Hitting the Reset Button for 2024
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| Greg Syfan, President |
Human nature is funny.
After the pandemic of 2020 touched off three unprecedented years of growth in the logistics market, many apparently thought the party would last forever. As a result, capacity flooded the market. Like an after-Christmas sale, a growing crowd of logistics providers rushed through the doors for their share of rewards.
As should have been expected, the shipping frenzy finally fizzled out in 2023. Rates came crashing down. Inflation, high fuel costs, and soaring interest rates added even more misery, leading to layoffs and other cutbacks industrywide.
Our company stood strong but still felt the impact. Revenues were down despite a record number of loads for the year. Fortunately, our company size and financial strength allowed us to continue enhancing our services and growing our team. We completed a $10 million expansion of our headquarters, opened a new office at the Port of Savannah, created a new LTL division, launched a new website, and added over 100 new members to our 450-strong team.
Our Syfan sister companies Turbo Terminal Tractors and Trilogy, a new cash-management partner for trucking, also forged ahead with aggressive growth plans.
Last year certainly was a mixed bag of ups and downs, but now it’s time to hit the reset button for 2024 and focus on new opportunities. No one knows when the freight market will swing back the other way. But when it does, we will be better prepared to serve our customers and carriers because of our forward-thinking investments last year.
Syfan Supports Rally | 5K & Fun Run
On the local front, I hope you will join us this summer for the second edition of our highly successful Syfan Supports Rally 5K, a fun run fundraiser supporting research for childhood cancer. This year’s event will be held in July in downtown Gainesville, so plan to join us in supporting this important cause.
In response to your overwhelming support, we’ll also continue to provide our monthly Faith Over Fear messages to customers and friends in 2024. If you would like to join our email list, please sign up through our website or contact me personally at greg.syfan@syfancorp.com.
Blessings for a prosperous and successful year in 2024.
NOW DELIVERING: SYFAN LAUNCHES NEW LTL DIVISION
With the new year under way, we’re excited to announce our move into one of the more complex and vitally important areas of the shipping industry – LTL, or Less Than Truckload, which manages each shipment for a customer for greater efficiency, cost savings and less environmental impact.
Syfan Logistics’ new LTL division launched during the fourth quarter of 2023, coming on the heels of our drayage division added last year at the Port of Savannah on the Georgia coast.
While we’ve handled LTL shipments in the past through our carrier partners, Syfan LTL represents our first effort to bring this expertise in-house. Our decision was carefully weighed, but we have no doubt of success in building our program around the leadership of a seasoned and well-respected load-consolidation expert.
A native of Gainesville who attended college in Tennessee, LTL Division Manager Rodney Lamb has spent over three decades in the LTL business. He worked his way up from a part-time dock worker during school to supervisory, sales, and manager roles, director of operations and director of safety with Con-way Freight and other large LTL providers.
“Our LTL division will provide services specific to each individual customer,” Lamb says, “and that’s very important and especially appreciated in the LTL world.”
Lamb stresses that Syfan LTL customers can count on white-glove service, experience, and – very importantly – never any handoffs. “One Syfan team will work with one customer,” he says.
Communication is a big issue for LTL customers – which plays into a recognized strength across all Syfan’s 3PL services.
“Whether the news is good or bad, we will communicate to keep customers informed from start to finish,” Lamb says. “In addition to personal contact, we will use an automated email notification system for constant updates as well as a private customer portal on our website.”
The Syfan LTL team has been assembled to handle any load sent its way. Each team member has real-world LTL experience in the ever-changing LTL field and is diligent in following daily changes to National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) and other regulations governing the industry.
Whether you’re a shipper looking for LTL services or an LTL carrier looking for a partner, give us a call. Syfan LTL promises to deliver.
LTL Division Manager Rodney Lamb
Don’t miss the fun. Register now for this year’s event.
Syfan Supports Rally | 5K and Fun Run Set for JULY 26
The second annual Syfan Supports Rally | 5K and Fun Run is scheduled for Friday, July 26, in downtown Gainesville, Ga.
Money raised from the event will benefit the Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research. The program works to discover better treatments with fewer long-term side effects, and ultimately to find a cure for childhood cancer.
Last year’s 5K raised $50,000, enough to fund one full research grant. The 2023 event drew over 260 walkers and runners, including several childhood cancer survivors. Another 300 people came out to support the Rally participants.
We hope you can join us for this fun event benefitting such a great cause. To register, visit https://runsignup.com/Race/Events/GA/Gainesville/SyfanSupportsRally5kandFunRun.
Remembering Doreen Nye
With heavy hearts and deep sadness, we mourn the loss of our dear team member Doreen Nye, who passed away recently.
Doreen, who had been going through treatment for pancreatic cancer, had just returned to work when she fell ill and passed away on Dec. 18. Loved by all, her sudden passing was a heartbreaking day for the Syfan Logistics family, which she had been a part of since 2015 serving as a logistics coordinator.
Doreen is survived by her husband, Steve; sons, Liam and Fred; daughter-in-law Brooke; and a grandson, Fred Jr., whom she called Chippy.
Originally from Utah, Doreen was a huge fan of the Utah Utes and Las Vegas Raiders. She also loved sci-fi of any type and heavy metal music. Please keep Doreen and her family in your mind, heart and prayers.
Team Member Spotlight: Tre’ Anderson
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| Tre’ Anderson |
Persistence pays off for our VP of Sales
Ironically, it was his former job as a cellphone salesman back in 1998 that brought Tre’ Anderson, our vice president of sales, to Turbo Transport, the forerunner to Syfan Logistics. Back then, he was making a sales call on Greg Syfan, who was interested but not quite sold.
After the sales pitch, Greg said he wasn’t ready to make a decision and that Tre’ should come back in a few weeks. What was not apparent to Tre’ was that he was going through a job interview – a long one – with his future boss. A few weeks later, Tre’ followed up and Greg, slyly, told him the same thing.
When Tre’ returned a third time, Greg finally leveled with him.
“I told him, ‘I’m not going to buy a cellphone from you, but I want you to come work for me,’” Greg said. “In sales, you always want to know who will follow up and stick with it. Tre’ passed my test with flying colors!”
A few months later, in January 1999, Tre’ started his career at Turbo Transport on the dispatch desk where he learned the heart of the business and operations. Within two to three weeks, he got his first shot at sales.
“There were some people out, so they had me fill in on the sales table,” Tre’ says. “I had a sales background, so I took what I knew from sales and listened to the guys on the table. I filled in a few more times after that and within two months I was full time in carrier sales on the Southeast Reefer table, which was all poultry business.”
Now serving as vice president of sales at Syfan Logistics, Tre’ has very important dual responsibilities – bringing in new accounts and managing his existing accounts. He recently began training new customer and carrier sales representatives.
Working at Syfan is a family affair for the Andersons. Between Turbo Transport and Syfan Logistics, his wife, Leinad, has been with the company for 15 years and does order entry in our expedited division. Their son, Nicolas, has worked at Syfan for five years in carrier sales. Tre’ and Leinad also have a daughter, Nylah, 17, and another son, Sebastian, 11.
We are thankful for Tre’s persistence – many years ago and still today – that led him to our company along with the rest of his family, all of whom have become such a big part of our whole Syfan family and team.
‘Rolling Through the Years’
Our story in the 3PL industry showcased in new exhibit.
Last year, we embarked on an ambitious project coinciding with the expansion of our headquarters to chronicle the history of our company as well as the Syfan family’s deep roots in over-the-road freight transportation.
Displayed across a long stretch of wall on our bottom floor, the new “Rolling Through the Years” exhibit traces our growth from 1984 as a small family business in a tiny trailer to our current headquarters with over 450 team members.
“History is so important for perspective, education and reminding us of our blessings,” says President Greg Syfan. “Our company certainly looks far different from where we started, but our principles and the way we do business have not wavered. That’s the story behind our history wall.”
We are excited to unveil our new renovation and all the highlights of our history in this new exhibit. Each decade is showcased in sections, dating back to long before our founding as Turbo Transport and on up to our return to business in 2011 as Syfan Logistics.
When you walk through the display, you will see what we call our first “computer” – a paper ledger of shipping orders that was the operational foundation of our early days in trucking. On the humorous side, you’ll also see a copy of our famous Sapp Map, a list of Georgia’s best barbecue restaurants that was updated and shared each year with our customers. It was created by one of our first employees, Scott Sapp.
There are old newspaper clippings, black-and-white photos, awards, and a digital monitor displaying a video about our history through personal stories and recollections.
One of the more unusual artifacts that really stands out on our wall is an actual public payphone (are you old enough to remember?). Back in the day, our company founder Jim Syfan relied on payphones – the precursor to today’s cellphones – to stay in touch with the office and customers while on the road.
“A good salesman knew where every payphone was between here and Chicago,” Jim says.
With such an exciting future ahead, we still have much more history to write. So, we’ll keep adding to our “Rolling Through the Years” display for many years to come. Come join us for the ride.
Community Service: Bringing Joy With A Giving Spirit
Our team members donated over 300 presents for Toys For Tots.
We love bringing joy to families in need all year long.
During this past Christmas, Syfan Logistics collected presents for the Adopt A Family program and the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots.
“We are proud of our group and humbled to serve our needy,” CEO Jim Syfan says.
Different groups within each Syfan division filled the gift wish list for 18 families with 45 children in our Hall County, Ga., community. Each group adopted two families and made their Christmas merry and bright.
And as is our annual tradition, we were a community collection site for Toys for Tots. Our team members also generously donated over 300 toys, helping hundreds of families in Hall County this past holiday season.