The Edmonton office of Economy Carriers’ Special Commodities Division is hardly a scene out of Glengarry Glen Ross, the David Mamet play about the lengths to which desperate salesmen will go to get a signature on a contract.

No, for the guys around here, the first rule of sales isn’t about the ABCs (Always Be Closing). It’s about the DEFs (Delivering Economy’s Freight). The company doesn’t employ a sales staff per se. Its drivers drum up business.

“The way we see it, the professional driver in the 21st century is no longer just a truck driver,” he says. “He’s a manager of a mobile profit centre. He needs to have a range of skills, including customer service and sales skills.”

ECL driver Chris Legault wipes engine oil on a handkerchief before shaking hands. He’s preparing a load for delivery. Plan to make time for a sales call on the haul today, Chris?

“It doesn’t really work like that,” he says. “Sometimes we have assignments, but usually driver sales are a result of us just doing a good job as drivers and keeping our eyes and ears open.”

In this business, there’s perhaps no bigger cliché than “Your drivers are your best salespeople,” but Craigen is one of the few managers who practices it quite literally. It’s paid dividends. Craigen pulls out a small piece of paper with torn edges–the beginnings of a driver-brokered freight contract. On it, a driver jotted down information derived from a casual conversation with a potential customer he met while on the road. Years later, that informal sales lead has grown into a $1.7-million annual contract. In fact, the division has added at least $1 million of revenue each year since it started. “Nearly all that business is a result of driver sales in one way or another,” says Craigen.

If you can believe it, the drivers receive no commission if a lead turns into a freight contract. A cynic could argue that ECL is taking advantage of the situation, saving money by eliminating a formal sales force and not rewarding drivers when a sale comes through. So, Chris, feel worked over at all?

“Absolutely not. They give me the opportunity to be more than a driver, and more importantly, they trust my judgment,” Legault says. “If the company is going to trust the decisions I make with equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and someone else’s freight, than why not trust my judgment when dealing with customers?”

Although Craigen’s drivers aren’t paid directly for their sales initiatives, they do receive performance bonuses. They’re also well supported with training in sales, customer service, and conflict management.

Some drivers use their experience and training to take their career in a new direction, whether it’s within the ECL Group or elsewhere.

“We don’t expect any truck driver, when he comes here, to be a driver for the rest of his life,” Craigen says. “If that’s what he wants, that’s O.K., but if he excels in another area, like sales, we’d encourage him to leave if it’s going to be good for his career.”

Craigen admits that his system isn’t for everyone. But, he adds, fleet managers would benefit from at least talking to their drivers about everyday information gathered from the field, if not setting up a more formal way of mining intelligence to generate new business. After all, he says, drivers know better than anyone what’s on a dock manager’s mind or whose trailers are in which yard.

“The real weakness of trucking is we ignore the possible talents, desire, and experience that many drivers possess,” Craigen says. “If we as managers provide the guide posts, many drivers will fill in the blanks on their own.”