In 1992, my brother Billy approached me with the idea of starting a freight forwarding company. At that time, he was the vice president of another third party transportation company and I had been working in management with various common carriers. He explained to me the need for the company he was dreaming about and how to make it successful. He was always very convincing and within a short time, I was in hook, line and sinker. Billy, as founder, owner, and president literally pulled the company we now have today, up from the boot straps. I remember fondly, walking into the old, decrepit, wooden factory building, up the creaky staircase, and looking out into a vast empty space of what would become our first office. He said, “What do you think? We’ll build out a little office space right in this corner, throw down a rug, run some phone lines, a fax, a few computers and we are in business.” I said, “I think you’ve lost your mind”. I realized that starting a business would be like jumping off a thirty foot cliff into water. A little scary at first, but once you made that first step, it was a piece of cake. When in reality, this felt more like trying to dive off a hundred foot cliff in Acapulco and having to time it perfectly in order to hit the water when the tide was rolling in so it would be deep enough. I think I remember looking down over the ledge and telling Billy that I can’t swim and him responding, hell the fall is going to kill you. A week later the walls were up and the phone lines were working. The rug wasn’t in yet because we were painting the walls. Amazingly to me, but not so to Billy, the phones started ringing and we were booking freight while we were sitting on five gallon paint buckets. Fast Forwarding was off and running. His philosophies on starting and developing the business were innovative and insightful. He credits his early ideas in a past “Letter from the President” as follows:

In short Billy was right in his ideals. When addressing the needs and desires of the shippers, he went on to write,

Today we continue to thrive, operate and grow while practicing Billy’s original ideas. We continue to update our technologies and constantly thirst for more knowledge within the industry that we can impart with, for the benefit of our dedicated customers. Although sadly, Billy passed away in January of 2006, after a five year battle with pancreatic cancer, he never lost his dedication, enthusiasm, sense of humor, and love of life that was truly contagious. We are happy to say that everyone at Fast Forwarding has adopted his altruistic way of living and thinking and we strive everyday to meet the high standards that he has set for us and this company. To end with Billy’s favorite saying, “Life is good”.

Sincerely,

Bobby Burchard
President