Metro Xpress Combines Longhaul With Local Cartage to Develop a Competitive Edge
Operating a longhaul service with local cartage is a winning combo for Wichita, Kan.-based Metro Xpress.
“It’s allowed us to bring a new level of service to our customers, and it’s paying off,” Cory Sell, Metro’s executive vice president, said in a company press release. “We’re a little different in our business model. We’ll use our pickup-and-delivery fleet to supply our Wichita customers with empty trailers, so they can load at their convenience. Once they’re done, and if needed, we’ll swap out another empty trailer and bring the fully loaded trailer to our facility to have it staged and ready to go.”
Metro Xpress, established in 1982 by Kerry Sell, current president and Cory Sell’s dad, debuted with a 14-foot straight truck. “He made local deliveries — freight, household moves and refuse. Eventually, he grew the business and started runs down into Texas.”
Revenue grew to $1 million in 1993 as the company started splitting its operations between local and longhaul, encompassing a 700-mile radius.
Today, it’s at $15 million a year, and the company has grown to an all-Kenworth fleet of 85 highway trucks and six day cabs, all bought through Wichita Kenworth. The T680 with 76-inch sleeper has become the truck of choice over the past three years, powered by the Paccar MX-13 engine.
The Kenworth T680 has enhanced Metro’s fleet fuel economy. “The Paccar MX-13 has really performed well and makes a big difference for us,” Cory Sell said. He added that the company is getting “upwards of half a mile per gallon more in fuel economy,” realizing about $3,000 per truck in fuel savings per year. “We were an early adopter of the Paccar MX, first in Kenworth T660s more than five years ago,” Sell said. “Those trucks with the MX engine will last a long time.”
