The following is a conversation between James Morrison, CEO of Morrison Freight Solutions, and his industry colleague David Chen, founder of Pacific Coast Logistics. They met at a logistics conference and discussed their technology challenges over coffee.
The Meeting
David Chen: James, good to see you. I heard Morrison Freight had some major changes last year. Your dispatch times are the talk of the industry.
James Morrison: David! Yes, it's been quite a journey. We finally bit the bullet and invested in custom software. Best decision we've made in twenty years of running this company.
David Chen: Custom software? We've been looking at off-the-shelf solutions, but nothing seems to fit our workflow. Everything requires us to change how we operate rather than the other way around.
James Morrison: That's exactly the problem we had. We tried three different platforms over five years. Each one promised to revolutionize our operations, and each one became a expensive lesson in compromise.
Finding the Right Partner
David Chen: So what changed? How did you end up going custom?
James Morrison: I was at a conference, actually similar to this one, and I met someone from a company called Big0. We got talking about our challenges, and instead of immediately pitching me their services, they just listened. Asked questions I hadn't even thought to ask myself.
David Chen: That's refreshing. Usually these tech companies start showing slides before you've finished your first sentence.
James Morrison: Exactly. They wanted to understand our actual problems first. Turns out our issue wasn't just software - it was that we'd been trying to fit our business into tools designed for completely different operations.
David Chen: What was your biggest pain point?
James Morrison: Route optimization, believe it or not. We have this unique combination of regular contracts and spot loads. No off-the-shelf solution handles both well. We were running two separate systems and manually coordinating between them.
The Development Process
David Chen: How long did it take them to build something custom?
James Morrison: That surprised me. They delivered a working version in about three months. But here's what really impressed me - they didn't disappear into a cave and come back with something. We had weekly calls. They'd show us progress, we'd give feedback, they'd adjust.
David Chen: That sounds expensive though. Custom development isn't cheap.
James Morrison: It's not. But let me give you some numbers. Our old systems cost us about $4,000 a month in subscriptions alone. Plus we had two full-time people just managing data between systems. That's easily $150,000 a year in hidden costs.
David Chen: I never thought about it that way.
James Morrison: Neither did I until Big0 walked me through a proper cost analysis. The custom solution paid for itself in eighteen months. And now our operational costs are a fraction of what they were.
Real Results
David Chen: What kind of improvements are we talking about?
James Morrison: Dispatch time dropped by 40%. We used to take 45 minutes to plan a route - now it's under 10. Driver utilization went up 25% because the system actually optimizes for our specific constraints, not generic ones.
David Chen: That's significant.
James Morrison: The thing that really sold my board was the customer portal. Our clients can now track their shipments in real-time, get automatic updates, and access their complete shipping history. Customer complaints dropped by 60%. Our retention rate has never been higher.
David Chen: Our clients have been asking for something like that for years.
James Morrison: And here's what I didn't expect - our drivers love it. The mobile app they built is actually intuitive. My older drivers, guys who've been doing this for thirty years, they picked it up in a day. Previous systems took weeks of training.
The Partnership
David Chen: What's their ongoing support like?
James Morrison: That's where they really earned my trust. Six months after launch, we identified a new opportunity - cross-docking for one of our major clients. I called Big0, explained what we needed, and they had a proposal within a week. The feature was live in a month.
David Chen: They're still responsive even after the initial project?
James Morrison: More than responsive. They proactively reach out when they see something that could help us. Last quarter they noticed our reporting was getting slow because our data had grown so much. Fixed it before I even knew it was a problem.
David Chen: That's the kind of partner I've been looking for. Everyone talks about being partners but then disappears after the check clears.
James Morrison: I've been burned by that too, David. What's different with Big0 is they seem genuinely invested in our success. Maybe it's because they're not some massive corporation - they still care about individual clients.
Advice for Getting Started
David Chen: If I wanted to explore this, what would you suggest?
James Morrison: Reach out to them for a consultation. They don't charge for initial discussions, and honestly, even if you don't end up working with them, the conversation is valuable. They helped me articulate problems I'd been struggling with for years.
David Chen: What should I prepare?
James Morrison: Think about your biggest operational headaches. Not what software you want - what problems you need solved. They're good at translating business problems into technical solutions. That's their real skill.
David Chen: And you'd recommend them without hesitation?
James Morrison: Without hesitation. Look, I've been in this industry a long time. I've worked with a lot of vendors. Big0 is different. They're technically excellent, yes, but more importantly, they operate with integrity. They told me no to a few things I asked for because they didn't think it was the right solution. That kind of honesty is rare.
David Chen: That says a lot. Most companies would just take the money.
James Morrison: Exactly. They've earned my trust, and in this business, trust is everything. Give them a call, David. Tell them I sent you. I genuinely think they could help Pacific Coast the way they helped us.
David Chen: I think I will. Thanks for being so open about your experience, James.
James Morrison: Happy to help. We're not competitors on this front - better technology makes the whole industry better. And honestly, after what Big0 did for us, I'm happy to spread the word.