On the latest episode of Crossroads for Growth, Mayor George Bray talks with David Leis, owner of Avantt Logistics, a last mile route contractor for Amazon in Paducah. Leis moved his company from Chicago to Paducah to provide last mile distribution services, an important piece in the transportation economy as a product travels from the fulfillment facility to the consumer. Leis operates a fleet of trucks with drivers transporting items directly to homes in the local area. Paducah is where Leis has intentionally chosen to operate his business, and he continues to ramp up his operation as the facility grows.
Mayor George Bray said, “My professional private sector experience focused on the economics of the delivery of pharmaceuticals to patients. I have witnessed drone deliveries of medications to populations who need them the most in developing countries. With Amazon opening a last mile delivery center this month in Paducah’s Industrial Park West, I wanted to talk to a local business owner about the logistics of providing Amazon products with a service that is so highly focused on the consumer receiving a product when they want it and where they want it.”
Leis said, “From the time you click that button to order, until the time that package is delivered to you, the metrics across the entire supply chain and down to the last mile are incredible.”
Leis said that last mile delivery services constantly are reviewing their processes to gain efficiencies and added that the use of artificial intelligence in determining package placement in the loading and unloading process of a truck is growing, all aimed at getting the right product delivered to consumers at the right price in as short a time as is possible.
“The last mile industry is morphing significantly, and it’s all around safety, precision, and speed,” added Leis.
Other topics discussed during this episode include Leis’ advice for business owners and the most important characteristics that he wants to see in employees with humility and coachability topping the list.
In addition to airing on Government 11 (for Comcast subscribers), the episode also is online at paducahky.gov and the various social media outlets for the City of Paducah including Youtube and Facebook. Visit the City’s Youtube channel (paducahkygov) and become a subscriber to be notified of new videos.
Crossroads for Growth is produced through the television production facilities at West Kentucky Community and Technical College.
###
