Name: Averitt  

                    Address: 1415 Neal Street                     

City: Cookville, Tenn. 38502    

CEO:  Gary Sasser

Products: Transportation

Phone: 800-283-7488

      Averitt Express has launched a bold branding initiative, featuring an entirely new company logo and a massive communications campaign designed to alert freight shippers to ongoing advances in its transportation and supply chain management capabilities.

      Representing the first major change to its corporate symbol in the company’s 34-year history, Averitt’s new logo depicts simply the word Averitt in red.

      As part of the initiative, Averitt is also preparing to launch the most comprehensive external and internal communications campaign in its history. The historic logo change and communications campaign, built on the tagline “Think Red Instead,” is designed to make a powerful statement about how Averitt’s identity in the marketplace continues to evolve.

      “We’ve broadened our capabilities dramatically over the past few years,” said Gary Sasser, Averitt’s President and CEO. “We felt it was important to make a tangible statement that will challenge people to take a closer look at all we have to offer.”

      In recent years, several major trends have radically changed the freight industry. Trends such as the growing complexities of supply chains, globalization, logistics outsourcing, just-in-time manufacturing, single-sourcing, the blurring of lines between transportation modes, mass customization and the rising popularity of third-party logistics providers (3PLs), have led Averitt to:

      •Adopt new strategies to customize services for individual shippers on a regional, national and international basis.

      •Launch a myriad of new service offerings, including establishing de-consolidation/transload facilities in major U.S. ports, international ocean and air forwarding services, warehousing (i.e. sequencing, cross  dock, sub-assembly, pick and pack), brokerage and dedicated contract carriage.

      •Bolster its domestic and international partner network to enable door-to-door services around the globe.

      •Restructure itself to allow operating units to function in a more integrated manner.

      “In our industry right now, there are two types of providers, carriers and 3PLs,” Sasser added. “Today’s Averitt combines the best of both, the power of assets combined with the flexibility to provide customized solutions.”

      Averitt has already begun updating its entire fleet of more than 3,000 tractors with its new logo, a process that will be managed over a period of 90 days.

      Established in 1971, Averitt Express is a leading provider of freight transportation and supply chain management with international reach to more than 100 countries. The company specializes in delivering customized solutions with a single source of accountability for service offerings that include less-than-truckload, truckload, time-critical, importing/exporting, and supply chain management. Backed by successful execution for hundreds of customers, Averitt’s supply chain capabilities include dedicated fleet operations, warehouse management services, portside distribution, transportation management, and transportation network design and operation.

      Averitt operates more than 80 service centers and serves more than 50,000 points throughout the Southern United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Averitt also provides international transportation services to 100 different countries and more than 300 international destinations.

Web site

      Averitt also recently reengineered its web site, located at www.averittexpress.com, to provide users with an improved online experience.

      The new site features an entirely new layout designed to make it even easier for Averitt’s customers to access the information they need about their shipments.

      Improvements to the new site include:

      •Shippers can now log into Averitt’s private, password-protected web site, known as MyAverittExpress, directly from the home page. By entering log in information on the home page of Averitt’s site, shippers can access a variety of customized shipment information and tools, including shipment tracking, pickup requests, fax requests, shipping documents, account-specific rate quotes, service reports, claims inquiry and claims application.

      •Users can now also access two other popular online shipping tools directly from the front page, a shipment tracking tool and a transit time calculator.

      •All of the interactive shipping functions that were available on the previous site are available on the new site, in addition to a service map tool that provides real-time point to point transit times broken down geographically based on origin zip codes provided by the user.

      •Averitt has also made several aesthetic improvements to its online bill of lading generating tool, known as Ship Plus. To create bills of lading, customers enter shipping details into an online form that, when submitted, is converted into a Portable Document Format (PDF) version of a bill of lading. This automated process helps shippers save time by allowing them to print the PDF bills of lading instead of having to hand copy their own. Once the bill of lading is finalized and submitted, a request is also automatically submitted on behalf of the customer letting Averitt know the shipment is ready for pickup. Ship Plus also helps shippers streamline their documentation process by allowing them to create and save bill of lading templates for repeat shipments.

      •The new site now contains much more information about Averitt’s overall transportation and supply chain management capabilities. Shippers can learn more about how Averitt has solved specific shipper problems at the new “Why Averitt” section.

      Averitt officials say the launch of the new site is in direct response to the ongoing needs of its customers.

      “The need for comprehensive, reliable, real-time shipping information is at an all-time high,” said Phil Pierce, Averitt’s executive vice president of sales and marketing. “Our reengineered web site will provide shippers with an even better online experience and arm them with the type of customized information they need to accomplish their unique goals.”