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August 30, 2012ABCs of football
August 30, 2012
U-Drop packing and shipping might look like a local business, but it is really a global industry participant.
Joe Bennett said the business he purchased in 1995 from original owner John Williams, after having worked 13-years on the road as a salesman, not only handles small, local and domestic packages, but custom builds crates for items clients send around the globe.
“Our customer-base is 98 percent oil business,” Bennett said while showing examples of large engines, tools, and other products his crew has contained and shipped. “But we will package and move anything.”
Some of U-Drops projects have included packing and shipping race cars, boats and even a displayed taxidermy lion.
U-Drop is among the top five shippers for both UPS and FedEx in Louisiana, but also makes use of other freight transport resources by land, sea and air.
“We have small package [shipping] in the front and a warehouse in the back,” U-Drop office manager Shelia Boudreaux said. “We are blessed to have a variety.”
According to the Santa Monica, Calif.-based marketing research firm IBIS World, global container shipping is expected to generate revenue of more than $155 billion by the end of 2012. Houma-based U-Drop contributes to those earnings.
Bennett said his business claims a niche by being able to pack anything anyone brings to his business, whether it is shipped or simply placed in storage. This includes items placed in standard office storage boxes, oversized industrial tools, industrial engines, even fresh shrimp and other perishables being sent to friends and businesses anywhere.
“We will also go to the customer,” Bennett said. “We prefab the crate here and take it on-site and build it around the item.”
U-Drop is established as a vendor for many regular customers, but has not yet entered into retainer contracts. “We do have all the insurance we need to go into yards [to perform work], but no contracts, although I kind of wish we did have some.”
Bennett said with many jobs, he and his crew might not know what is needed until they see the item and make detailed measurements for packing. “It could be a 12-foot-long piece or a 2-foot item,” he said. “So, we can’t build anything ahead of time.”
U-Drop employees pride themselves most in the turnaround time they offer customers. “In this area, the oil field, you’ve got to have it now. So the stuff we crate need to be done quickly.”
Custom packing and shipping costs can range from $8 to more than $20,000 considering the item involved. “It just depends on what you are shipping and where you want to send it,” Boudreaux said.
Deadlines produce the greatest challenge for this business when customer needs are immediate. With perishables, the challenge is having those products in transit for the shortest amount of time possible.
“Customer satisfaction is our greatest reward,” Boudreaux said. “We have customers walk in and say ‘I like to come here and I want to come back.’”
U-Drop has been known to offer discounts to military personnel and was instrumental in crating and shipping relief supplies to residents of Haiti following the devastating earthquake there in 2010. “We donate a lot to that kind of mission work,” Bennett said.
Like most profitable businesses, Bennett and Boudreaux said having conscientious employees providing quality customer service for repeat projects is their secret to success.
“Our main thing is to keep the customer happy,” Bennett said. “Some have high-value items and some are personal items that just have to get there. So, that’s what we do.”
According to the Washington, D.C.-based World Shipping Council, the United States was the largest importer of containerized cargo, with 17.6 million units received, in 2010. The U.S. containerized cargo rate exported that same year was 11.2 million units making it No. 2 after China, which exported 31.3 million containers.
“I don’t have an exact figure, but I know we ship thousands of packages a year,” Bennett said.
Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control regulations have impacted the export packaging business as many countries restrict some solid wood packaging materials. U-Drop is one of several companies that make use of certified bug-free materials, certifying it as IPPC compliant. The company also makes use of high-tech packing materials to benefit both the contents and environment.
IBIS World researchers predict that technology will cause a 2 percent drop in business for the $2 billion freight industry in 2012. While documents and software-related material may be a factor, experts with U-Drop contend it will not be any time soon that industrial equipment or items requiring custom containers will be physically delivered by way of the Internet.
U-Drop owner Joe Bennett, left, and warehouse manager Jerry Breaux position chokes for oilfield equipment to be custom crated at their facility in Houma. U-Drop has shipped large and small packages to 72 countries during the past two years.
