"Together Talks" feature # 7: Boots 2 Cyber presented by KLS, freight company.
Some Background on Boots 2 Cyber
The company was created by Patrick Gillespie a little over 5 months ago. The goal is to build the infrastructure of this Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business. The core business will be providing managed security services for small-medium businesses, CMMC compliance, and federal contracting to protect our nation from cyber warfare. The biggest contribution will be working with Veterans transitioning from ending their service. Boots 2 Cyber will not only train Veterans with Cyber Security skills but also give them real-world experience through apprenticeships. They will complete the training by assisting with job placement or hiring the Veterans outright.
Patrick has been in the world of IT/cyber security for over 18 years. A Veteran himself, he also struggled with the transition once he was back on home soil. He mentioned that when he returned from Afghanistan in 2008, he struggled with his medical health, including depression and alcohol for roughly 10 years. What helped get Patrick on the right path was having work to focus on, and a sense of responsibility and purpose. And thus, he decided to create Boots 2 Cyber to help other veterans during their transition and throughout their careers.
Company objectives
The company is planning to acquire 5-10 clients by the end of 2023 for which they are managing security protection. Patrick mentioned that 51% of small businesses do not have any protection from cyber warfare. Patrick is working within the state of Arkansas to build strategic partnerships among state members, small businesses, and local chambers of commerce.
In addition to the cybersecurity offerings, the other component of Boots 2 Cyber is their commitment to aiding in the transition of Veterans. The company is hoping to have 25-30 vets in the summer/fall this year. Hopefully expanding on that number in 2024 by having 100 total vets as part of their training.
Partner with KLS
KLS offers LTL and FTL for both dry and reefer transportation.
Our nationwide coverage provides companies a reliable, consistent, and dependable logistics partner to handle your trucking needs.
For more information on how we can help call our office today 708-980-0920 or reach us via our email quote request here!
Their reach
Being a SDVOSB (Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business) that is 100% veteran-led is one of the most important aspects of the company. Patrick has had a lot of help and guidance from others to create Boots to Cyber. Peter Cline (Army) who founded Boots to Books in San Francisco, CA has provided startup and marketing guidance. Bryan Stewart (Marines) who has founded several companies provides executive mentorship to Patrick. Paul Cummings (Navy) who founded Whole Cyber Human Initiative in Jacksonville, FL has provided startup and training guidance. Paul is also a co-founder of Boots to Cyber.
Patrick met two of his co-founders, Chimeria Gonzalez (Air Force) and Tom Gill (Coast Guard), through their work together at Boots to Books. Patrick has built a relationship with his other two co-founders, Cindy Gaddis (Army) and Eric Svetcov (Air Force) through a shared vision and mission of helping veterans as they begin their civilian careers and upskilling throughout their careers. Building a company that serves other Veterans appealed to each co-founder as they joined the company and the vision.
Patrick mentioned that the first 3 months after separating are the highest chance of Veteran suicide. Boots 2 Cyber is working to provide another avenue to remove barriers to entry and get Veterans into stable jobs. All training will be remote which adds another layer of ease for aspiring veterans in the world of cybersecurity.
SkillBridge is a program from the Department of Defense (DOD) where they sponsor a soldier for the last 3-6 months of enlistment to learn a skill. Boots 2 Cyber is now part of this process and thus can train Veterans within their company.
Patrick eloquently stated that veterans can thrive in the cybersecurity industry because of their experience and soft skills. Many civilian training organizations focus on education and certifications only. Learning how to protect businesses is best learned in real-world situations and that is the Boots 2 Cyber difference. Boots 2 Cyber provides free and low-cost certification training alongside real-world training to protect SMBs. He also made a great pitch for them, "We will have a trained team who have fought to defend our country now fighting to defend your organization."
Why choose Boots 2 Cyber? They will manage a company's security but will not implement a cookie-cutter approach. Every company is unique and the protection they need should be unique. They believe in learning the client's needs first and building a relationship. From there they will employ a team with decades of experience defending our nation. This company believes in giving back not just to their clients, but also with the work they have planned for Veterans. The more work they can bring in, the larger number of Veterans they can train and hire.
Interested in being featured with "Together Talks"?
KLS is booking our October schedule now!
Contact us as we would love to learn your story and share it amongst our audience.
Weekly we provide 2 companies our platform to expand their reach courtesy of our campaign. Let's collaborate!!!
In Conclusion
KLS wants to thank Patrick Gillespie for his time in educating us on his new venture in the world of Cybersecurity. The mission and goals of Boots 2 Cyber are remarkable. We applaud this Veteran-Owned Business not only for helping small businesses but also for the contributions they are going to make to helping Veterans along the way. If you have any questions for Patrick you can reach him here, or visit their Website and LinkedIn. Check out Boots 2 Cyber to learn even more about this great start-up. KLS is thrilled to feature them in this week's "Together Talks".
Boots 2 Cyber with Patrick Gillespie feature #7 of Together Talks
*Klimson Logistics Solutions is an Industry Leading Customer Service 3PL. Our focus and commitment to our clients has us striving to be the BEST customer service 3PL for LTL, FTL, Reefer, and Drayage in the country. KLS, a freight company is a 3PL providing nationwide logistics solutions. KLS shipping services include: LTL freight, FTL freight, Reefer LTL freight, Reefer FTL freight, and Drayage. Klimson Logistics Solutions thanks you for viewing our marketing campaign "Together Talks" if you have any interest in being featured or questions regarding your freight operations please contact us today!
Why KLS?
Our precise and reliable effort.
We handle every shipment with the exact same process. It does not matter if you move one shipment a year or ten per day, you will receive the same level of customer service from us. When we started this company, we had one goal in mind, treat every shipment like it was our own. With our vast knowledge of the industry, we understood what a customer would want from a communication standpoint. We applied that process to be the standard here at KLS. Our reliability and being able to depend on our consistency is why we have such long-standing relationships with our clients.
Our Process?
Every shipment in our industry starts with a quote. We are firm believers that time is money, thus we strive to have quotes back in a 5-10 minute reply time for LTL and FTL, any FCL quotes are at the mercy of the carriers getting back to us. For LTL we have the flexibility to quote both off of NMFC and also Density depending on the carrier. Utilizing our services, you’re allowing us to use our expertise to class your freight accordingly to ensure we are providing the best rate we possibly can.
Once a quote has been submitted and a client chooses to proceed with KLS handling the arrangement of the shipment our full process begins. We create the BOL that will be used for the shipment. If it is a new location for our system, we will obtain all the important/special details (reference numbers, contact details, shipping hours, closed for lunch, dock/doors, etc.). We meticulously build every detail into our software for all future shipments involving that location. After we have both locations built and necessary reference numbers have been applied we will tender the shipment to the carrier. We use this method because it provides us a real time pickup number from the carrier to obtain updates prior to pickup. Our staff will either email the BOL directly to you or to the shipper (at your request) the minute after the tender has been accepted by the carrier. LTL carriers require a 2 hour window prior to close time in order to schedule it for a same-day pickup attempt.
The following morning you’ll receive an email from us. It will either provide the reason the pickup was missed (driver’s trailer filled up, driver missed the close time, truck broke down, shipper said no freight, etc.) or if the pickup was successful you will receive the PRO (tracking) number from us, along with the eta for delivery. Our staff will track it throughout the duration of transit and advise if anything happens that will alter the estimated delivery date. The day the shipment delivers we will email you with confirmation and the POD (Proof of Delivery), should you require it.
Your shipment has been quoted, scheduled, picked up, and delivered. The next step is waiting for the carrier to invoice us and make sure the rate matches up. If it does, we close out the invoice from the carrier in our system and automatically your invoice is created and sent to the requested party at your company. In the event the carrier has an additional charge on their invoice “Variance”, we will never send you an invoice with an additional charge without first identifying you of the charge.
Let us repeat, NEVER WILL WE JUST BILL OUT AN EXTRA CHARGE WITHOUT YOU BEING NOTIFIED.
You are our customer, we represent you. Should the carrier provide an extra charge on an invoice, “Lift gate, additional weight, reclass, detention, etc.) We notify you of the charge via email first. Second, within that email we identify what is required should you choose to dispute the charge. Again our goal is to honor your request, if you want to dispute, we will dispute. During a dispute we will provide you updates every step along the way. Once a dispute is closed out, whether it is approved or rejected, then we will invoice you as the invoice has been resolved.
For reference, our company only had 6.2% of all shipments go to dispute in 2022 and we successfully won 91% of those disputes on behalf of our customers.
This is our process for every single shipment you move with us. We don’t cut corners, we don’t hide from difficult situations. We believe in being available, honest, and transparent. We don’t ever want to tell you that a shipment is lost, damaged, misrouted, but it is our duty to notify you the second we find out something has gone wrong. We hate to present bad news, but it is part of the job. What you can guarantee is that we will work a shipment all the way through and turn over every stone until we get a resolution for our clients.
Services offered?
Our core business is LTL and FTL. Within these options we have options for both dry and refrigerated/frozen. We also offer FCL/Drayage options. Our company as a 3PL has nationwide options and services clients across the US.
Let’s breakdown our services more in-depth
LTL:
Standard and Guaranteed
CFS (Imports & Exports)
Tradeshows
Hazmat
Anything that is on a pallet can be moved LTL. Typically LTL is up to 10 pallets, but the sweet spot for a carrier is 6-8 pallets at most for an individual shipment. LTL quotes are good between 5-30 days depending on the carrier. LTL can be quoted either via NMFC or density to determine the class (we do this for you).
Volume:
Anything over 10-12’ of space in the truck is the technical rule for a volume shipment. When we run a quote for you we will determine if it qualifies for volume and provide you a rate if available. Volume moves allow you to get a reduced rate for larger shipments. The caveat to volume shipments it the quotes are only valid for 3-7 days and they move on capacity between terminals. If a terminal is backed up they will move their LTL freight first before the volume freight, which can lead to longer transit times for volume moves.
FTL/Dedicated/Expedited: 53’ Dry and Reefer 26’ Box trucks with lift gate Sprinter Van The main difference for FTL vs LTL is space and transit time. For standard pallets you can fit either 26 or 30 pallets in a 53’ dry van. The other main difference is transit time, for FTL each day counts in the transit time, whereas LTL does not count the day of pickup, weekends, or holidays in their transit time.
Reefer/Frozen:
LTL and FTL
We specialize working in the CPG space with food manufacturers. We regularly deliver to
the following locations:
Kehe
UNFI
Core Mark
DPI
Wegmans
Cugini
H.T. Hackney
Netrition
HEB
ALDI
Chambers and Owens
EBY Brown
Nassau Candy
Harris Teeter
Wakefern
NU INC
Long Distribution
What makes KLS different?
There are thousands for freight brokers and 3PL in our industry. Barrier to entry is rather easy and agents or owners will often hire sales people without any intention of properly training them. It results in high turnover for many freight companies and a forgettable experience for the client. We choose to operate differently through our consistency. We truly care about doing right by our clients and prospects too. While we would love to help provide our services to every company we speak with, that just isn’t realistic. We won’t always be the right fit for every company that moves freight and that is ok. Our authenticity as a shipping company sets us apart from the competition and that is backed up by our testimonials. We also run a marketing campaign bi-weekly called “Together Talks”. We interview, highlight, and promote two businesses every week. Our goal is to grow our network, make new connections, and learn something new with each collaboration. Check it out on our website and if you’re interested in being featured reach out.
Our company also runs a year long charity promotion. Book your first shipment through KLS and we donate to the charity of your choice in your name. Our way of thanking you for giving us an opportunity to show you the KLS way and what makes us one of a kind. This entire package is what we offer to every prospect and every client. Our goal is to help provide answers that customers may have when it comes to shipping. We want to always be available as a resource and will always offer a lending hand whenever we can.