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     Richard F. Burkhart, CPA and Salvatore J. Pizzanelli, CPA, JD, PFS
The talented team at Burkhart Pizzanelli
Accounting
Julie M. Quink, CPA and Deborah J. Penzias, CPA
The talented team at Burkhart Pizzanelli provides
provides expertise in a full range of accounting
and financial services. Feel free to call on us at Consulting 413.734.9040.Feel free to call on us at 413.734.9040.
expertise in a full range of accounting and financial services.
201 Park Avenue, Suite 2, West Springfield, MA
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Litigation
 help explain why AST, a domestic freight broker and international freight forwarder, terms that are self-explanatory, is able to stand out in a sea of competitors, both domestically and globally, in a business where firms are tasked with getting things from here to there — or there to here — in a timely fashion.
Elaborating, he said the keys to success for any company in this business are flexibility, the ability to move quickly and effectively, establishing trust with customers, and amassing a track record for success in delivering for clients, in every sense of that phrase.
“We arrange for transportation of goods to and from our custom- ers anywhere in the world,” said Kingston, offering a simple expla- nation for work that is anything but simple.
“The domestic side of the business is how we
started way back, and that side of it is very
active. The international side has been growing
over the years and doing well; we move freight
internationally by land and water.”
 “It’s a rugged business with real issues, and we live them,” continued Kingston, who leads a staff of 20 along with his sons, Chris, vice presi- dent of International Services, and Tim, vice president of Domestic Services. “Through all of the ups and downs of the economy, fuel issues, and supply-chain woes over the past few years, it has just been very challenging.
“For us as a company, it has been our best period of time, business-wise,” he went on. “But it’s also been the most difficult to operate in.”
In a wide-ranging interview, the Kingstons pulled back the curtain on an industry that few outside really know, one that is settling back into something approaching what was happen- ing before the pandemic, although no one came close to using the word ‘normal.’
“We have so many great customers ... if you’re upfront with them, they’re going to be upfront with you. That way, you can work through things, because transportation
is nothing if not problems that have to be worked through.”
To put things in perspective, Billy Kingston
said that, before the pandemic, the cost for a
shipping container coming in from China was $4,000 to $5,000. At the height of the pandemic, that cost had soared to $25,000 to $30,000.
“The spike was just amazing, and at that price, you were bidding, and hoping, to be able to get a container, and then hoping to get a spot on a ship to come this way,” he said, adding that the impact of the many issues within the shipping industry on inflation and the general economy cannot be understated.
Train of Thought
As he talked about the global shipping business, Chris noted that, like other sectors of the economy, this one has a language all its own, with an alphabet soup of acronyms.
These include TL (truckload), LTL (less than truckload), DAP (delivered at place), DPU (delivered at place unloaded), and myriad others.
Learning this language and helping clients understand it is just one of the many nuances of the global shipping business, said Billy, who got his start in it back in the mid-’70s, working in sales for sev- eral different national trucking companies as well as an internation- al freight forwarder.
After working in the business for many years, he decided he knew it well enough, and had enough solid connections, to strike out on his own. He started All States Transport in the basement of his home in the Forest Park section of Springfield in 1985.
For the first year or so, it was a one-person operation that even- tually moved into a small office in Market Square in downtown Springfield, adding employees as it continued to grow and expand its portfolio of clients, many of which have stayed with the company through its history.
The company had a few different homes — as well as its own small trucking company, which it operated out of property on Avo- cado Street in Springfield for several years — before settling into its current location on East Columbus Avenue, the former home to the Leonard Gallery and Sam’s Glass.
For the past 15 years, AST has also operated a small office in Miami. At one time, it also housed a trucking operation there, but that, like the one in Springfield, became difficult to manage. So,
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