Sterling Transportation’s founder, Keith Davis, says that the company’s expedited L.A.-to-Miami long-haul trucking schedule is akin to a “landbridge” service linking the coasts. Like landbridge, Sterling’s expedited schedule opens up opportunities for efficiently extending the supply chain.By George Lauriat, AJOTFifteen years ago Keith Davis, a transportation veteran, opened the doors at Sterling Transportation with the aim to serve a very particular market niche, expedited fixed day LTL (Less-than Truck-Load) service from California to Florida, or more specifically from Los Angeles-to-Miami. It was a novel idea, not so much the route, which was well traveled, but the idea of fixing an everyday schedule and expediting the freight was a very different animal from the services generally being offered. Long distance trucking from L.A.-to-FL was a laborious affair with multiple stops and a schedule that could stretch out to over a week. Alternatively, the Panama Canal all water service could take up to twice as long. As Davis explained in a recent telephone interview, “It’s really a landbridge service connecting Asia to Florida in three days.” The landbridge (LB) concept refers to the movement of Asian containerized cargo via rail from US West Coast ports like Long Beach and Los Angeles to the Midwest and East Coast consumers. Actually, Davis might say his service is “LB.1” as a lot of his L.A.-Florida shipments are then shipped to final destinations in Latin America. Driving a dedicated non-stop schedule California-to-Florida is accomplished by driving in partnership. Two drivers team up and stop only to refuel. “There is some real advantages to non-stop driving,” Davis noted. “ There is no damage [on direct routing] because the cargo isn’t loaded and reloaded, no shortages because a shipment got left on a loading dock and greater safety with a less complicated road routing,” Davis added. This is an important consideration when the freight is electronics or apparel, as is often the case. Daily Schedule The daily schedule is at the heart of Sterling Transportation’s business. The company offers Monday through Friday service with a 21:00 hour cutoff. For example, a Monday shipment will be in Miami on Thursday and in Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville by Friday. Equally a shipment leaving Sterling’s L.A. facility on Tuesday will arrive in Miami, Orlando and Tampa by Friday (Jacksonville Monday). Even cargo shipped on Thursday from L.A. can be in Miami on Saturday (and Sunday) by prior arrangement and under a Sterling Way Bill. In the case of an air carrier, the daily schedule means that the cargo can be loaded for a weekend flight and be in its final destination on Monday. According to Davis, Friday is the busiest day, with a Miami arrival of Monday and Tuesday for Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville. Davis says that volumes are weighted 70% West Coast to Florida, 30% on the Florida to West Coast return leg. While apparel and electronics and other time-sensitive freight are moved east, freight moving west tends to be a mixed group of commodities, including returns. A large portion of Sterling’s business is with international freight forwarders and air carriers. The ability to consolidate freight, coupled with the expedited service and the capability to move bonded freight, is appealing to air carriers and forwarders. When Davis started out he did more oceanfreight but as the business evolved he developed an airfreight niche, partly because of Sterling’s proximity to LAX - Los Angeles International Airport (corporate headquarters is located adjacent to US Customs at LAX). Nevertheless, the same formula applies to oceanfreight and it is something on which Davis believes the company’s service can again capitalize. Although the main arrow in the quiver is the LTL expedited service, Sterling offers a number of other specialized logistics services that complement the expedited transit. For example, the “Container Transfer to Trailer” service includes the coordination of shipment