AIT’s focus on information and tracking technology has been an advantage for the mid-sized carrier.

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For the first six months of its existence, AIT Worldwide Logistics co-founders Steve Leturno and Dan Lisowski took home absolutely no pay. While that might sound like one of the warning signs that a company is on the brink of oblivion, the two partners insist that the company’s early precarious position was a major factor in building it into the solvent and much stronger player it is today.

Beginning in 1979 as what Leturno describes as little more than “two guys in a small office with a dream,” AIT has grown into an operation of more than 815 people and $327 million in annual sales. From its headquarters outside Chicago, AIT provides transportation and logistics services across the country and internationally.

Because of the company’s status as a start-up, AIT has been able to build its services from the ground up. Lisowski says this has included a focus on information technology, giving the company a significant advantage in providing customized tracking and tracing information services for its clients. The co-founders say the company’s family owned and mid-sized carrier status also gives it a greater edge in customer service.

Even though the market becomes more and more competitive every day, Lisowski and Leturno say opportunities exist for AIT, specifically overseas. The company recently opened its first international office, and Lisowski says the potential exists for greater expansion in the future.

Lean Times
Lisowski says he started in the logistics industry as a part-time employee while finishing college in the mid-1970s. He stuck with the industry after graduating and worked his way up through a number of companies before meeting Leturno in 1976. The two were having dinner with their wives in 1979 when they made the decision that would change their lives forever. “We were complaining a little bit about our jobs, and it was Steve’s wife who said, ‘Why don’t you guys start your own company?’” Lisowski says. They did, and even though the economic climate at the time was stifling, the company’s confidence grew with each new client it brought in.

“We started in the later days of the Jimmy Carter administration, when the economy was in the toilet, and interest rates were around 19 and 20 percent,” Lisowski says. However, it wasn’t all bad news. “We were also fortunate because we launched the business at the same time Carter deregulated the industry,” he adds.

Lots of established companies scrambled to adjust to the changes brought about by deregulation, often tripping over their well-established infrastructure in the process. Because AIT started out with very little infrastructure, it was much easier for Leturno and Lisowski to tailor its services to the new realities of the logistics industry. “We set ourselves up where we had very, very low overhead,” Leturno says. “Neither Dan nor I took a salary for six months.” All of AIT’s profits in the beginning were invested right back into the company.

“We were profitable from the very first month going forward, and that’s been the way we’ve approached business ever since,” Leturno adds.

“Every piece of business that we brought on board was new to us and growth for us,” Lisowski says.

Many of its competitors were struggling to retain customers while remaining profitable, but Leturno says AIT didn’t have those problems. “If you’re a new start-up company, you aren’t fraught with any of those worries because you have no history,” he says. “Every dollar for us was a new dollar.”

Technological Edge
One advantage AIT had by being able to invest profits right back into the company was the development of a strong IT presence both internally and for customers. Leturno says a 30-person IT department makes sure customers have all the information about their shipments they need.

“We design a lot of tailor-made solutions for our customers,” Leturno says. “Instead of telling them what we’re going to do for them, we ask them, ‘What can we do for you?’”

AIT develops customized IT systems that track, trace and archive information on past and current shipments. Leturno says this is becoming a bigger priority for many of its customers as they discover how important supply chain and logistics can be to their bottom line. “It’s funny because the shipping areas of most companies are the last part of the process,” Leturno says. “They’re usually an expense center and not a profit center.”

AIT can save its customers money through IT just as well as it does through its logistics services, Leturno adds. Customized reports, lane segment analysis and cost analysis are some of the ways in which AIT helps its customers streamline their supply chains.

Added to that value proposition is the level of customer service AIT provides. Lisowski credits the company’s pedigree with its ability to give customers personalized service. “We’re a family owned company, so we treat our customers and our employees like family,” he says.

“Our customers have their favorite AIT customer service representatives, with whom they get to know on a more intimate basis,” Leturno says.

Lisowski says the key to maintaining such an intimate corporate culture is simple. “Every day, I walk around the office to interact with the employees and get to know them,” he says.

Internally, AIT maintains a technological edge through electronic record-keeping. “Imaging is one of the areas with which we are on the leading-edge,” Leturno says. “Every piece of paper that filters through our building is scanned. We were one of the first in our industry to adopt that technology more than 10 years ago.”

Although Lisowski says the company avoids adopting new technology just for the sake of being on the “bleeding edge,” the imaging technology has significantly improved efficiencies not only in the company’s accounting department, but also in receiving. He says the software is so sophisticated that it can recognize hand-written characters as well as distinguish which customer pertains to an invoice solely based on its layout. “It’s a very advanced product that we’ve used for two or three years and it’s significantly cut down on the manual entering of invoices,” he says.

Opening Markets
“The business is getting more competitive every day,” Lisowski says. The domestic market is becoming softer due to the weakening economy, so AIT is looking beyond the nation’s borders for new opportunities.

“It is the international area where a lot of growth exists,” Lisowski adds. The company opened its first international AIT Asia office in Hong Kong several months ago. This has opened up direct negotiations with steamship lines for the first time for AIT, he says. Also bolstering the need for international logistics is the fact that as the dollar continues to weaken, exports from the United States increase.

Although the balance has not shifted entirely away from the United States, Lisowski says Europe and Asia are exerting more control over the world markets as a result.

“Most of the decision-makers are in the United States, but that’s beginning to change,” he says. AIT’s expansion plans for the future are being designed to make Europe and Asia a much larger portion of the company’s work. “We hope to establish a full sales office in addition to operationally serving customers in those areas,” Lisowski says.

NAFTA has also opened up commerce in North America, and Lisowski says he sees a lot of transborder logistics coming. “A lot of business that has moved overseas is coming back, and it’s returning to Mexico and Canada,” he says.

With this kind of environment to look forward to, the co-founders of AIT Worldwide Logistics say they’re optimistic, as long as they keep doing what they do best. “We come in every day, roll up our sleeves, jump right into it and just keep trying to move the company forward,” Leturno says.