Trucking Exec Doubts Dot.com Savings

June 21, 2000 9:45 AM, EDT

LAS VEGAS — Carriers that know their costs and value will thrive regardless of changes brought on by electronic commerce, according to Robert Obee, chief information officer for Roadway Express.

Speaking at a conference here on e-commerce and transportation, Obee has concluded that at best, his company could boost revenue by 2.5% through maximizing efficiency using the Internet. Roadway is a national less-than-truckload carrier with headquarters in Akron, Ohio.

“Success in the freight transport business begins and ends with the basics,” Obee said. “We are going to move stuff from Point A to Point B, and we will still be doing that 10 years from now. That’s how we bring value to the marketplace,” he said.

Keeping in mind that a trucking company’s task is to move freight, can help carriers filter out a lot of the “noise” they hear from hungry dot.com companies, eager for trucking firms to participate in their electronic marketplaces. Noise refers to the hype Internet marketplaces are trying to generate about themselves by plugging their products with press releases, advertisements and grip-and-grin meetings.

For the full story, see the June 19 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.