Twenty-seven years ago, founder Teja Singh came to the United States with the hope of providing a better life for his family, and the dream of starting a business. With little more than a CDL and a foot in the door at his uncle’s trucking company, Singh built his own freight-logistics-turned-asset-based transportation company. We sat down with DTL Transport to discuss their success.
Microban Tackles Any Odor Challenge
Now delivering across the United States, the California-based company is very familiar with the challenges of hauling perishable goods. The carrier hauls a cornucopia of produce, but Sidhu singled out one particularly bad odor offender. “Garlic is the worst,” said Jazz Sidhu, DTL Transport’s chief financial officer and director of operations. “That garlic–let me tell you–that smell will get into the reefer unit, it’ll get into the vents, the walls,” he continues. “The smell is potent and hard to get out of any trailer. If you don’t have a good trailer, you’ll never get that smell out. But we’ve noticed a huge difference with the Microban lining—100 percent. The odor is less.”
He’s talking about Great Dane’s partnership with Microban, the antimicrobial technology that can be found in everything from counters to bathroom cleaners. This stain- and odor-fighting technology is infused into Great Dane’s PunctureGuard and ThermoGuard trailer linings, and though it’s a feature that’s hard to see, you can definitely smell the difference. “When we were hauling garlic using a different trailer brand, we couldn’t haul anything else in those trailers,” Sidhu said. “We’d have to wash it inside and out three or four times—and the smell would still be there. With the new Everest trailers with Microban, we wash it once and the garlic smell is gone.”
High Trailer Performance Keeps Cargo Safe
Sidhu keeps a close eye on reefer trailer efficiency to ensure that perishable products are hauled safely. “Nothing fails on these Great Dane trailers. The doors are super strong; the seals are solid, and the temperature holds great. That’s key for us when hauling perishable goods,” Sidhu said. “We have to keep an eye on the trailer and make sure the temperature isn’t dropping. When the temperature holds more consistently, the TRU runs less and that means less noise the driver has to deal with and less fuel we have to use to maintain the temperature.”
Trailer Equipment Specs that Improve Trailer Performance
Sidhu was instrumental in DTL Transport’s growth from a logistics company to an asset-based carrier when he joined the company in 2010, working alongside Lucky Singh, son of Teja Singh.
Singh and Sidhu have learned many lessons in the past nine years, and their go-to equipment specs have changed along the way. “One of the things we learned quickly was that not every trailer van works with every suspension,” Sidhu recalled. “We were running another brand of trailers and we were replacing tires due to irregular wear. We couldn’t figure it out—it wasn’t alignment or any other typical cause. In the end, we found that the suspension didn’t pair well with the trailers, and it cost us a lot of money. We switched to Great Dane trailers, and we found that the Great Dane paired with the suspension so well that we didn’t have any issues with tire wear.”
Improving Trailer ROI with Resale Strategy
Used trailers also don’t work for DTL Transport’s operation—another lesson learned early on. “We quickly realized that used trailers weren’t the right solution for us—you don’t know where they’ve been or what freight they were hauling,” Sidhu said. Conversely, the carrier discovered that investing in topline trailers like Great Dane’s Everest reefer and turning them around in four-year cycles yielded the best result. “Four years is our trailer value sweet spot,” Sidhu explained. “The resale value is still high, and there aren’t too many hours on the TRU. It’s also about the mindset of the second-hand buyer—a four-year-old trailer is worth a lot more than a five- or six-year-old trailer.” Especially in California, where the California Air Resource Board (CARB) has set stringent requirements for trailer refrigeration units, which are required to meet in-use performance standards by the end of the seventh year after the engine model year or the unit manufacture year. This basically means that running a trailer with a TRU older than seven years isn’t economically advantageous. “Being based in California is a challenge. We have to keep an eye out for new regulations; it keeps us on our toes,” said Sidhu.
Telematics Inform Future Business Performance
Even with the right equipment spec and a winning market strategy, change still lies ahead for DTL Transport, but this time, they’re driving it. “Today, our biggest challenge is when we’re dealing with customers that still have the mentality that all a trucking company does is haul and then they work with a logistics partner, but we’re explaining to our customers that today’s trucking companies can provide logistics too, thanks to GPS tracking, dispatching, and telematics on the newer equipment,” Sidhu said. “If the carrier is structured well, can cover the logistics and perform, then why are you getting someone else involved?”
High Trailer Performance Demands Exceptional Solutions
DTL Transport is continually expanding, seeking out maximum performance and efficiency. They are an incredible example of embracing change and growing through better equipment. At Great Dane, we’re always looking for new ways to support our customers. Curious about what a Great Dane trailer might do for your business?
