2013.07.19 - A Change in Logistics

Tousaint arrives at Hammer Industries about thirty minutes before his late-afternoon meeting. After watching the building for a few minutes, he finally decides to approached the first check in. A soft smile appears on his face as he shows an id to the first security guard, "I am Tousaint Walters the Fifth. I have a meeting with Justin Hammer." The guard checks the visitor log, and tells Tousaint to take a step back so he can take a picture of him, while a second guard looks through his briefcase. Another few minutes pass, and the security guard hands Tousaint a badge. "Please key this badge on your jacket on all time, and head towards your left."

After slowly making his way through several other checks, he finally escorted to the conference room by a secretary. Tousaint sits down in the chair, and places his briefcase on the table.

It's right on time, not a minute early or late, that Justin steps through the conference room door. The CEO walks in with confidence, perhaps overconfidence, and approaches the man who's seated at the table. "Mister Walters, a pleasure to meet with you," Hammer says, holding out a hand to shake. His presence and tone of voice immediately lend credit to the rumors of his overly cocky nature. "So what manner of business brings you out to my humble little piece of Staten Island?"

Tousaint stands up and shakes hands with Justin, "Thank you for seeing me, Mister Hammer." Tousaint looks around the room, before turning his attention back to Hammer, "This is a very impressive piece of humbleness. I have come looking for a way to help strengthen my company, or increase its' profitability with your hope, and I am sure that your company will benefit too."

Justin returns the handshake, then motions toward the chairs before sitting down. He smiles, an expression fit for a used car salesman, and leans back in his chair. "Aren't we all?" he asks with a bit of a chuckle. "I did a bit of research, I like to be prepared. You're in the transport business, I can see a few potential business relations there. I make things, you transport them. If you can show me a way to reduce my quarterly transport costs, there's certainly room to talk."

"All of our trucks are going through a new security installation. We are going to be able track our trucks, and their shipments in new ways. Tousaint sits down, "If there is a problem with the temperature of your shipment, then we will know about it. If the truck is going to be a minute late, then we will know about it. If something is happening to your shipment, then my company will be the first to know, and we will be able to either rectify the situation, or let you know the we are going to be late with a delivery. Tousaint opens his briefcase, and pulls out some paper, " We provide security and have a privacy agreement with all our clients. We also have methods that deal with the recovery and protection of any lost shipments. We are very good at letting people know that certain shipments are not to be messed with, and we are also good at allowing companies to provide security for their own shipment. We just ask in that case that you sign a waiver for any damages caused by your security force."

Hammer nods while he listens to the sales pitch. "That sounds promising," he says, "What sort of qualifications and training does your security force hold? And does your company hold any sort of security clearances?" Up to this point Hammer Industries has handled all of it's own transport on the secure side of things. If it's cheaper to outsource, and Tousaint's claims pan out, it could be worth cutting back on the fleet. The high-priority, highly classified shipments could still be handled in-house if necessary.

"I think my late-brother realize that when you start transporting things that require high security clearance than you attract all sorts of attention." Tousant says, "We could pay to have for the clearances to take on military contracts, but I believe that is move I would only make if I am willing to sell the company. I am not ready to sell the company." Tousaint passes Hammer some papers on how much of the costs Tousaint's company's takes on when they transport goods, "But we are more than able to transfer HAmmer Industries items that are classified as corporate secrets, but are not under a military contract. Tousaint leans back in his chair, "The shipment dictates the level of security that we provide, because not every shipment needs outside security. I can personally state that we will go to any lengths to protect and recover your shipment. We leave it up to our clients to decide if they wish for the individuals to be turned over to the authorities or not. We all know that litigation can be costly."

The CEO takes the papers, looking over the figures. After scheduling this meeting he had looked into his own logistics costs so that he would have a baseline in which to compare. Nodding as he reads, Hammer doesn't look up as he speaks. "I can certainly understand not wanting to bother yourself with military contracts. The background checks alone, for personnel, cost a fortune. Not to mention the clearances, insurance..." He trails off, flipping through the pages. "Right now our large-scale civilian movement and parts shipment is contracted out primarily through Schneider, and that's what I'm most interested in moving. Not so heavy on the secure side of things, obviously, but far higher volume." He looks up from the papers to gauge the other man's reaction. As of right now everything that's non-military but secured is handled by Paxton Armored, which HI is the parent company of. Tousaint would be hard pressed to beat the bottom line on using Paxton's trucks and men to move HI's shipments.

"I believe we can handle shipment of theses good without any difficulties, and provide you with better service than Schneider provides." Tousaint says, "We are willing to let you try us for six months, before trying a long term contract."

Justin sets the papers down on the conference table, then rests his elbows are the arms of the chair. He steeples his fingers and nods once. "I think I can arrange that. I can pull some of the work off of Schneider, mostly local, and see how your company does with it. If all goes well, we can talk about expanding and a long term commitment. How are your operations, globally?"The trucking company that HI currently uses is continental only, and any global shipments of any size are handled on a case by case basis. Consolidating that under one company could prove useful and more cost efficient.

"We have contracts with international shipping companies that bring their goods to our warehouses, which allows us to ship them. Tousaint sits up in his chair, "As we take on more contracts, then we will expand our services. We are not ready to move globably, but we do recovery any lost goods, no matter what the location. We do so because a lot of goods are shipped into Gotham and New York from abroad, and we cannot afford for our clients to feel insecure about shipping their goods here." Tousaint says, "I am sure that we will be expanding our businesses, or soon be at a state of such profitable that is would be foolish not to sell or merge with another company." Tousaint looks around the room, "I cannot be hiting the payment looking for contracts for the next twenty years, and who knows when someone is going to decide to mass produce heli-trucks, and put me out of business. Tousaint frowns, "It will probably be Stark or Lexcorp."

The CEO covers up his obvious dislike of the name 'Stark' by giving a small chuckle. "Yeah, that Stark, always gotta come up with something to try and one-up the rest of us." He sits up, once again taking up the packet of papers and looking over the figures. "I think I would like to bring your company in on a trial basis. See how you do running some of our regular shipments here in New York. It's not a lot, but it's a starting point." Tousaint's company is, at least at first glance, cheaper than HI's current carrier. If his service quality is the same, or better, then the new company is almost guaranteed a contract.

"Thank you, I am glad that we can come to a deal." Tousaint rises from his seat, "I will have my secretary send over the documents to your lawyer." Tousaint extends his hands to Justin Hammer, "Thank you for your time."

Hammer stands as well, again taking the other businessman's hand to shake. "I look forward to seeing what your company can do for me." He again gives one of those smiles that isn't quite trustworthy as he shows Tousaint out.