In 1958, the company was founded as Livingston Merchant’s Co-Op, a small trucking company that hauled dry goods between the small Tennessee town of Livingston and Nashville. By 1969, the name was changed to Averitt Express. A FATEFUL MEET I NG It was during one of Thurman’s deliveries to a Nashville dock facility when he met Gary, whose main jobs at the time consisted of sweeping the dock and pulling weeds around the yard. Gary struck up a friendship with Thurman while helping unload his trailers. One day, Gary asked if Thurman would be interested in selling his company. After some thought, Thurman agreed. And the Averitt Express we know today was born. “I was just a 21-year-old kid who was going to night school, but I knew that I wanted to be in the transportation industry,” says Gary, who also took logistics training while serving in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. “I was surprised when Mr. Averitt agreed to sell, and it didn’t take long to face my first challenge: how to make payroll. We actually sold the trucks and leased them back just so we could have some operating capital to give everyone a paycheck. We learned a lot in those early days.” The Averitt Story October 1 marked our team’s official 50th anniversary. That’s the day 21-year-old GARY SASSER purchased Averitt Express from Thurman Averitt in 1971. And what started with two associates, three trucks and five trailers has blossomed into a leading logistics and transportation provider with thousands of associates and customers across the globe. Celebrating a 50-year milestone
One of those lessons had to do with the cost of doing business. Gary is often asked why the name was never changed from Averitt Express. The simple answer is that at the time, it was too expensive to change the name of the company. By the time he could afford it, Gary said the Averitt brand was well- established, so there was no reason to make the change. Gary also jumped in to keep freight moving. From making pickups and deliveries to cutting freight bills on a mechanical typewriter, he did whatever it took to deliver on the team’s promise to provide outstanding service. Those experiences also confirmed to Gary what he already knew: finding good people was the key to success. “We surrounded ourselves with good people, people who shared our vision for service and quality. The industry had a reputation for not being service- minded. We wanted to change that,” Gary says. “We sat down as a group and figured out what we could do best, where we wanted to go and how to get there. From early on, we knew we weren’t in the trucking business; we were in the service business. Trucks were just the tool, like computers, telephones and forklifts.” THE WI NNER ’ S CI RCLE The two most important things Gary committed to on early on and our team continues to focus on are people and service. It’s people who deliver the freight, not trucks. And when our people provide outstanding service, customers trust us with more and more of their business, allowing us to grow. That’s what secures our future. These three elements – Our Customers, Our Associates, Our Future – were chosen as elements of our Winner’s Circle. For us to take care of our associates, our customers and our future, we have to have balance and make wise investments. “There is a cost associated with keeping our trucks clean, with our professional image, and with the time we put into hiring and coaching the right
GARY with some of the associates who started when Averitt was still based in Livingston. From left: JUANITA BROWN , CHRIS STAGGS, ANGIE HESTER , JOYCE MATTHEWS and SANDY FLEMING .
C O M M U N I T Y C H A L L E N G E matters
O C T O B E R 2 0 2 1
6
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter