“Today we service all categories of freight, but we continue to have a high profile in temperature controlled fresh produce logistics,” said Rob Goldstein, owner, president and founder of Genpro Inc., in Rutherford, NJ.

“We handle fresh fruits and vegetables as well as they can be handled, and we deal with thousands of carriers and thousands of loads every year,” he said.

The company, which Goldstein started shortly after graduating from college in 1989, does not have agents or brokers who are supported by outside companies.

Goldstein’s family background is in both the produce business and in trucking. His background, combined with a degree in business, opened an opportunity in the trucking industry that he knew would be much better than was possible a few decades earlier.

The company began as a truck brokerage operation with two employees. In 2007, in response to its customers’ needs, Genpro established a transportation management services team designed as an end-to-end, technology-driven service. This provides continuous systematic shipment visibility and is supported by a centralized point of contact to proactively address the dynamic needs of the customers’ management team.

“Our employee service team is aligned to our strategy, and we have a core group of trucks that service our immediate needs,” said Goldstein. “Besides on-demand pricing and contract programs, we offer managed services programs such as load and route optimization, carrier contract management, carrier service level management and reporting, risk management and control, business intelligence, dynamic tracking systems for shipment status, shipment tender process, multi-mode capabilities, pick-up and delivery appointment management to meet our customers’ needs.”

He added that these services enable its clients to outsource specific functions while Genpro handles the day-to-day tactical functions.

Alternatively, companies can completely outsource their transportation program to Genpro allowing them to focus on their core competencies while still retaining strategic overview of the transportation component of their supply chain.

“Our services result in creating efficiencies, and we provide the highest level of service,” Goldstein added. “Transportation systems’ services are highly technical and streamlined, but we also understand the challenges related to moving fresh fruits and vegetables.

“Produce professionals tend to think that transportation is always tight, but the entrance into the industry takes a lot of understanding,” he continued. “It’s a niche industry, and truckers who don’t know about it tend to head in other directions. Today there are a lot of brokers competing in the marketplace trying to service the same customers. But we would ask them what else they do for their customers. Our technologies and efficiencies are hard to match. And we have the ability to stay up on new and complex compliances and do more due diligence in our services.”

He also stressed that this is a highly fragmented industry today, and with major changes in trucking compliance, thinking outside of the box is needed to be successful.

“New York is the biggest market in the world,” said Goldstein. “We work with some great people at Hunts Point. But over time their needs and consequently their demands have changed. Our business is really about meeting these needs, about efficiencies, value and service in ways that come into play with cost savings.

“Genpro carries on my family’s values, from my grandfather, Hymie Grappel, to my father and to me, and that’s all about integrity,” he concluded.