WYNNEWOOD, OK — Praising the successes of their first year together, Elite Motorsports team owner Richard Freeman and Transportation Impact Co-Founder Keith Byrd made a bullish announcement of an expanded sponsorship package for multi-time champion drivers Erica Enders and Jeg Coughlin Jr.
“This may be the best sponsorship deal in motorsports,” Freeman said. “You always want the fans and your fellow racers to support the sponsors that fund our sport, and in the case of Transportation Impact, it literally doesn’t cost you a penny to do just that. In fact, I can flat-out guarantee you’ll save money by enlisting their services.”
The privately-held logistics company specializes in helping companies drastically reduce their shipping costs. Transportation Impact, an Inc. 5000 company based in North Carolina, has earned a reputation as one of the top small package and freight negotiation and auditing firms in the shipping industry. They also are a leading provider of real-time transportation management system solutions; one of the only companies to offer a TMS with API connectivity.
“Our partnership with Elite has been great for our organization,” Byrd said. “We have been welcomed by Richard, Erica, Jeg and team, and have also been embraced by the other sponsors in the sport. We’ve had a chance to get to know some really great people, which has spawned some great business deals, but more importantly great friendships.”
The partnership between the two organizations stretches beyond the track and into the boardroom. Elite is a TI client, making for a relationship that both sides agree is mutually beneficial.
“We ship quite a lot, both with my regular business and with the race team, and we just figured out Transportation Impact saved us 43 percent on shipping costs last year,” Freeman said. “That’s money in our pocket right there. Everyone at the track that asked for their help will tell you a similar story. It’s pretty incredible what they do.
“And like I said, we only have to pay them a portion of what we save in the deal, which means we aren’t paying anything out of pocket.”
Byrd echoed Freeman’s thoughts: “One of our primary goals with this partnership is to deliver significant savings to as many teams, sponsors and suppliers as possible,” he said. “We appreciate the fact Elite has not only trusted us as a sponsor, but also with their business. When a company does that, then aligns you with other companies that you can help, too, then it makes you want to get behind them and support their team even more, so that’s what we’re here to do.”