Midwest Freight Industry has changed over the years. That is always true for any industry, but freight transportation changed in ways I don't think anyone saw 40 years ago. As a truck driver at 20 years old trucking was a much slower process. The speed limit has changed to 70 mph outside of the city. That equates to 150 miles further in a 10-hour day. A single truck covers 700 miles a day. Truck hubs and 10 hours more and any point in the United States is almost reachable in two days. That change happened 20 years ago. The process of freight transfer took longer to change than the speed limit itself. Today's technology makes freight management smoother almost seamless between carriers and or terminals. Another example is the placement of the hubs and terminals. It means less hubs and terminals. Next is the changing of Airports International status the Owner of S.A.R. Logistics (Scott Redford) and I sat just outside of the St. Louis Lambert International fence and watched construction. Though the airport was not finished we had just watched a China Air Express plane taxi and waited for clearance to takeoff. As the plane rolled forward. Scott said that's the future of St. Louis transportation. I saw dollar signs and began selling International Freight. The thing I was told by potential customer after potential customer was that the freight is controlled by the shipper (origin). There are 3PL contracts in place with the shipper. 

      I sat and thought I need figure something out. When I was 20 years old. I met Tom Hatfield and Hal Poole and smaller operations were moving from being just Brokers to being Freight Forwarders. Airways Freight Corporation became a global shipper and 3PL. Years ago people saw Freight Forwarders were concealed entities. That means the company owned its own equipment. In the 1990's FASTRANS LOGISTICS owned its own equipment then became a non-asset-based company. Louanne (Lou Lou) Hirons cried when the change happened, they were in the middle of buying house. Mike Hirons looked at Scott and I and said I need to know what this means we close the in a month. The construction loan has to be transferred to permanent financing. Lou said "I don't have a job. How do you move freight with no trucks?" Lou, Mike, Scott, and I went to FASTRANS LOGISTICS after hours and talked to the owner or agent of the company and had the contract explained to us. In the upstairs office at 4618 World Parkway Circle in Berkley. The company was moving into being a 3PL though the name was never used. That is the name 3PL (Third Party Logistics) Company just Non-Asset-Based or no trucks was said at the time. 

      In 1987 I was told by Nancy Gibbs of Time Magazine's mother Ms. Gibbs that the future to look for was in trucking she even gave me a name to look for Apollo Trucking. Her husband Ernest was a lawyer in the 1970's at Ernst & Young. He left in the 1970's and moved to Denver it was the reason they had stock in the company. No one could have thought the company would merge with Ceva Logistics. Motor Carriers became 3PL's after signing contracts to be the carriers of the Non-Asset-Based companies. Ceva Logistics merged with Eagle Global Logistics. I met the owners of Eagle Global Logistics in 2005. They were Fraternity brothers that started a logistics company. Freight Forwarders were going away by way of mergers. The 3PL was the emerging form of logistics corporate contracts. All of your shipping needs were being taken care of in one place. Request the service level and get your tracking number and wait for your Proof of Delivery (POD). S.A.R. Logistics saw the way Service By Air became SBA Global Logistics Services. SBA Global Logistics Services offered Air, Ocean, and Truck Services. I moved a Mastodon skeleton (Mastodon State Park in Missouri) to the Los Angeles terminal by train (Intermodal) with my kids for Prince William. Caroline Lucas (Member of Parliament) curated the exhibit in England. That means it was shipped by one Freight Forwarder which 3PL services were SBA Global Logistics Services competitor of the company in the industry. Site to door services truck to rail to ocean to truck to door. Jo Ling Kent (CBS News) was a Young Freight Apprentice (Rail Worker) all the kids help manage the movement of the Mastodon bones to England. 

     It is very important to understand that not all the freight in the Midwest region does not originate in the Midwest. All the inbound freight is as important as the outbound freight. Companies like Airway Freight Corporation offer Agencies to Independent Agents. Airways Freight offers the Agencies the way to connect and interface with other Agents and 3PL's. The agent's platform offers billing services and bulk rate service rates. The services cover authority for intra-state and inter-state shipping as well as international shipping authority. When you have a 3PL or 4PL companies are able to ship as worldwide shippers using their agency. A 5PL has the service platform that interfaces all the 3PL and 4PL's information. Freight Force has a network of agents and cartage agents. An agent does not mean cartage agent. An agent can be a Non-Asset-Based entity a Cartage Agent has the Assets. Agents manage the freight in a city, state or region. The agent is in place to assist with questions and problem solving with Local Cartage Agents. A Cartage Agent does not handle customer sales calls. The Corporate office is able to send a representative of the company to handle local issues and task. If there is an Office/Agent, the office/agent handles the sales call. I was an Account Manager of and for an Office/Agent for the corporation. 

​      St. Louis Agent is often the Regional Agent St. Louis is considered the hub of the Midwest. Chicago is a Port City and Gateway City for the Midwest. That makes St. Louis a good Central Distribution Center​ container breaking in St. Louis is a very important part of Midwest Shipping. COPP is a Trucking Company that offers Centralized Exam Station for Customs Agents and Container Freight Station. 3PLs and 4PL's are able to have containers broken (Unloaded), disbursed and delivered. I spent time in Scotland getting certified to be a Maritime Merchant. It was about a three-month apprenticeship in a small port town in Scotland it is a family practice. If I were to export an item to the United States, I would need a Freight Forwarder like Harnwick Freight Birmingham and an Agent like Roger Hornsby. I met Roger when I was 20 years old in England. We were on the pier/dock with a car I bought and was going to ship to the states. The interfacing platform would have been very helpful over 35 years ago. Roger asked me five or six questions I didn't have the answer to for him. Who do I ship it too was the main problem for customs. The internet was new or not available to the general public. So there was no cloud interfacing. Do you have a trucking company to get from Boston or the East Coast to Denver, Colorado or to St. Louis, Missouri. I bought a rusted MGB that stopped running on the dock. I needed a Customs Brokerage Agent and transportation means once in the United States. Today that is the service that companies like Airways Freight Corporation or Minerva App/Platform handles as a 3PL/4PL/5PL. This makes the Midwest Region more centralized having the computer applications that handle the freight management for the region, United States and the World. Companies simply need to pick an Office, Carrier, Agent, or Cartage Agent.​

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By Darren Dwayne Frazier

Photograph by Highland Productions LLC