Saia was founded almost a century ago and has continued evolving and adapting through the years to maintain its edge as a thriving, premier carrier.  The pace of change has accelerated through these years, and now, it is even more important than ever to continue to innovate and evolve. Small start-ups have used technology and created new business models that have disrupted entire industries and allowed companies like AirBnB to rent more rooms than the largest hotel chain without owning a building, Uber to transport more passengers than the largest taxi company without owning a vehicle, and Amazon to become a behemoth retailer that has forced Sears nearly out of business without (until recently) owning a single retail store.

Technology is becoming a part of our daily lives. Our phones have better cameras and computing power than Apollo, which put man on the moon! Many of us have smart speakers, use Alexa to hear songs, websites like Amazon to shop, and use apps on a constant basis. So, while it seems overwhelming at times, technology is here to stay for us, for our friends and neighbors – and for Saia’s customers and suppliers.

Innovation in the modern world is about taking your experiences and in your own daily lives, and applying them innovatively to grow Saia’s business or save costs. If you, as a consumer, would like to know when Overstock.com will be delivering that couch to you in your personal life, chances are the consignee waiting for a Saia truck wants to know exactly the same thing in business. If you, as a consumer, get upset when the mailman delivers a letter in a ripped up envelope, chances are very high our customers will be just as upset about damaged freight. And, when you appreciate a site that makes it easy to order, you can bet our customers will too.

This year, IT has focused on technology improvements to provide a stable working environment for your day-to-day work. We will build on this foundation to provide additional improvements next year.

 The first item we looked at was the speed and stability of our networks. We have signed a contract with AT&T to upgrade the network speeds of all the underserved networks. Terminals have been prioritized based on the issues they have and size to create a series of “waves” in which IT will roll out the faster network upgrades. The other significant infrastructure project was moving the data center from the ACO office building to a commercial data center to provide greater resilience to IT operations. For example, by separating ACO operations from the data center location, the field can operate its business even though there is a network outage impacting the ACO. At the other end of the spectrum are low-tech changes that have a huge impact such as rolling out batteries with a 12-hour charge to avoid disconnects to city driver handhelds.

On the solutions side, we created a business analytics group to make the information we capture more useful. For example, if one knew a certain Tuesday in a certain lane was going to be busy, one could plan to have the right power and people to handle the load. In addition, we are rolling out a newly designed saia.com web site to help attract new customers and serve our customers better.

The goal of all these changes is certainly to become more efficient and make everybody’s daily work easier. However, more importantly, it is a foundation to build on so we can quickly innovative new solutions to grow the business and make everybody even more efficient.

There are only two people in Saia – those that sell to and service our customers and those that support those that sell to and service our customers. So, in a sense, we are all in sales, just in different ways, and when we grow the business profitably, we all benefit.

We’re all part of the same journey to move Saia forward. From an IT perspective, since technology is so much a part of everybody’s lives, we’re bringing in new technologies so that we can keep delighting our customers and making our lives easier. So, keep a look out for ideas that will help make your lives and our customer’s ideas easier — and let us know. For now, just email me. Soon, we’ll have a more formal site where you can log your ideas.

Will having a printer close by save you an hour of walking back and forth? Let us know. Will having a barcode label on a package save time? Let us know. Will an electronic signature upon delivery save you time? Let us know. Is there an opportunity to sell specialty services that we are not selling yet? Let us know … you get the idea.  Not every idea will be implemented, but I’d certainly like input.

I’ve been at Saia for a little over a year now, and am just as excited as I was at the potential as I was when I started. I’ve met some incredible co-workers — let’s make 2019 a banner year!