, I would probably have four more people working in my office. This way, I don’t have to. I literally do all the billing myself. It takes me maybe 45 minutes a day, and I’m done.
I think that in trucking, if you don’t have Axon, you’re just wasting money. I’ve tried other programs, Tailwind and others, and they don’t work. They don’t match. I have customers that are in trucking, and they’ve switched because I tell them what Axon can do.
Can you talk about your experience in growing the company from 2 to 25 trucks?
When I started, it was just me. Now I run 25 trucks. I have Safety and Compliance, and one accountant that does the payables and receivables. I also have two salespeople. So, all together in this office, we have five people. That’s it.
If I didn’t have Axon, I would have four more people because the paperchase would be too horrendous. With Axon there’s none. I literally talk to the customers, book the freight, and do the invoicing. And I do it all on one screen. I don’t have to go to five or six different places. Everything’s there.
We plan on growing to 50 trucks and I don’t plan on hiring more office staff. If I didn’t have Axon, I would have to keep growing staff, and costs would go up. If costs go up, there go your profits. In trucking, profits are a small margin anyhow. I do it only because I enjoy doing it. I drove a truck for 30 years. Now I’m in the office, and I see this side of it.
What kind of problems does Axon help you solve from the administration side?
I think what it does is it makes dispatching the loads a lot easier. Before, I used to have to print everything, email, scan, and waste paper.
Now, I do everything from Axon. I go into dispatch, I can PDF it, and send it by email, and I don’t have to print anything. At other companies, we used to go through four or five boxes of paper a month. Now I go through a box of paper every two months because everything’s in the system. It’s literally hands-free.
You also broker loads?
Yes, we do brokerage. It’s easy. Five minutes. There’s no difference for us with the way it’s set up in our system. It doesn’t matter if you’re an outside carrier or one of our own trucks. It’s just a different place to enter your drivers or carriers. It’s literally that easy.
Keeping track of what you owe that carrier is fairly simple. The information you get out of Axon is what you put in. Any carrier or driver will see exactly what our customer wants, because we put all his words down in Axon.
Does Axon help you run your multiple offices?
Anything that I do here, the other offices can see. They can dispatch. They can download other stuff into it. It’s all done through Axon. That has cut down on our phone traffic. Everything is being done over the internet. You cut down your call volume, you cut down on disturbance.
If I didn’t use a system like Axon to run those other operations, I would need way more staff. In the offices in Kelowna, Montréal and soon to be Halifax, there’s only one person in each office. I would have to have two or three people in each office otherwise to have enough input. Somebody to do each different part. With Axon, I don’t have to. I have one person, one computer setup, and you’re on your way. It can be used anywhere. The internet is your friend.
If someone in the industry asked you about your experience with Axon, what would you tell them?
I always tell them to go to Axon. I already know companies in Montréal that switched. They see the format when we send them invoices, or load sheets, or anything else and they ask us, “Who do you use?” One guy was on Tailwind for a long time. Now he’s on Axon. I just tell people that it works for me. I save time and money. It works.
What do you think the return on investment would be?
Return on investment? Well, it’s easy. If you take somebody’s wages of $6,000 a month, and you’ve saved yourself three people, then you’re saving $18,000 a month. That’s why I said if people don’t have Axon, they’re burning their money. They’re spinning their wheels.
Axon is made to save you money. At the first company where I used Axon, we were 25 people when we started with Axon. At the end of that year, we went from 25 to 15. The savings are in front of your face. You could keep those 25 people, but you’re just wasting money. You’re filling seats. Why fill a seat? Why not fill your bank? That’s the way I look at it.
The more money I can save through using this product, I get to pass on to my employees and my drivers. If I make more money, they make more money. If I save money, they save money. I don’t charge the stupid things that some other companies charge. I don’t have an administration charge, because I don’t need to. Axon does everything.
