DDS Solutions is a Birmingham, Alabama logistics company providing freight dispatch and brokerage services for customers throughout the United States and beyond.
Moving freight is the job. How we take care of the customer while we do it is what sets DDS apart.
From the beginning, we’ve believed that good service means responding quickly, doing what you say you’ll do, and taking ownership when problems arise. Our customers hire us to manage their freight, not to hand problems back to them when something gets difficult.
That approach has helped DDS grow from a conversation around plastic tables in a basement into the company we are today.
A lot has improved along the way.
That part hasn’t.
DDS Solutions started on September 27, 2017, with a conversation about what could be done differently in freight transportation.
We saw an industry where too much business was treated one load at a time. A freight brokerage company could focus on maximizing what it made from the customer and carrier on today’s shipment, then start all over again tomorrow.
We wanted to play the long game.
That meant responding when customers needed us, communicating quickly, taking responsibility when something went wrong, and providing the kind of service that made customers want to work with us again.
One of our earliest experiences reinforced exactly how important that could be.
After encountering an issue with a shipment, instead of backing away and putting more work on our customer to solve the problem, we worked through the problem with the expectation of losing the customer but still followed through with what we believed was right and which resulting in gaining a new long term partner.
The following week, that customer gave us seven more loads.
The lesson wasn’t complicated: take care of people when things are difficult, and give them a reason to trust you with what comes next.
That principle still shapes the way we operate today.
Today, DDS operates as a standalone agency under Bridgeway’s authority.
That relationship gives our freight dispatch company access to an established network of approximately 1,700 drivers and 2,200 pieces of equipment, while Bridgeway provides important back-office support. Which allows us to focus on more customer service.
Our freight brokerage capabilities extend our reach beyond that network, giving us additional ways to find the capacity and equipment a shipment requires.
For our customers, the organizational structure matters less than what it allows us to do: look at the freight in front of us and find the right way to move it.
And once we do, we stay involved.
Every DDS customer has a team behind their freight.
That doesn’t mean five people need to touch every routine shipment. When everything is moving according to plan, one person may be able to handle everything the load requires.
The value of the team becomes especially apparent when something doesn’t go according to plan.
Each customer has a dedicated team email, putting multiple eyes on communication surrounding the account. If an issue arises, other team members can see what’s happening and step in where they’re needed.
That gives us the ability to bring more people and resources to a problem without making the customer start over with someone new.
It’s part of what we mean by cradle-to-grave service.
As your partner we take the problems that arise and focus on solving them so you can focus on the priorities at hand.
Our goal is to understand what’s happening, figure out the next step, and keep your freight moving.
DDS grew quickly after those early days.
After beginning our relationship with Bridgeway, we became its top revenue-producing agency and were invited into the Chairman’s Circle. We outgrew our basement beginnings, moved through a series of facilities, and eventually purchased our 83,000-square-foot Birmingham building on 11 acres in 2021.
But the company we have today wasn’t fully formed in 2017.
We didn’t start with a formal mission statement, vision, or list of core values. Those came later, after several years of learning what kind of company we wanted DDS to become.
As the business grew, we had to look inward and ask a different question:
What kind of foundation do we need if we want to keep building?
That meant defining our culture, establishing the principles that should guide our decisions, and building a team around them.
The formal foundation evolved.
Our emphasis on customer service didn’t.
We still believe in responding quickly. We still believe in doing what we say we’ll do. And we still believe the problems affecting our customers deserve to matter just as much to us as they do to them.
Integrity is easy to talk about when doing the right thing and doing the profitable thing happen to be the same choice.
We think it matters more when they aren’t.
Recently, a third party connected a customer with our warehousing operation. The customer later approached us about working together directly, cutting the original intermediary out of the relationship in exchange for a lower rate.
It would have been easy to say yes.
It also didn’t feel right because there wasn’t integrity.
So we didn’t.
That’s the kind of judgment we want our people to exercise. If a member of our team makes the right decision for the right reasons, we’re going to support it, even when another choice might have generated more profit.
Because relationships aren’t built one transaction at a time only when it’s convenient.
They’re built by what you do when you have a choice.
Our investment in people isn’t simply about making them better at logistics.
People come to DDS from different backgrounds. Some arrive without years of freight experience or a résumé filled with leadership positions.
We see an opportunity in that.
We want people to develop the judgment, confidence, communication skills, and leadership abilities that make them better at what they do here and benefit them outside the office as well.
We’ve watched people come into DDS from entirely different industries and develop into leaders.
That’s a return on investment that matters to us.
Of course, developing good people benefits the business. It creates better decision-makers. It strengthens our teams. It helps us provide better service to our customers.
We believe that profit is a byproduct of investing in our team’s development.
When our people grow, DDS grows with them.
And ultimately, we want this to be a place where people enjoy coming to work, take pride in the people around them, and find a sense of purpose in what they do.
To deliver high-quality logistics services at a cost-effective rate, backed by a team dedicated to going above and beyond for our clients.
Through proactive problem-solving, transparent communication, and relationship-focused service, we work to give our customers the responsiveness and accountability they should expect from their transportation provider.
To set the industry benchmark for exceptional customer service and comprehensive transportation and supply chain solutions.
Relationships First
We build long-term working relationships through responsive service, open communication, and trust.
Individual Empowerment
We recognize individual strengths and give our people opportunities to develop the judgment and confidence to make good decisions.
Cultivating Leadership
We believe leadership can be developed. We invest in our people so they can grow into greater responsibility and carry what they learn into every part of their lives.
Integrity & Accountability
We do what we say we'll do, take responsibility for our decisions, and choose what's right over what's easiest or most profitable.
Ownership Mentality
We make our customers' challenges our own. When something goes wrong, we step in, find solutions, and work to keep the problem from becoming more work for the customer.
DDS has grown considerably since that first basement conversation.
So have our capabilities, our team, and our ambitions.
What we’re building next will continue to evolve, but the reason customers trust us with their freight shouldn’t.
Communicate. Follow through. Take ownership. Solve problems. Build relationships for the long term.
That’s what Delivering Beyond the Destination means to us.
If you’re looking for a transportation partner that takes your freight personally, we’d like to hear what you’re trying to move.
