Brody Matthews ‘15 – This year I was one of the few students fortunate enough to join an internship through the small business internship fund. I received this opportunity through Erik Ness and United Perishable Logistics. Since returning to my home state of Colorado I have been able to enjoy my family and social life accompanied with a great work environment. The business I joined is a brokerage firm owned by a produce company known as Martori farms, which is where our primary business comes from.
Working in a small business is a great way of gaining actual knowledge in the field and experience with this type of business. You are forced to gain the required skills very quickly and you begin contributing to the company immediately.
The office has 4 full time employees, Erik, Brandi, Blu and Jordan. Everyone has helped me tremendously with learning the ways of conducting business. My main tasks are to either “book loads” or find trucks and put their information into an email list serve. We are given a list of loads that need to be picked up and delivered in a certain time frame that all have different qualifications. We typically use trucking equipment called a “reefer” which is a refrigerated carrier; this may change depending on the shipper’s preference. We will then deliver these products to our own local Wal-Mart’s and Sam’s Clubs!
Over the little time that I have worked with UPL, I have gained the skills of negotiating and have begun to learn the importance of organization. It is our job to make sure that all the parties involved know what’s going on and that the final delivery goes smooth. There are many different factors that weigh into loading a truck and making sure he delivers on time. Everything is always in a constant state of change and there is no guarantee. It has been fascinating to witness and become a part of what is a very fast paced and evolving business. There is no easy way to find trucks and nothing goes as planned, so it’s hard to get a step ahead. The drivers we search for are in low supply and high demand, so the competition makes negotiating that much harder.
It has been great being home and working this internship at the same time. It has been a difficult task in itself balancing my new work life with the social life I had been accustomed. I am looking forward to finishing out the summer on a strong note and heading back to Wabash.