BusinessTN

A refrigerated pallet that can be used on any kind of truck soon may boost profits for truck lines across the country. And for that you can thank Jackson-based truck company president Louis P. Saia III.

Saia and his St. Michael Motor Express are new to West Tennessee, but Saia has a long history in trucking—from his days as CEO of Louisiana-based Saia Trucking to his well-publicized legal battle with trucking industry giants for control of his cold storage and transport technology.

This technology—the Pallet Reefer—is a patented design for a self-contained pallet-shaped shipping unit that uses compressed CO2 to keep refrigerated items cold. (Reefer is shipping lingo for refrigerated.)

Saia says he is in talks with two national truck lines and a cool storage warehousing company to develop what could become, by his estimates, a business with $500 million to $1 billion in annual revenue.

“The unit opens up a whole new market” for the less-than-truckload carrier, Saia says. “It works seamlessly in a traditional trailer and allows cool shippers to utilize millions of truck schedules.”

The Pallet Reefer, which Saia has been developing for more than 10 years since he left his family’s truck line, is a separate business from St. Michael, his full truckload refrigerated carrier.

For several years, the Pallet Reefer business was stalled in litigation over control of the patent. Saia had been dealing with truck manufacturing giant Grumman Allied Industries to develop the device, but ultimately sued the company when the deal went sour. Saia eventually won the legal battle, along with two separate multi-million dollar settlements. His fight was featured in a September 2001 BusinessWeek article about small business owners who sue large corporations and win.

Before legal woes and business troubles got in the way, about 2,500 of the units were made and sold in the mid-1990s.

Dippin’ Dots had no trouble finding customers about that time, but it did have a problem shipping its product, says Steve Schiff, director of operations for the Paducah, Ky.-based frozen novelty maker.

“But then we began testing the Pallet Reefers in February of 1994 and it was a boon to our business, both in terms of freeing us up from having to make all of our own deliveries and enabling us to develop business in areas we previously hadn’t been able to look,” he says. “We were able to build up our business along established routes.”

While Saia continues to pursue his Pallet Reefer business, he is also enjoying success with his one-year-old trucking business in Jackson, which now employs about 80 drivers and 20 office employees.

St. Michael Motor Express began in October 2003 when Saia got a contract to haul frozen waffles and pizzas for Jackson’s Aurora Foods, now Pinnacle Foods. Since then, St. Michael has made a splash with its religious imagery and its bright yellow trucks.

A St. Michael billboard between Memphis and Jackson depicts an elaborate mural of the archangel Michael standing on the neck of the devil, surrounded by fire. In his hands are the scales of justice and a raised sword.

The imagery ties in with Saia’s devout Catholic faith. In fact, Saia’s business is located in Jackson largely because of a religious experience his wife had. Saia had started a truck line in Louisiana devoted to seafood shipping, but business dropped off following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the general economic malaise of the time. As Saia’s wife, Cindy, prayed for help, she came across a Bible passage that said, in part, “splendor will come from the north.”

So Saia headed to Memphis—because of its reputation as a major distribution and logistics center—and knocked on a few doors. Disappointed, he drove to Jackson to talk with contacts he knew at Aurora Foods. Unknown to Saia, just that day Aurora officials had severed their trucking contract. Saia secured enough business to enable him to move the operation to Jackson.

“I called Cindy, and I was all excited,” Saia says. “I told her ‘Splendor comes from Jackson, Tenn.!’”

Seeing God’s hand at work in both his legal victories and in his successful move to Jackson, Saia views his work as a ministry.

“I don’t have a truck business; I have a ministry,” Saia says. “It’s not a terminal; it’s a chapel. Everybody gets a gift. Some are doctors. Some are teachers. I’m a trucker. This is how I bring glory to God's kingdon."

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MADISON COUNTY—The Jackson Housing Authority wants to purchase privately owned apartment complex Bedford Crossings and renovate it for tenants of various income levels. The tornadoes of May 2003 destroyed 306 public housing units in Jackson. JHA has asked for $39 million in federal funds to both build new units, and create public units from existing apartments. JHA has received $10.9 million so far and says it may spend $4 million on Bedford Crossing. JHA residents at Bedford would be of mixed incomes—some would pay market rate, while others would be subsidized.

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