CF Spotlight: Roy Mathew – Going the Last Mile

In North America, CF Industries has access to more than three million tons of storage for its products, enabling us to have ammonia, urea and UAN available for our customers when and where they need it. Getting that product volume to our customers as well as to CF’s storage sites, including our 24 owned distribution terminals, is a logistics challenge in and of itself. Even then, the journey isn’t over.

That’s where people like Roy Mathew come in.

In 2017, more than 240,000 trucks came through CF facilities to move product to customers. Roy’s job, as part of CF’s truck logistics team, is to secure truck service for customers on request. That amounted to more than 40,000 CF-arranged trucks last year, over 100 per day.

That pace is certainly higher during the spring application season, our busiest time of the year. Roy’s focus throughout the year, however, is to secure the lowest freight rate possible – without sacrificing quality and reliability.

To do this, he collaborates with CF’s Account Managers, 85 different carriers, and Customer Support. Roy might get a call from an Account Manager for a quote on truck delivered business to a city in Montana.  He’ll call his carriers in that region, analyze the quote, determine the best rate and then deliver the info back to sales so they can close the deal.

“You have to quickly find a carrier so sales can book the business, but attention to detail is key,” says Roy. “When you get a request, it’s important to take the time to analyze the details.  For example, if the ship-to address is incorrect on the contract, there will be confusion and cost as the carrier tries to deliver to the wrong location. The answer is to do it right the first time.” 

During application season, customers who normally haul their own product may have a hard time finding carriers.  In those cases, CF is able to lend expertise because of our scale and assist customers in finding them.  Roy’s work in identifying and signing up new carriers has become a value-added service to our customers.

Roy takes a long-term view of his career at CF.  He has focused on delivering great customer experiences since joining CF in 2006.  He has leveraged his quality focus from the Customer Support group which trains its members to make sure each sale is carried out correctly from order placement to billing.  As an Account Specialist, he took on more responsibility, including training new hires, until he was promoted in May 2016 to the truck logistics team.  CF has supported Roy in his professional development by helping to fund his MBA, which he obtained in 2008.  He will experience his own busy season with the arrival of Devin Micah Mathew, his newborn son on April 17^th.

At all times, CF’s truck team is working to deliver product safely and efficiently through our carriers.  No matter how many trucks go out, Roy is ready to go that extra mile to make the last one count.