Beyond the Last Mile

Beyond the Last Mile

By Beyond the Last MileBusiness
Download on the App Store

Beyond the Last Mile episodes

  • How to 3X Your DSP's Profit and Hit Fantastic Plus - Without Living at the Station

    What does it take to build a profitable DSP without being stuck at the station every day?

    Tameeka Holmes shares how she turned around struggling operations, tripled her profits, built a high-performing team, and created systems that allowed her to step away while maintaining strong performance.

    She breaks down hiring, safety, scorecard coaching, accountability, team culture, and the fundamentals that help DSP owners improve both profitability and performance.

    Key Discussion Points
    • 00:04—Tameeka's journey into the DSP world
    • 05:00—Turning around a struggling operation
    • 08:00—Building a safety-first culture
    • 10:00—How she tripled her DSP's profits
    • 12:00—Hiring and building the right team
    • 20:00—Changing driver behavior through transparency
    • 23:00—Understanding and coaching the scorecard
    • 27:00—Driver engagement and accountability
    • 32:00—Setting clear expectations
    • 37:00—Going back to the basics
    • 42:00—Finding hidden costs in a successful DSP
    • 44:00—Incentives and investing in your team
    • 49:00—Building a leadership team that can operate without you
    • 53:00—The experiences that shaped her leadership

      • Don't forget to:

      👍 Like this video if you found a strategy you can use

      🔔 Subscribe for more authentic conversations with last-mile owners and operators
      💬 Comment with your biggest takeaway
      📤 Share this with someone who needs to hear this

      #BeyondTheLastMile #DSP #AmazonDSP #LastMileLogistics #DSPOwner #FantasticPlus #Logistics #Leadership #Profitability #TeamBuilding

      1 hr 2 min
    • From Driver Snacks to Fantastic Plus: The People-First Playbook Behind Long-Term DSP Success

      What does it take to run an Amazon DSP that performs without you buried in the day-to-day?

      Matthew Goldman, founder of Hera and a former Amazon DSP owner, has lived both sides of it. After running his own DSP on spreadsheets and manual processes, he built Hera, the DSP software now helping more than 1,000 DSPs run smarter.

      In the latest episode of Beyond the Last Mile, Matthew gets real about time management, mentorship, leadership, systems, margins, and risk, and why DSP owners need to start treating their operations like the big businesses they are.

      Want to get out of the weeds and run your DSP like a real business? Check out Hera → www.hera.app

       

      Key Discussion Points

      • 00:03—Running a DSP before proper systems
      • 00:08—Lessons from the Marine Corps and Apple
      • 00:15—The power of mentorship and community
      • 00:20—Why taking care of drivers matters
      • 00:23—Why Fantastic Plus isn't always enough
      • 00:31—The problem with AI and "vibe coding"
      • 00:38—How word of mouth built Hera
      • 00:40—Moving owners out of the weeds
      • 00:43—The hidden cost of overstaffing
      • 00:46—Why DSPs need better inventory management
      • 00:48—Solving real-world fleet problems
      • 00:53—Matthew's entrepreneurial roots

        • Don't forget to:

        👍 Like this video if Matthew's insights changed how you think about your DSP
        🔔 Subscribe for more real-world conversations with last-mile operators
        💬 Comment with the biggest lesson you took away
        🔗 Share this episode with a DSP owner who needs to hear it

         

        #AmazonDSP #DSPSoftware #Hera #MatthewGoldman #BeyondTheLastMile #DSP #DSPOwner #LastMileLogistics #DeliveryBusiness #Leadership

        55 min
      • From Driver to Owner: How a Soldier Used Mentors to Build a Successful DSP

        What does it take to transition from driving a missile truck in the military to delivering packages, and eventually running a top-tier Amazon DSP with 120 employees and 70 vans? 

        In this episode of Beyond the Last Mile, Demetrius "DJ" Jefferson shares his journey. DJ is the founder of Guardian Express Logistics and an active firefighter in Bayonne, New Jersey. He unpacks how he adapted to civilian choices, managed daily crisis operations, and relied on mentorship to accelerate his growth. 

         

        Key Discussion Points

        00:02—Military Experience & Logistics Fundamentals 

        00:04—Leaving the Army for Family & Lifestyle 
        00:06—The Shift to Civilian Life as a Delivery Driver 
        00:07—Transitioning From Driver to DSP Owner 
        00:09—Mentorship, Resumes, & The Mario Connection 
        00:15—Navigating the Challenges of Managing People 
        00:16—Understanding Your Team's "Love Language" 
        00:19—Driver Recruitment & Giving Everyone a Fair Chance 
        00:23—Crisis Control: Managing Dog Bites & Heavy Call-Outs 
        00:27—Financial Mentorship & Understanding Your Numbers 
        00:30—Prioritizing Team Health & Retention Benefits 
        00:34—Balancing Business Ownership, Firefighting, & Family 
        00:38—Childhood Work Ethic & Lessons From McDonald's 
        00:41—Best Local Eats in Bayonne & Final Shoutouts 

         

        Ready to scale your own last-mile logistics business and build a resilient team? 

        Don't forget to:

        👍 Like this video
        🔔 Subscribe for more authentic conversations
        💬 Comment with your biggest takeaway
        🔗 Share with someone who needs to hear this

        #LastMileLogistics #AmazonDSP #LogisticsLeadership #VeteransInBusiness #BusinessMentorship #BeyondTheLastMile

        45 min
      • Slash Driver Turnover to 10%

        From FedEx Driver to Consultant: The Conversation That Changes Everything

        What does it actually take to turn a stressed, high-turnover driver team into a loyal one? Ray Charette has done it from every seat — driver, dispatcher, general manager, and now consultant — and in this episode, he shares the exact systems that cut turnover from 60% to just 10-15%.

        But this conversation goes beyond metrics. Ray opens up about a personal story of estrangement from his sister, reminding us that the same principles that build trust with a team can rebuild trust in our own relationships. Real leadership lessons, real talk, and a story that might just inspire you to make a call you've been putting off.

        #LastMileLogistics #DriverRetention #Leadership #DSPOwners #Entrepreneurship

        50 min
      • From Zero to #1 DSP of the Year: Mario Nicolaou's Playbook

        The Seatbelt Hack, the Fake Clock-Ins, and the Secret to F+ Ratings

        What does it actually take to run a Fantastic Plus DSP? Mario Nicolaou, founder of Flash Direct, sits down to share the real, unfiltered systems behind his top-rated Amazon Walker DSP — including how he caught field managers stealing from him, his method for confronting unsafe drivers in real time, and a clever hack that solved a costly seatbelt-camera problem.

        This episode dives deep into hiring, retention, safety compliance, and mentorship — the exact playbook that helped Mario's company hit a jaw-dropping 1.7% unemployment rate.

        #MarioNicolaou #MarioDSPmentor #MetricsmasterDSP #ScorecardDSPmentor #DSPCoachMario

        1 hr
      • Welcome to Beyond the Last Mile

        Beyond the Last Mile, hosted by Jeremiah Desmarais and Cristina Neal, is a podcast built for last mile logistics owners who are done with corporate-speak and driver-level noise.

        Every episode is an unfiltered, owner-to-owner conversation with the vendors, consultants, and operators who've actually been in the trenches—scaling routes, cutting costs, and fixing operations that were bleeding money.

        No theory. No fluff. Just real breakthroughs (and real mistakes) you can learn from and put to work in your business today. If you run a last mile operation and want insights you can act on before your next shift starts, you're in the right place.

        New episodes drop every other Tuesday. Follow now so you don't miss the next one.

         

        #LastMileLogistics #LastMileDelivery #AmazonDSP #FedExISP #DSPOwner #ISPOwner #LogisticsLeadership #DeliveryBusiness #SmallBusinessOwner #FleetManagement #LogisticsPodcast #DeliveryOperations #BusinessOwnerLife #ScalingYourBusiness #OperationsExcellence

        1 min

      About Beyond the Last Mile

      From the publisher's feed

      Beyond the Last Mile goes inside the world of last mile delivery owners and operators—Amazon DSP, FedEx ISP, and everyone in between. Unfiltered, owner-to-owner conversations with…