Woodward Trucking

Car Hauler Woodward Trucking grows business with Super Dispatch

Woodward Trucking has never used any system except Super Dispatch to manage it’s car hauling business. When owner and operator Matthew Woodward made the move from shipping to trucking just over a year ago, he knew from day one he would need a single system that worked seamlessly for his dispatchers, accountants and drivers.

Who is Woodward Trucking?

Matthew says Woodward Trucking is a baby compared to other trucking companies. He started his business in 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Before car hauling, Matthew worked in vehicle finance and then vehicle shipping through car sales.

“But I always wanted to have a trucking company. And I came from the car world, so that’s why we ship cars,” Matthew says.

Woodward Trucking is only a year old, but in that year they’ve expanded from one to two trucks and one to four employees. Growing a new business so quickly is no easy feat, especially in car hauling. But so far, their first year in trucking has been smooth sailing.

“And I have to say a lot of that day-to-day smoothness is because of Super Dispatch,” Matthew says. “I did a lot of research before I got into the business and Super Dispatch was at the top of the list. I tried you guys out and it’s been seamless.”

It’s not just Super Dispatch that’s helped Matthew; his own business savvy has allowed Woodward to flourish. Because of his work in car shipping, one might think Matthew’s business comes mostly from his prior connections in the industry. Surprisingly, Woodward Trucking picks loads almost exclusively from load boards (that most truckers hate,) on a first-come first-served basis.

“But, we do things a little bit differently here. Each of my dispatchers’ has a budget. If the load doesn’t fit the budget, we don’t take it,” he says. He doesn’t like to wait on potential loads. In addition to a load budget, Matthew pays his drivers a salary, not priced per load. That’s because he is able to plan his business down to the last dollar.

“I’m a smaller guy, but we’ve got a substantial budget,” he says. “I can pretty much tell you to the dollar what we are going to make each month.”

The headaches of car shipping.

Super Dispatch is Woodward’s #1 Transportation Management System because Matthew experienced all the challenges of the auto transport business when he was selling cars and brokering.

“First of all, communication was non-existent,” he says of his time shipping cars as a car salesman. “You had to go through several different websites just to get the customers number. Then, you had to call drivers three or four times [to get updates] and they never answered,” Matthew says.

Lack of communication wasn’t Matthew’s only issue. Damage and accountability were a constant problem for him, as any car hauler, broker or shipper well knows.

“[When I was shipping] I would have people lose bills of lading before they even arrived on the lot,” Matthew explains. “Now we have pictures and emails and the opportunity to use everything we never had before, with Super Dispatch.”

“That was the biggest headache before: the actual condition of the vehicle before it left. Matthew says that if he wasn’t the one taking photos of the car, it felt like the vehicle always acquired extra damages.”

How did Super Dispatch help?

“I know it was like four other companies that we looked at. But after talking to everyone and going through demos, you guys were the ones that we wanted, even for the extra money.”

“Super Dispatch solved all the normal headaches for Woodward, like providing automatic pickup and delivery updates, or enabling unlimited inspection photos. But it’s not just the communication between staff and customers that Matthew loves.”

The numbers

Woodward Trucking has grown exponentially since August 2017. “Our budget has doubled as we have grown,” Matthew says.

Super Dispatch can’t take credit for all the amazing growth Woodward has experienced, but Matthew says our TMS is a major reason his business has succeeded.

“We are basically able to do what we used to in 6 days, now in 5 days. We are able to do what we did with two drivers, with just one driver now. We have the same city, the same routes and it’s all integrated. And again, Super Dispatch is a big part of how we are able to make this so seamless.”

“In terms of gross weekly income, we’ve nearly doubled [in the last year.] In terms of office staff, we’ve hired 3 more people in the last year.

Finally, Matthew loves how our team, who handles nearly 6,000 customers, still gives him and his team personal customer service, especially when providing feedback and requesting product changes.

“For instance, we have a driver salary, so we don’t do a percentage by car. So I needed the price of the load to be taken off of the load. And you guys did that, so now it’s an option to remove the load price. Things like that really made me happy to want to stay and pay a lot more money for the multiple drivers and staff because you know, you guys are able and willing to take feedback.”

Published on October 1, 2019