People. Service. Problem solving.
Our consultative approach stems from the strong relationships we’ve developed with our carriers - and the mutual trust and respect upon which they’re built. Likewise, we provide customers with the best service and the most modern, cost-effective shipping and logistics management by getting to know their supply chain inside and out.
By building and maintaining great relationships with everyone our business touches, we make it easier for manufacturers and distributors to make happy customers - a good profit margin.
Collaboration - As a team, we work together and communicate honestly all the way through. When we lose, we pick each other up and keep going. When we win, we'll celebrate! We're all about supporting and encouraging each other, no matter what.
Integrity - We're transparent about where we're headed, communicating our goals to everyone on the team. Expect us to follow through on our promises, be honest about the good and the bad, and to make the right decisions, not the easy ones.
Family First - We're all human beings with a life outside our work. We will support each other as each of us supports our loved ones, we will take a genuine interest in our coworkers and clients, and we will embrace the good in each other before calling out the bad.
Vulnerability - We believe that it is ok to fail! Admitting to failures allows us to learn from them. And if you can laugh at yourself along the way, you might even enjoy failing just a little bit.
Resilience - The ability to stay flexible, learn from mistakes, and keep moving forward allows us to continue coming up with creative ways to solve problems internally and with our clients.
Surus’ founder Brett Dekkenga began gaining insight into the logistics industry over a decade ago, when he began a career managing sales and logistics in the manufacturing and distribution business. He experienced firsthand the challenges faced by distributors who negotiate, coordinate and manage their own transportation solutions - experiences which inspired him to form the Surus team. Brett saw a great need for customer-centered transport logistics with superior service, state-of-the-art management tools, and more competitive rate structures. Today, responsive communication, software integration and automation, transparency, and expert negotiating have made Surus a leader in transportation, shipping, and logistics support across North America.
According to accounts of Roman historians from the early third century B.C., Surus was the name of the bravest and last surviving war elephant in Hannibal’s Carthaginian army. Hannibal famously used large Asian elephants in his military exploits to provide heavy cavalry in battles, as a platform for archers and war generals, and - most importantly – as a means of transportation.
In an era before automobiles and motorized machines, war elephants were a rare source of power and tactical mobility for generals like Hannibal. While Hannibal’s war elephants were valuable assets in battle, the key advantage of using elephants like Surus lay in their ability to transport large shipments of goods over long distances and rugged terrains. Without the ability to efficiently transport supplies, Hannibal’s troops would have been rendered useless. The war elephants’ ability to carry large equipment and heavy supplies over impossible distances and terrains – such as during the crossing of the Alps – was one of the key factors in Hannibal’s success as a general.
Surus was the hardiest and most revered war elephant in Hannibal’s calvary. Despite having lost one tusk to martial conflict, Surus wore a royal red cloth, a red shield with Hannibal’s insignia, and carried Hannibal himself on his back. Surus was one of the last war elephants Hannibal took with him during his famous crossing of the Alps.
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