Arrive recently hosted its very first externship program, where 24 students from 13 different universities explored various departments across Arrive and learned about how our leaders got started in the business. This blog is written by two of our previous externs, Alina Malik and Kaile McDaniel. Check out their top five things they learned during the externship.
- Truck types. The externship has allowed us to learn about the difference in the types of freight trucks including reefer trucks and dry-van trucks. Reefer trucks are required for all refrigerated items, while dry-van trucks are suitable for basic commodities that do not get damaged based on the climate.
- Truck mass. The mass of all trucks, including the maximum weight a truck can actually hold as opposed to the full weight of all trucks. The total mass of the average truck equates to 80,000 pounds, but the average truck can only hold up to 45,000 pounds in storage.
- Transportation is everywhere. One of the most surprising facts we learned is how prevalent freight is in the U.S. Initially, we thought trucking and freight were far and few in between, where there were limited jobs and opportunities within the transportation field. However, we learned that transportation is included in everything consumers buy. Both the materials to make products and the final products have to be transported in order to reach the final consumer.
- The freight industry is growing. Freight is a booming market that continues to rise. SInce the pandemic, there has been an increase in the volume of online sales. When consumers order items online, the materials are transported by trucks to the manufacturers and the final products are shipped to consumers by truck.
- Relationships are key. Maintaining strong relationships with consumers is potent to the freight industry. Not only do you strive to satisfy your customers, you also strive to manage healthy relationships with the drivers of the trucks. Maintaining successful relationships furthers Arrive to have more successful loads. Through the sales shadowing portion of the externship, we noticed that the representative was prioritizing good customer service to everyone they spoke with.
About Our Externs
Alina Malik is currently a sophomore at the University of Houston studying marketing and management information systems. Kaile McDaniel is a current junior studying agricultural business at Tuskegee University.
