President Jim O’ Neal and Charlotte Eckley, chief business development officer, lead the strategic planning efforts that have resulted in major changes at O&S Trucking.

Last summer, the key managers for O&S Trucking convened to review their performance according to the business plan for 2004. Heading into its annual mid-year review, the Springfield, Mo.-based carrier seemed to be following the financial and operational objectives it had set six months earlier, but there was a glaring problem.

“We saw that we weren’t hitting our numbers because we weren’t filling all the trucks,” says O&S Trucking President Jim O’Neal. The game plan was based on operating 390 trucks, but O&S Trucking was operating only 350. Management left the session, which spanned several days, with a resolve to tackle the problem. “We needed to do something to offset empty trucks and the loss of owner-operators.”

O&S Trucking started by reallocating resources. “We took an outside salesperson and put him in truck stops looking for drivers,” says Charlotte Eckley, O&S Trucking’s chief business development officer, who is responsible for marketing, strategic planning, recruiting and other functions.

But soon a bigger opportunity arose. One of O&S Trucking’s large shippers was using another carrier that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and announced that it would be filing Chapter 7 and liquidating. Despite the carrier’s financial troubles, it had good freight that would fit well within O&S Trucking’s business.

More importantly, the failing carrier had a great driver force – generally five to 25 years of experience – and an excellent safety record.

O’Neal quickly began negotiating a solution that would keep the operation together under O&S Trucking ownership. In December, O&S Trucking brought over 53 drivers as well as two fleet managers in a mostly seamless transfer.