Three simple yet powerful words guide the Bates family of GSA Courier : Positive. Mental. Attitude.
“Positive mental attitude is the core of what we’re about,” said Phillip Bates, Chief Operating Officer of PMA Max Transport Inc., doing business as Global Services of Arizona and GSA Courier. “We come in every day with a positive mental attitude and just want to do the best we can for our customers.”
This winning approach has propelled GSA Courier to a long track record of success supporting SRP’s Mail Services department. The full-service courier and mail consolidation company is one of SRP’s Supplier Diversity partners.
GSA Courier: founded with the spirit of service
Phillip and his wife Carmen, who serves as CEO, are certainly familiar with success. Phillip earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Nebraska Lincoln and is a former college and professional football player turned sales, and now operational, executive. Carmen is equally impressive, having served in the military for 25 years, including tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In fact, it was Carmen’s background in transportation while serving her country that inspired her to purchase the GSA trade names from the prior owners who started the business in 1996. Since that time, they’ve grown the company to about 30 employees with 40 vehicles serving customers in Maricopa County.
“We’re dedicated to delivering great pricing and great services,” said Phillip. “We stand behind what we do, and we do it well.”
SRP’s Mail Services team knows this to be true, having worked with the company for decades. The work is bid out every three years, and GSA Courier continues to work with SRP to save the company money through their routing services.
This commitment has been especially important to SRP during the COVID-19 pandemic.
SRP Mail Services Manager Sam Cutruzzula explained, “The pandemic immediately changed our processes and timing for pickup, transporting and delivery of mail and packages. The flexibility GSA Courier provides continues to serve a critical function in our focus on exceeding customer service goals.”
Preparing for future generations
Like SRP and all businesses, the pandemic affected business operations for GSA Courier as well. Fortunately, smart planning has prepared them to weather the storm.
Phillip said, “It hasn’t been as difficult for us as it has been for some other businesses. We are diverse in what we do, and we laid the groundwork to be strong. You prepare for war in a time of peace.”
They’re also preparing their company for the next generation. Two of Carmen and Phillip’s children are currently employed in roles with the company.
“Tara, our daughter, is the operations manager, and Caleb, our son, is the night manager,” said Phillip. “They’re learning to be able to keep the company going at some point.”
Partnering with SRP for over two decades
The family also feels positive about having SRP as an ongoing partner. Technically, they inherited the contract with the buyout of the trade names in 2004. But they’ve forged their own way and, through their own hard work, continued to win SRP’s business in the nearly two decades since.
Explained Phillip, “We got engaged with the Supplier Diversity team and began developing a relationship [with them] after we purchased the company, so it was a little different for us. We have worked with a lot of diverse supplier teams over the years, and I am here to say that the SRP team’s commitment to diverse suppliers has been one of the highest I have seen. A lot of companies do a lot of talking about it, but SRP is about it.”
In the end, Phillip and the team at GSA Courier always go back to those three simple words – positive mental attitude – or, as they call it, PMA.
“It’s very difficult in business, so staying positive and doing the best you can by your customers and employees, that tends to come back to you.”
I used to see their trucks at the SRP building all the time. Nice to make the connection and learn the background behind their service. Great article!