Grojean: Reefers Facing Day of Reckoning

July 26, 2000 9:40 AM, EDT

BANFF, Alberta — William Grojean says refrigerated carriers are heading for a day of reckoning because of difficulties in getting rate increases and paying drivers enough.

Grojean, the president of Schanno Transportation in St. Paul, Minn., spoke at the annual meeting of the Truckload Carriers Association’s Refrigerated Division, held in the Canadian Rockies July 12-14.

Since he took over Schanno in 1999, Grojean said, the company has instituted activity-based costing to make better-informed decisions about pricing and what freight to take.

Activity-based costing involves identifying indirect costs, such as billing, recruitment and sales, and then assigning them to a specific division of the company and, if possible, to a specific customer. Under a more traditional approach, indirect costs are allocated evenly throughout the company and among customers.

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