“Once They Tell You They’re Going To Do It, You Can Forget About It.”
Founded in the 1980s in Mobile, Alabama, Southern Ionics is a leading producer and supplier of aluminum, sulfur, ammonia and zirconium products. These products are used in a broad range of applications, including the production of safe drinking water, the removal of pollutants from the air and as a catalyst for clean fuels.
Delivering tens of thousands of loads annually, Southern Ionics handles over 90% of these deliveries in-house.
But where do they turn when it’s time to bring in outside help?
Who can Southern Ionics count on to provide the same level of service their customers have come to expect?
The answer is Ergon Trucking (Ergon). The partnership between Ergon and Southern Ionics began in the late ‘90s. What started as an initial trial run paved the way for decades of collaboration that the Southern Ionics team knows they can always rely on.
“From the dispatchers to the drivers to the office,” said Sam White, Transportation Manager at Southern Ionics. “The relationship that we’ve built over the past 25+ years has proven to be a true partnership. Everybody you talk to is professional, and if they tell you they’re going to do it, you can take it to the bank. They’re going to take care of it. It’ll be done as well as you would have done it with your own equipment and trucks.”
For both companies, the connection runs deeper than logistics. In many cases, frontline workers like truck drivers may be the only interaction customers have with a company. Ergon’s Founder, Leslie Lampton Sr., often said that truck drivers are the face of the business.
The Southern Ionics team shares that belief — and it’s one of the reasons the partnership continues to thrive.
“We take a lot of pride in the people we hire,” said White. “And I think it’s obvious Ergon does the same thing.”
When Last-Minute Projects Call, Ergon Answers
“I’ll tell you about our first experience with Ergon,” said White. “We have a barge terminal in Columbus, Ohio, and we were supplying caustic soda by truckload and rail to a customer there. That customer was using product really fast. The rail cars couldn’t keep up. I called a guy and said, ‘Man, you know anybody that’s got any trucks?’”
“He sent two owner-operators up from Petal, Mississippi, and they hauled nonstop for three days. Ergon came through, and they did an unbelievable job. That was the start of our partnership, and it was obvious early on that they were going to do what they said they were going to do,” White continued.
On another occasion, when faced with a customer who needed critical products delivered during the holidays, Southern Ionics once again turned to their trusted partner in Ergon.
“Ergon found two truck drivers who didn’t mind being away from home on Christmas,” said White. “They would load up in Lake Charles, Louisiana, go to Santa Fe Springs, California, get there the day before Christmas Eve or on Christmas Eve, and then they would have to test the product. From there, they’d leave California and drive all the way to Seattle [Washington]. It wasn’t a glamorous job, but they did that load — two trucks, every year — for several years. And we knew we could count on them to do so. Once they tell you they’re going to do it, you can forget about it.”
Built on Trust
Over the years, trust has grown into a deep, dependable partnership. The Southern Ionics team knows they can count on Ergon to provide a high-quality service without the need for micromanagement.
“You make that handoff to Ergon, and you just know they’re going to do a great job,” said White. “They take care of business, simple as that.”
