This leasing company delivers a level of customer service unheard of in today’s grab-it-while-you-can marketplace. Lloyd Schroer talks to Liz French.

With more than 30 years experience at KNL Holding Company, Lloyd Schroer knows a thing or two about customer service. The president and CEO said that the full-service truck leasing and maintenance company didn’t grow to 39 locations across 10 states as a result of a highly detailed strategic plan or streamlining initiative; instead, growth is spawned by strong customer and employee relationships.

“We strive to recruit good people, educate them, and promote from within, and in dealing with our customers, we form a partnership. We work with them to solve their problems and keep rates fair,” said Schroer.

Ohio-based KNL Holding Company is the parent corporation of Kirk NationaLease, a company providing long- and short-term leases for trucks, tractors, and trailers to customers throughout the Midwest. Customers are primarily manufacturers. As a member of NationaLease, a $2.4 billion franchiser of truck leasing companies, Kirk NationaLease has access to another 700 maintenance facilities across North America.

Lloyd Schroer

KBT, Inc., a freight carrier company, was formed in 1978 as an extension of Kirk NationaLease to provide transportation services, including truck drivers and logistic support, and to put equipment coming off of lease to good use. Chase Logistics, Inc., formed in 1999, also sits under KNL Holding Company, providing warehouse space and product delivery throughout Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. The company recently branched out to include cross-docking, repackaging, labeling, and product distribution. In 2005, Kirk Staffing was formed as another division of KNL Holding Company to provide drivers and other trained personnel to KNL divisions and their customers.

Flexible partnerships
Despite their different functions, all four companies have one thing in common: they partner with customers. Kirk NationaLease, for example, has developed a budget-friendly contract for customers making one-way trips. In the past, customers had to pay for all miles put on a truck during a run, but half of those miles were driven with an empty trailer. “Now, we find a load for them to haul back from another customer, which saves them considerable money. They were doing us a favor paying for wasted miles, but now it is our responsibility to find the load and the revenue for the return trip,” said Schroer.

Kirk NationaLease also lends a hand to customers who work on a seasonal basis. If a customer only needs trucks nine months out of the year, the company bills for nine months of use over a
12-month period. The customer can then rest assured the same trucks will be available when the season starts. In addition, to smooth out customers’ peaks and valleys, the company keeps extra standard equipment in stock at all times. “That way, they don’t need as many trucks under contract,” said Schroer.

Flexible, custom contracts are key to customer retention. Schroer explained that Kirk NationaLease’s trade cycle is between 500,000 and 600,000 miles, and while some customers rack up that many miles in as little as two years, some take five to seven years. For that reason, the company offers short-term contracts to high-mileage customers and long-term contracts to low-mile customers. “Also, we make extra equipment available to high-mileage customers. When they bring their truck in for repair, we give them another one. Most of them do just-in-time deliveries and need to keep their freight moving.”

This customer-centric approach has driven Kirk NationaLease’s growth over the years. “Our customers stay with us for many years, and as they grow, we grow,” said Schroer. And we’re not just talking about revenue and the number of customers—the company has successfully expanded its footprint following customers all over the country. Schroer explained that if a large customer opens a plant in Kentucky, for example, Kirk NationaLease will open up a maintenance facility nearby to service that customer’s fleet. In the past few years, it has ventured into Virginia, Texas, Alabama, and Kentucky. “It has to be a break-even deal for us to start, and once we get up and running, we can pick up local business,” said the CEO.

To ensure a steady stream of work, Kirk NationaLease performs maintenance on equipment owned by other companies. Schroer explained that drivers are often on the road one to five days, but they are almost always home on the weekends. “That left us with a pretty empty shop during the week, so we started taking on outside business, including school bus maintenance.”

With 39 locations and more on the way, Kirk NationaLease adopted a software system to manage maintenance and leasing from Calgary, Canada-based Enrich several years ago. A large portion of the 700 locations in the NationaLease network use the Enrich software, meaning if one of Kirk NationaLease’s trucks breaks down in California, a local NationaLease member can see what maintenance has previously been done on the truck to get it back on the road as soon as possible. In addition, the company uses a software system from Cleveland-based TRW to manage its trucking operations, including truck tracking, freight, and billing. All 39 locations are connected to the mainframe in the Sidney, Ohio headquarters, allowing for easy transfer of information and equipment.

Development opportunities
Half of Kirk NationaLease’s strength lies in its customer relationships, while the other half lies in its employee base. And the formula is quite simple. “We treat employees fairly, pay them competitive wages, and give them the opportunity to grow with the company,” said Schroer, who is a perfect example, having started with the company in 1977 as a mechanic.

For starters, inhouse trainers travel to all 39 sites providing one-on-one and group education and making sure all 180 mechanics stay up to date on their brake, air conditioning, and other government-mandated certifications. Employees also attend training seminars hosted by suppliers, including Volvo, International Truck and Engine Corporation, and Freightliner.

Tuition reimbursement is available for mechanics and back-office employees who wish to improve their job-related skills at a local technical school, and high school students attending a trade school can work at Kirk NationaLease with full benefits. After graduation, they receive reimbursement on a monthly basis. Kirk NationaLease also offers two scholarships (one technical, one academic) a year, renewable for up to four years, for the children of employees.