Ask David Blair what his company does best and he’ll give you an immediate enthusiastic answer.

"We’re the FedEx of the trucking container business," he says. "We can move cargo faster than they can fax the paperwork. We can run 45,000 pounds through here and have the truck on the way to Savannah before the fax comes through from Jasper County."

His is also a company that never sleeps. "We’re here 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and that makes us more efficient. A steamship doesn’t drop anchor at 5:00 and get ready for bed. They keep moving, so we have to keep moving and keep that cargo rolling. That’s why we never shut down."

Charleston Freight Station is located on a stretch of road that used to be as rural as you can get. "We were the first building on Cainhoy Road related to Port business, and there was nothing around for miles. In fact, we used to go hunting right behind our offices. We were here before Daniel Island became a boomtown. And now Cainhoy is becoming the area’s distribution center. It’s really grown up a lot."

Not that Blair would complain about growth. In fact, he embraces the concept, especially regarding Port expansion. "When it comes to the Port, I think the industry should expand. It has a right to expand, and I for one am looking forward to it."

Trekking into intermodal.

Blair’s road into the warehousing and transportation business actually began on the water. He was a shrimper for 11 years, cruising the Stono, the Wappoo, and the Wando, up to McClellanville and down through Shem Creek.

"Yes, I am an environmentalist," he declares. "I do care about these waters. And I would’ve continued shrimping, but it didn’t provide me with a lot of income to raise a family."

Instead, he headed to Philadelphia and into the automotive industry, to a company where he eventually became president. That’s where he became acquainted with the transportation industry.

"I realized our biggest cost was transportation," he says, "and I started fine-tuning the processes. I looked at different business models that worked, and that’s how I got into the intermodal business."

After Hurricane Hugo hit Charleston, Blair resigned his position, moved back to the Isle of Palms and rebuilt his house. He then took what little money he had left and started the Charleston Freight Station, which he calls a "home grown" venture.

"The people who work for me know this area really well," he says. "Nobody came from somewhere else. They’re all from this area, most of them from Cainhoy and Huger."

Blair insists that he didn’t create a brand new business. "All we did, really, was attach ourselves to the oldest industry in the state – commerce. We didn’t create any new engines; we don’t have new smokestacks. With 48 brokers, 117 truck lines, and 18,000 employed in business directly related to the port, that makes the Port the largest industrial employer in the area. And all we did was attach ourselves to that machine."

Part of that attachment includes running a central examination station (CES for the Port. "Before we were the CES," Blair explains, "there were different examination stations all around the Port. Centralizing that process makes things much more efficient."

Efficiency is important to Blair, as evidenced by some of his latest investments, including a T-1 communications system and a new Web site where moves are generated and tracked from Point A to Point B.

Internet connectivity also enables his company to line up back-hauling. "It works pretty well in terms of planning and scheduling," he says. "You have to look at these things in a strategic way. There must be an efficient method of bringing the containers back to be loaded. And the steamship lines recognize that positioning of containers is a cost-effective way to handle that component of the business."

To that end, Blair has just expanded his facility to include a three-acre container yard with a multi-axle truck scale for gross weight of containers and trucks.

"It’s a complete system," he says, "a full-service container yard. In the future we plan to stage containers and chassis for repositioning. You can look at it as a huge parking lot with refrigerator hookups." However, he points out that his operation has nothing to do with repair and does not do M&R maintenance.

Blair’s plan for efficiency and cost-effectiveness includes choosing the best of the best in terms of vendors. "My vendors are true strategic partners," he says. "For instance, out of 117 local cartage companies, I deal with five of the best. Bulldog Hiway Express is one of them, and I consider Bulldog my partner when we’re moving cargo. ‘Load it up and get it there’ is the mindset we have when we work together."