Alan Ponce grew up in trucks. His dad spent 40 years in the industry—night routes, brokers—and now Alan is right there alongside him. Today, Ponce Ground Service runs over 200 tractors, 300 trailers, and a fleet of box trucks across the country. Ponce runs a good amount of their loads with the help of Amazon Relay’s opportunities. Here’s how they got there.
How did you get into trucking?
My parents came here from Mexico as first-generation immigrants and worked incredibly hard to give us a good life. I was just looking for the right vehicle to provide for them. So, the day after I graduated college, my dad was out trucking. I jumped in and said, “Show me how to drive. Let’s get after it.”
He always told me: customer obsession, first and last. Three trucks down, three loads to move in three hours? You rent or lease what you need for the week. The end goal is always servicing the customer. Everything else is just problem-solving. That mindset hasn’t changed and really prepared us for the discipline of Amazon Relay.
It’s been 10 years since we went into business together with one box truck. Now we’re operating nationwide. Every truck we added, every route we took on—it’s all because I don’t want my parents to have to work.
Relay carriers get access to discounted truck rentals, used vehicles, and more.
“Relay is a great resource to expand your business. It’s automated, payments are quick, and everything’s in one place.”
How did Amazon Relay become part of your business?
We’ve been hauling loads for Amazon Relay for at least eight years, since it started back in 2017–18. Right away, it was so much more streamlined than other load boards or brokers. Today, we use Relay’s contracts and auctions regularly to fill our schedules ahead of time. Every week, I’m bidding or booking instantly when the rates are right. As a larger carrier, having those predictable loads is so important.
“We’re in a volatile industry, and what we all look for is the ability to navigate the peaks and valleys. Relay’s availability of dedicated routes helps us do that.”
What’s the biggest value Relay brought to your operations?
The courses in the Learning Center have taught us best practices. I wish we’d had access to that when we were first scaling instead of learning through trial and error. Now I can assign courses out to our whole team in different states. Reminders about adjusting speed in winter, prep for May and June inspection season—the courses are detailed and apply across the industry.
The Relay app has been big for our drivers, too. They love how easy and truck-friendly the navigation is. No separate GPS needed for loads.
How has Relay’s safety rewards program supported your approach to safety?
The Relay safety rewards program offers cash bonuses for collision free miles tracked with approved dash cams, which is a nice complement to what we already do—trophies, hats, shirts, pins, and annual bonuses for zero incidents. Relay’s rewards program offers even more recognition for the drivers to help offset risk. It reinforces the safety culture. We’ve been able to earn a decent amount through the mileage bonuses because of that culture.
When you’re hauling with Relay, the goal is always to be as disruption-free and on-time as possible. But it’s not just about the extra earning potential of the mileage bonuses. You get a Relay performance score based on how you haul, and a strong score opens up more booking opportunities. We need to maintain our score to have access to contracts and auctions. So, we pull performance data from Relay constantly, and if one of our drivers is at the bottom, they’re getting coached up the following week.
“Relay keeps everything in one place—performance metrics, domicile management, payments. That standardization matters when you’re operating at scale.”
Tell us about Motive dash cams. How are they valuable to your company’s safety goals?
Once they’re on, the cameras do a lot of the heavy lifting. We use Motive for fleet monitoring, and it’s been extremely beneficial. We’ve got forward- and driver-facing cameras in every truck. They flag risky behavior in real time—following distance, stop signs, red lights, fatigue, yawning. The system alerts the driver in the cab and triggers a notification to the carrier in real time. We review everything. Our goal is for every driver who comes to Ponce Ground Service to become a better driver than when they arrived.
Relay carriers can get free hardware with an annual Motive contract, including an ELD and AI Dashcam.
“Safety isn’t a department. It’s a culture. Everyone at this company talks about it, lives it, and holds each other to it. Every single person is essential for our success, from HR to mechanics.”
How did day-to-day operations change as you scaled?
Three main ways:
- We keep a 10% buffer of more drivers than equipment to keep us prepared for call-offs and avoid hits to our score.
- A fueling company comes on-site. It’s cheaper to buy fuel in bulk, and it means our drivers don’t have to fuel up. That’s one less stop, one less distraction, so we’re more likely to be on time.
- As we scaled, we added an on-site mechanic every 20 trucks, so the drivers can focus on the road. The goal is that when the driver gets the keys, their job is to just haul the load and take their required breaks. That’s it.
Relay carriers can get exclusive discounts for truck fuel and maintenance.
What advice would you give to a carrier wanting to scale?
Use the Relay Scorecard available to you to track your federal safety metrics and identify patterns you can address, down to the domicile and driver. Stay open to learning. That mentality is what separates the carriers who grow from the ones who don’t.
Join Relay
Start your Relay application on desktop or our app on iOS or Android to join Amazon’s freight network. But first, check out Relay’s carrier requirements to make sure hauling for Amazon is the right fit for your business.
To see how much your company could potentially earn with Relay’s safety mileage bonuses, use the calculator below.
Amazon Relay beta safety rewards calculator
Calculate your company's potential collision-free mileage reward.
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