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M2 Transport |
Logistics Provider |
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Solving Complex Transportation Problems |
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Reaching Remote Areas and War Zones |
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M2 Transport relies on its quality sta , long-term carrier relationships, and
Magaya software to transport their customers’ most precious cargo into remote or
hostile areas. |
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In the type of business we are in, there can’t be any service interruptions.
We x supply chain disconnects." |
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Scott, Beal, COO, M2 Transport |
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www.m2transport.com |
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Logistics Provider |
Solution |
| Magaya Cargo System |
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Logistics company. M2 Transport, provides services to freight forwarders, 3PLs,
and trucking companies. They move oversized cargo for the oil industry, military
goods and many other time-sensitive commodities. M2 Transport is certi ed as an
Indirect Air Carrier, holds its truck brokerage license, and is endorsed by CNS
and IATA. |
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When supplies or parts are needed quickly in a remote area or even a war zone, a
charter ight is often the solution. Logistics company M2 Transport provides
emergency ights as well as scheduled freight shipments to places that are
di cult to get to such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Other examples of urgent
shipments include delivering parts if there has been a production failure or a
transportation equipment failure. Whether lives are at stake or just meeting a
production deadline, M2 Transport has the experienced staff and technology to
successfully fix supply chain disconnects.
M2 Transport was started in 2001 by Steve McDonald and Jim Mueller who combined
their experience in air chartering and brokering to form a new company and gave
it their initials, M and M, forming “M2”. The company covers a wide range of
territory in the US, with o ces in Atlanta, GA; Dulles, VA; Louisville, KY;
Houston, TX; and Cincinnati, OH. They do not own any warehouses or vessels, but
partner with others who specialize in those areas, drawing on long-term
relationships with carriers and other vendors to ensure quality for their
customers.
The Chief Operating O cer (COO) Scott Beal works out of the Louisville sales
o ce, not far from the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, major historical conduits of
transport for centuries. Speaking of how M2 Transport started and how it has
grown, Mr. Beal said, “We built on our origins in the air charter service and
applied that level of service to scheduled freight. We need ourselves monitoring
our customers’ most important shipments in the air and on the ground such as
large, oversized cargo that requires permits. We know how to get cargo moved to
hard-to-get-to areas such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa. We also add value to
the transportation chain by providing security if it’s needed. We can get
freight into Afghanistan in two days for our customers. This is one of the ways
we try to separate ourselves from the crowd.” |
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In addition to the experienced sta , M2 Transport o ers its customers the latest
technology by using the Magaya Cargo System. When their former software program
was no longer meeting their needs, they researched other programs and chose
Magaya.
“The transition was fantastic,” Mr. Beal said of getting started with Magaya
software. “Our sales person was very educated in the product. He really had
answers for us and that gave us con dence during the sales process. Since then,
the support has been great. Any time we’ve had to call, we’ve gotten the
attention we needed.”
Owner and CEO Steve McDonald agrees: “The best thing about Magaya from my
vantage point is that I don’t hear about it every day. That lets me know that
the system and support team are working for us in such a way that my people are
able to do their jobs, without having to frequently raise issues up to senior
management to get the help they need.”
The CEO, the operations managers, and IT manager evaluated the software. “It’s
very adaptable and intuitive,” Mr. Beal said. “A major selling point for us was
the high level of customization that is available. It’s not a one-size- ts-all.
We can expand it to meet needs as our business changes. So far we are using the
standard features and have not needed extra customization except for customizing
several documents and elds. But we’re glad the exibility is there to change
things as we grow. It gives us the con dence that we can modify our system
requirements whenever it is necessary. You don’t know what tomorrow will bring.”
They have customized invoices and other operations documents such as Pickup
Orders and Cargo Release by adding the company logo and custom elds using the
Magaya Document Designer, which is included with the software.
They book all their customer transactions in their Magaya software and track the
movement of the cargo to the airplane and during ground transport. They create
consolidations for air, ocean, and ground using the wizards to process the 250
to 300 shipments they handle per month. The majority of their service is
international air shipments and domestic expedited shipments.
In addition to using the Magaya Cargo System in each of their o ce locations,
they incorporated Magaya LiveTrack into their website, giving their customers
online access 24 hours a day from anywhere in the world.
M2 Transport is a relatively new Magaya user, having gotten started in June
2009. They started with the operations features and plan to migrate to the
accounting functionality in Magaya software soon.
“I frequently run Pro t & Loss statements by operations. I can see a quick
overview of where we’re making money and where our most pro table lines of
business are. I can also look at transaction level information when I need a
more detailed view to determine if we are upside down on a shipment. I can get
my hands on that data pretty quickly. There is a lot less labor in pulling and
scrubbing data.”
 M2 Transport is just getting started with the Magaya Community. “I think it’s a
good way to find credible resources you want to connect with, particularly
international agents overseas.” In the Magaya Community, users can search in the
directory for other Magaya users by geographic area or the services they
provide.
“We’re learning something new every day. As we realize we need to do a task, we
need the feature is already there in the software.”
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The software helps them do their jobs and offer the best service to their
customers. The staff was able to learn the Magaya software quickly, contributing
to another element of quality M2 Transport offers.
“We service numerous industries – oil and gas, high tech, food distribution,
construction, project cargo across all industries, and time-sensitive and/or
high-value commodities. Our in-house sta has the experience to accomplish these
hard-to-do trips. We are used to dealing with di cult situations. We can offer
not just the most expensive charter but other alternative routes because we have
long-standing relationships with many carriers.”
M2 Transport is a small company of about 20 employees, staying lean and avoiding
non-essential overhead. Mr. Beal worked at UPS Air Cargo when it was smaller and
gained experience as it grew, working his way up to Director of UPS Air Cargo
Operations and Marketing. The right software at the right price helps M2
Transport with their goal to stay lean and helps this small company achieve big
things: “We are able to respond to customers quickly unlike a large corporation
that may have a huge call center with employees who have a variety of
experience, ranging from some with many years to others who are new to their
jobs. That can create an uneven level of service for customers calling in. When
you call us, you will talk to people with experience.”
Talking about their strengths, Mr. Beal said, “We’re not trying to compete with
the market segment that o ers multiple ights per day for shipments to and from
New York and London, for example. We know how to get supplies to remote places
where there is a lack of service such as Africa, Iraq, Afghanistan, or Russia
where infrastructure issues need to be dealt with correctly.”
M2 Transport is expanding and is currently adding sales people and is looking at
o ering franchises. “We feel like we have our feet under us and want to drive
more activity into our existing operational infrastructure. Being able to
communicate with customers and book shipments in a timely fashion in the
software are the elements that help us solve complex transportation problems.” |
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