Finding the right system to manage your business makes a massive difference. When your staff does twice as much work in the same amount of time, it lets you add revenue-generating equipment without increasing overhead. We dropped into Konink Logistics Inc. for an interview to hear about that exact journey with Barry Konink, CEO of the company.
Q&A
Tell us about yourself and the company.
I’m Barry Konink, the president and CEO of Konink Logistics, based in Ingleside, Ontario. We are a family owned and operated business. I started with my parents in 1989, and then we brought in two siblings. I have a son coming into the business as well, so we’re looking forward to a third generation of transportation in our family.
We’re a long-distance carrier. We run carbon black, which is a niche market that we have going for Michelin, Goodyear, Cabot Corporation, and customers like that. We run paper products for large paper mills in Quebec. We do plastics. We’re also the Canadian carrier for Krispy Kreme. We bring all the raw materials in from their US facilities to distribute to the stores here in Ontario and Quebec. They’re opening up new stores in the west, so we’ll be going west as well.
My father started trucking about 1970. I’ve been involved in the business since I was a young man. I actually became a helicopter pilot out west. I had a brother who was more interested in this industry, and unfortunately he was hit head-on by a drunk driver. When that happened, I moved back from Calgary and got into the business.
My father sold his business in 1989. In 1996, after working for another company, I said, “Dad I’m starting my own company.” And he said, “We already have the business plan written up. Let’s go.” That’s how we got started and trucking has always been in my blood. I love it. It has its ups and downs, but it’s a great industry.
How did you get started with Axon Software?
We had looked at it previously and went with another software, but we realized that was a mistake. In 2010, we started using Axon and have been using it ever since. It’s been a great program for us. We really enjoy it.
Axon is 100% integrated to meet our needs for reporting. It’s great for our payroll, our shop, everything was brought into one. It gives me a good handle on costing. It’s just an easier program at the end of the day. So, it’s worked well for us.
How did you find the training and support?
We were very happy with Axon’s team. They were very quick and thorough in giving us instructions on how to use it. As we brought in new staff, we just reached out to the people at Axon, and they’ve trained them. The training was quite simple.
The support is also nice. If we have a problem, or if somebody is not sure what they are doing, they turn around and reach out to Support. They get an answer within a couple of hours, but typically it’s even quicker.
I’m very pleased with Axon Support, simply because of the quick turnaround time. I have a great rapport with a couple of the tech people at Axon, one-on-one. When I reach out, I typically get the same two people who get back in touch with me. They know our business. We’ve been doing it so long with Axon that it’s a quick and simple call. I always get help when I need it.
Sometimes I reach out because I’m not sure about a report. You can build just about any report that you want. I’ve reached out to say I can’t do something, and they come back within half an hour. I talk with Danielle regularly, and she’ll help me through the whole process. I can always get any report that I want. There are so many that you can develop yourself.
How do drivers like their settlements and statements?
The statements from Axon are pretty clear. They’ll only reach out to us if there is a problem, but they understand the statement when they see it.
They know what they are being paid for. If there are discrepancies, they can easily pinpoint what it is. They bring it to payroll’s attention and it’s dealt with.
We do fuel tax 100% through Axon. It’s much faster. We can run through our portion of the fuel tax, and it’s quick and simple. The girls in billing love fuel downloads. They really appreciate how quick and easy it is to download all of the fuel into Axon.
Has your ability to serve your customers improved?
Before Axon, if a customer called in, we’d have to either tell the customer that we’d have to call them back or put them on hold. Then you’d have to phone the driver to see where he’s at.
Now, we can open the order and check GPS tracking. We can see that he has arrived and tell the customer. It’s much quicker. It’s great. I hate having customers waiting, so it’s nice to give them immediate updates.
Invoicing has definitely sped up. Because everything is already in there. We just need to verify a few things. Our billing works with our payroll. They match mileage with fuel tax. Everything. You’re always doing three things in one, which is handy. I find that’s a great way to get it done.
We have integration with EDI on a couple of our major accounts, so that makes things quick and simple. I was thinking of hiring somebody for order entry, because with these accounts we have a lot of data, but now with EDI integration we just hit a button. We go back and check that everything is valid and we’re done. So that’s nice.
Now that all these large companies want instantaneous information, we’ve been able to develop reports that update tracking systems for FourKites and MacroPoint. With Axon’s help, I’ve gone through and built the right reports. For a couple of our customers that are on EDI, we’re running at 98% compliance, which is phenomenal. Before all these reports, our data reporting was lacking. Now that we have reports going into their system automatically and seamlessly, we’re well above their minimum threshold.
Has the Axon Link app changed how you communicate with drivers?
It’s actually quite nice. The drivers get updated when we send out the order, and we have a departure proximity system set up. So it’s great for our customer communication as well. If they call in looking for an update, we know exactly what time the driver arrived or departed. That is seamless. We don’t have to reach out and make a phone call to the drivers.
Safety is nice too, right? You don’t want to be touching your mobile device. It’s hands-free. When the driver stops at the customer, he hits Arrive. We can look at the order and see it. We can answer with 100% certainty that the order has been in and out. It works well and the drivers like it too.
Can you talk about the growth you've gone through since investing in Axon?
Since starting with Axon, we’ve been able to increase our fleet size by 25-30 tractors with no additional staff added. I think if we doubled our fleet again, staff would honestly be pretty much the same. It wouldn’t increase.
Without Axon we would have had to increase our staff, but I can’t say exactly how much. I would say that Axon paid for itself easily within a couple of years.
