PEOPLEASE: Excelling in Risk Management to Serve the Trucking and Transportation Niche

Samuel F. RossaBy: Samuel F. Rossa

PEOPLEASE was formed more than 20 years ago in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina, with an exclusive focus on the trucking and transportation industry, a complex regulatory sector requiring substantial risk management expertise.

Our company is a full-service PEO serving mid-sized trucking and transportation companies. Our footprint is nationwide, with nearly $1 billion in payroll, payroll taxes, and insurance premiums and we provide our clients cost-eff ective payroll, healthcare, workers’ compensation, and human resources solutions. Our unique fi eld and centralized model allow for the effi ciency of scale at core service centers in South Carolina and Indiana, which provide a large fi eld-based support group in busi-ness development, safety, and human resources to be closer to our client partners.

PEOPLEASE is also a community-minded and caring company. Our P.E.T.S (PEOPLEASE Expert Trucking Solutions) program contributes to local charities of each new client partners’ choice when joining the PEOPLEASE family. Over the past year, we have participated and contributed to the Ice Bucket Challenge, Naval Special Warfare Kids, Th e Rosie Network, Masters for Max (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), the Dragon Boat for Cancer Survivors, and the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.

An exclusive and focused group of brokers and agents plays an integral part in our business development engine, which has consistently seen double-digit top-line growth. Our internal sales support team aligns with our brokers and agents to maintain a high closure rate and an easy-to-engage, customer-centric onboarding and implementation process. We recently rolled out an electronic underwriting interface, which will improve speed and effi ciency in the initial approval process.

Because of our specialized client base of trucking and trans-portation companies, we off er a best-in-class workers’ compensation program with exceptional and unique levels of service. Our expert risk management professionals engage with our client partners from the prospect stage through the onboarding process, while providing expert guidance to client partners through fi eld safety visits and training. Because the industry we service has the potential to be much higher risk due to the driving exposure, client engagement is critical to our success in this area. Our team expertly manages claims intake, return-to-work, and ultimately claims closure.

Most critical to maintaining safe workplaces for our client partners, our expert risk management team realizes that workers’ compensation coverage and meeting Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards can be a daunting task for business owners. With new laws and increasing employer regu-lations, the risk of compliance and liability lawsuits has risen. We work to minimize hazardous exposure, reduce employee injuries, and help improve and enhance a safety culture in our client partners’ workplaces. We do this by providing workers’ compensation claims management, safety and injury prevention training, video training, and regional fi eld safety experts. Additionally, with our pay-as-you-go workers’ compensation approach, client partners are able to protect cash fl ow by avoiding large up-front collateral deposits as well as additional year-end payments by paying on actual payroll each payroll cycle, rather than using estimates subject to audit.

We bundle safety and risk, payroll, human resources, and employee benefi ts management into a unique value proposition for the small and medium-sized fi rms that move America. We handle the administrative functions, including tax compliance, fi ling returns, wage garnishments, payroll check processing, benefi ts administra-tion, and termination procedures. Handling these tasks not only gives business owners back their valuable time, but also provides assurance that often-costly mistakes in these areas are avoided.

Our PEO has more than 20 years of experience in providing critical solutions in today’s ever-changing environment of increased legislation and compliance. To further distinguish ourselves from other solution providers dedicated to the trucking and transportation industry, we have invested in:

  • Cloud-based technology incorporating customer relationship management (CRM) software and enterprise resource planning (ERP) with:
    – Automated tax-filing software;
    – Automated HR, payroll, and tax management solutions; and
    – A best-in-class human resources information system.
  • Centralized and field-based client services and human resources, including handbooks, Aff ordable Care Act (ACA) solutions, background/drug testing solutions, and employment practices liability insurance (EPLI); and
  • Centralized and field-based risk management solutions, including 24/seven nurse triage for claim intake, California Medical Provider Networks (MPN), and nationwide enhanced pharmaceutical and bill review.

PEOPLEASE has partnered with hundreds of mid-sized trucking and logistics companies in 45 states. Our average client partner size is roughly 50 employees, with a range of 15 to 1,000, and a geographical footprint that aligns with the way America moves product from port to door.

Another final point of distinction is our industry outreach allowing for a collaborative exchange of expert topics such as the ACA, 401(k), independent contractors, safety and risk, and recruiting and retention in the form of both expert webinars and regional events such as the Safety Forum we held in Chicago this past June, which was open to the public. All of these events are publicized on our website well in advance. The expertise PEOPLEASE provides along the way, and the care and concern taken for each and every one of our client partners, holds to the values that have shaped our company into a leading client-focused PEO in the transportation and trucking industry.