Businesses have been using Roadway to meet tight manufacturing
schedules, keep retail shelves stocked, and smoothly move products wherever needed since 1930. We prospered from the start because
co-founder Galen Roush realized that carriers who kept their commitments could get and keep customers.
Galen saw that higher-quality service would drive Roadway ahead of competitors. If no trucks were available to make a rush pickup, Galen would rent a truck and pick up the freight himself. He would appear unannounced at Roadway terminals and load freight alongside drivers and dockworkers.
After World War II, a generally expanding economy and a regulated market allowed many companies, including Roadway, to grow. Yet Galen continued to emphasize that the best motor carrier would respond to customers' needs.
Galen told his terminal managers to get freight delivered on time, whether the trailers were full or not. Profit-sharing programs and incentive bonus plans reinforced the drive for quality of service at all levels of the company. By the 1950s, Roadway had adopted an official motto: "Dedicated to Better Service." These words were a day-to-day operating concept that helped make Roadway the largest LTL carrier in the country over the next three decades.
The company took Galen's doctrine of better service to new levels beginning in the 1980s, when industry deregulation spawned numerous, lower-cost competitors. Customer satisfaction measures became a component of incentive compensation. Training that focused on quality improvement and customer service was initiated.
Roadway continued to invest in technology in order to give customers better service and shipment information. Today, information technologies are used to plan for each customer's delivery requirements before the shipment reaches the destination terminal. In addition, customers can get freight-movement information at any point during their product's distribution through many channels, including a World Wide Web site.
Quicker transit times and expanded geographic coverage were also keys to increasing customer satisfaction. Today, we serve more points within North America through a seamless network than any other LTL carrier, and provide freight transportation services to over 60 countries on six continents.
The reengineering of our network in the mid-1990s improved transit times significantly, making us competitive with nonunion, regional carriers. The movement of freight was redirected and retimed to avoid costly partial dispatches. By leveraging the capabilities of our network, we developed value-added services that accelerate cycle times and meet the special delivery requirements of customers.
Today's economy requires companies to respond quickly to consumer trends, meet just-in-time delivery schedules, and drive cost out of their distribution process. Roadway employees work together to meet every customer's need for the best transportation value in this demanding market. We continue to draw on Galen Roush's business values of hard work, integrity, investment in new technology, and customer service. We're growing and adapting, reconfirming our dedication to staying on top of the trucking industry and to serving the nation's shippers in the best way possible.
