SBS Worldwide, which has been established for almost 30 years, has leased the trucks – in the company’s distinctive livery – as a pilot program.

The initiative will improve SBS’s ability to meet customers’ JIT (just in time) requirements by allowing it to deliver cargo more quickly to O’Hare International airport to meet deadlines for departure flights as well as meet the pickup and delivery requirements of customers in the Chicago area.

The trucks will also help make sure SBS Worldwide is able to provide adequate trucking capacity to meet continued volume growth in the Chicago area.

SBS Worldwide US Managing Director Lars Kloch says: “Leasing our own trucks with our company logo further improves our flexibility and helps develop our branding needs in Chicago.

“If our growing customer base has any last minute requirements, we have our trucks as back up in case our carefully selected third party logistics providers are unable to meet the demands. The branding also means they act as moving billboards, helping to promote SBS Worldwide.”

The smaller of the two trucks allows SBS Worldwide to enter and leave O’Hare International Airport, Chicago, more quickly and is used for loose cargo that is picked up and delivered in the airport.

Meanwhile, the larger truck is used for the main airline transfers on a daily basis from the SBS warehouse in Elmhurst to O’Hare International on inbound and outbound shipments.

The decision to lease the trucks follows an in-depth analysis of the company’s Midwest operation and how it could be improved to create efficiencies and better meet customer demand.

Similar reviews will be carried out in SBS’s three other US regions – South East, North East and West.

Laura Pegg