Alchemist Specialty Carriers of Langley, BC, specializes in hauling chemical and petroleum products to mines and fuel stations. We spoke with General Manager Madison Barry to learn how switching to Axon Software helped increase their fleet by almost 50% while reducing their office staff and cutting overhead costs by over $25,000 a month.
Q&A
Tell us about the company.
My name is Madison Barry, and I’ve been with Alchemist for going on nine years now. My position is General Manager, but I started in AP and have done every position in the company, moving my way up from there.
We are located in Langley, BC. We haul chemical and petroleum products, anything from water treatments to mines to fuel stations.
The history of our company starts with our owner, Glen Parsons. He was the owner at Coastal Pacific Xpress, decided to sell and retire, and lasted about three years in retirement until he got bored. He bought Alchemist, which was originally a bin company for hazardous material. We slowly transitioned to customer needs with tanker work and have phased out bins completely over the last five years. Now, we are solely a tanker company.
When did you start using Axon Software?
We started using Axon two months before COVID, so five years ago. We struggled with our previous system so much. We needed a new solution on payroll. Something all-inclusive, because we used so many different systems just to make that one work.
We heard about Axon from a sister company in Alberta who absolutely raved about it. That got Glen sold instantly.
Has Axon helped with your business efficiency?
Axon has cut so much time off. We have actually moved from five employees to manage our old system to three employees in the office.
One employee is now remote, but she can do AP, AR, payroll, and help with the rail side of our business. Honestly, her position went from full-time to part-time, and we had to scramble to find her more work.
For dispatching, we only have one dispatcher instead of two, because entering an order takes two seconds if you use the templates. You don’t have to do anything else.
Can you tell us about your growth since switching?
Before Axon, we had 21 trucks and five office employees. Now that we have Axon, we have three employees and 30 trucks.
Honestly, we’ve added about $500,000 of revenue per month since then. We run so much smoother now.
Do you think Axon paid for itself? If so, how quickly?
Absolutely instantly. When we had our other system, we were paying quadruple for it every month. Just within that first month we saved over $25,000.
Even with the setup, it was a fraction of what we would have been paying if we stayed. Not to mention, within the first month we realized we were losing a position in the office. I ended up taking over three positions at one time, and I wasn’t staying late. No overtime, no nothing. The process was just so much easier.
Has the reporting changed the way management looks at the business?
It is so nice. With our customers, the scheduled reports and inventory lists are amazing. Now, it’s literally a click of a button and I can email it, export it, or manage it whatever way I want.
With our financials, almost every day we ask each other, “What are we at today?” because it is just a click of a button. Previously, we had to use Excel spreadsheets and all that fun stuff.
Now it’s super easy to get tracking reports, trailer reports, inventory, and financials.
How do you handle fuel downloads?
We fuel at Petro Pass. Our AP person will pull the invoice, and she just uploads an Excel spreadsheet from our fuel provider directly into Axon.
I used to have to do pivot tables and everything to enter it. Now, she just manipulates some unit numbers instead of entering line by line. It’s a two-second upload.
How do your drivers like the statements they get from Axon?
The drivers love the statements. Previously, we had to type out everything they did, so if we made a spelling mistake, they wouldn’t know what it was for.
Now, it is auto-generated and really easy to pay so that you don’t miss someone’s pay. It doesn’t allow you to miss it unless you select that. I really enjoyed that. It was very easy for payroll.
How has invoicing changed for you?
Axon has made it so we only need a part-time person to invoice instead of a full-time person plus an assistant.
With the order templates and rate tables, it is really easy. Any time I set up a customer with a new rate, I just auto-populate that. If an order is entered, it automatically enters the billing.
Really, all you have to do is go in, check that the rate is correct, select a button, and move on. Some of our orders take two seconds to get invoiced out.
Does that speed help with cash flow?
Yes. Our customers are so much happier now because the invoices go out so quickly.
We tell new customers that part of our package is that our invoices go out within a max 24-hour period, and they can get the paperwork instantly as soon as it is delivered.
How has Axon affected your customer relationships?
Our customers absolutely love it. Honestly, it is a selling feature.
When we sell our services, Axon is part of the spiel I give regarding what we can offer at the touch of a button, and it is shocking how much they appreciate it.
It takes me literally a minute to set up a brand-new customer and a brand-new report, and it auto-generates from there. It’s just one and done.
I’ve had two other companies come in, competitors, and I’ve shown them what we use and how easy it is.
What would you say to someone in the industry asking about Axon?
I would say my experience has been really good. Even when I was a “Negative Nancy” in the beginning about a system switch, your support team had me sold within the first day of training.
My advice is about the ease. There is so much a company has to worry about in a day, so your system should be helping you, not hindering you. Axon assists you with growing and limits the amount of time you need to have your hands on each individual order.
