Innovators: Estes Express Lines turns its attention to the rear of the rig to boost capacity, productivity

CCJ Innovators profiles carriers and fleets that have found innovative ways to overcome trucking’s challenges. If you know a carrier that has displayed innovation, contact CCJ Editor Jason Cannon at jasoncannon@randallreilly.com or 800-633-5953.

Hearing the ghost of disgraced Chicago White Sox outfielder “Shoeless” Joe Jackson hint, “If you build it, they will come,” fictional Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella defied all naysayers and constructed a baseball diamond in the middle of his cornfield.

Mike Palmer, vice president of fleet services for Estes Express Lines (CCJ Top 250, No. 12), must have been within earshot.

Estes, with a fleet of more than 7,000 tractors and nearly 29,000 trailers, is among the nation’s largest less-than-truckload and truckload carriers. Size and scale matter in the trucking business, but the Richmond, Virginia-based carrier remained flummoxed by the amount of “empty space underneath the trailer,” Palmer said.

Management saw the opportunity cost of not being able to pack in more cargo. “We always cube-out before we weigh-out,” he said.

Three years ago, Palmer was cruising the 2017 North American Commercial Vehicle (NACV) tradeshow floor with Justin Bell, vice president of engineering for Strick Trailers. Palmer was venting his frustrations with the additional tractors needed to haul cargo that otherwise could have fit in the dead space between the trailer floor and the road surface, which led to his “Field of Dreams” moment.

If he built it – or at least prodded the design of it – more pallets would come.