Grand Island Express - premium quality transportation of truckload motor
freight
Ownership
In Business since 1967, GIX is owned
and operated by the Pirnie family. James D. Pirnie started the
company as a moving and storage concern, but expanded into refrigerated
services in 1972. Tom Pirnie, James' son, started working for the
company that same year, 1972 , and purchased the company from his
father's estate following James' death in 1982. Tom's son Jim and
his cousin Keith Pirnie both hold senior management positions in
the company today, along with Tom.
Corporate Structure
GIX is organized today in three different
but complementary corporations: (1) GIX Logistics which handles
all sales, brokerage, general and administrative functions; (2)
Grand Island Express which is the company's own fleet and the operations
group that manages that fleet, (3) GIX Services which provides
all of the other services such as hostling, local shuttle, maintenance,
trailer rental and other related services.
A
GROWING COMPANY. A BASKET OF SERVICES
GIX
provides a variety of services today,
including both dry and refrigerated line
haul, local shuttle, hostling, maintenance,
equipment rental and brokerage.
The company's overall revenues have
increased by more than 70% over the
past five years, as each service area has
expanded. GIX Logistics, for example,
maintains an active roster of more than
2,000 additional carriers, providing
greater lane coverage for GIX Logistics
accounts than can be accommodated by
the Grand Island Express fleet itself.
High
Driver Retention
While much of the transportation industry struggles with high
annual driver turnover rates, often exceeding 125% among larger
national carriers, GIX maintains its own fleet's driver turnover
rate at 25% or lower, with even higher retention rates on dedicated
projects. These driver satisfaction levels are achieved by treating
drivers fairly and by making them an integral part of the "GIX
family" where the door to senior management is always open for
them. High driver retention translates into more consistent customer
service, helping GIX achieve on of its primary goals of "putting
the customer first."
Industry
Recognition
GIX has consistently been recognized for its safety achievements
by both national and state association, including ATA and TCA.
Several of GIX's executives have also been cited as professionals
of the year in their field by the Nebraska Trucking Association.
Grand island Express' drivers are consistently among the award
winners in Nebraska and national competitive driving events.
Modern
Equipment
Grand Island Express operates more than 190 tractors, 219 refrigerated
vans, 140 dry trailers and 70 rental units. GIX's equipment is
traded early in its life cycle to maximize availability to meet
customer demands and eliminate the repairs associated with older
equipment. Modern, well-maintained equipment also attracts and
helps to retain drivers, contributing again to excellence in customer
service.
Our
primary service areas include from the Rocky Mountains to the
northeast and southeast coast, with terminals located in Grand
Island, Nebraska and Kansas City Kansas. Our brokerage carrier
base covers most of the United States, with service to the West
coast as well. we operate both a long haul and regional service
network with refrigerated and dry van components.
Sales representatives for GIX Logistics are located
in the Northeast and Southeast regions of the country as in Nebraska
and Kansas, traveling to key account centers on a regular basis.
A fully staffed inside group works out of Grand Island,
with
major account responsibility for load generation and service
for many of GIX Logistics' primary accounts.
GIX works with a number of meat packing
plants in nebraska and colorado, with Fortune 500 retailers and
manufactures. Small to medium size shippers, however, receive special
attention, as that is the market GIX is most closely associated
with as a mid-America enterprise.
GIX's safety record is among the best in the industry,
while the
company regularly meets demanding customer expectations for
on-time pick up and delivery in today's "just in time" environment
with perishable commodities. GIX's recordable DOT accident rate
per million miles has varied from a low of .18 in 2004 and .30
in 2005, all well below national averages for the industry. GIX's
on-time percentage runs routinely at 98% or better.
GIX's
tractors are all equipped with Geo-logic in-cab communications
gear, allowing the company real-time contact and messaging
with all drivers on the road. All standard EDI functions
are available at GIX Logistics, including 204,210,210,214
and 990 transactions sets.
Each tractor has an APU unit to provide cooling and heating
independent of the engine, making it unnecessary to idle
the engine to provide that convenience. These devices make
the tractor more environmental friendly in areas in which
excess idling is prohibited by local ordinances.
Each
trailer carries a unique seal lock developed by GIX to better
secure shippers' loads. The GIX seal lock effectively discourages
those who are intent on stealing trailer merchandise, typically
causing them to move on to the less demanding seal on someone
else's trailer.
With
GIX shippers receive the "advantage of size." Even
the smaller shippers are important to GIX, and they receive
priority attention because GIX considers itself a small to
medium size company. Larger carriers look primarily to major
shippers who can generate more than $100,000,000 annual revenue
for them, while tending to place smaller accounts on the "backburner." GIX
is large enough and financially strong enough to grow with
small to medium size accounts who are gowning themselves.
Thus, the GIX affinity for smaller to medium companies.
with
major account responsibility for load generation and service
for many of GIX Logistics' primary accounts.
Each
trailer carries a unique seal lock developed by GIX to better
secure shippers' loads. The GIX seal lock effectively discourages
those who are intent on stealing trailer merchandise, typically
causing them to move on to the less demanding seal on someone
else's trailer.