Every company has a story.We read it start to finish.
- 68 → 87employees since their 2023 PEO switch
- 2PEOs since 2020
- +14%health plan increase in 2025
- 18 mito the nearest in-network hospital in Indianapolis
- Founder-led from day oneDana Whitfield starts Harlow with three trucks. She still signs off on benefits, so the owner is part of every decision.Owner in the room
- Crosses the state line24 employees and its first routes outside Ohio. Payroll in more than one state is where running HR in-house starts to hurt.Growth
- Comp costs jumpIts workers’ comp carrier changes after a single year, which usually means the price went up. Rising comp is a classic reason to look at a PEO.Cost pressure
- Buys into the PEO modelIts 41 employees go onto Peoname’s plan. Harlow already believes in PEOs. The only question is which one.PEO confirmed
- Gains leverageFrom 41 to 60 employees in a year. A bigger company has more say at renewal, and should be priced like it.Leverage
- Switches PEOsLeaves at renewal, after 3 years, for Peoname, with 68 employees. It has switched once, so it knows how to do it again.Proven switcher
- One decision moves bothWorkers’ comp moves onto Peoname’s policy. Leave Peoname and the comp leaves with it, so one decision reopens health and comp together.Two policies, one move
- Goes multi-stateAn Indianapolis terminal and drivers in 26 states. Every new state adds payroll tax and compliance work, and that is the work a PEO is paid to carry.Complexity
- Costs go up 14%Harlow’s March renewal carried the master health plan’s January increase, about $75K a year at its size. It paid its share of a plan-wide increase it had no say in.Cost pressure
- A CFO who has done this beforeErin joins from Lakeshore Distribution, which switched PEOs while she was controller. The person who runs the renewal has already seen a switch work.Decision maker
- Their drivers lose a hospitalNorthside General, the main hospital near the Indianapolis terminal, leaves Peoname’s network. The nearest in-network one is now 18 miles away. Employees feel that every time they need care, so it opens the conversation better than price.Employee pain
- The window is about to openNearly 4 years in, and every signal points at the March renewal. New rates land in mid-January and notice is due in late January. Whoever gets there first sets the comparison.Buying window
- RenewalWhere the decision gets made, with every fact on the table.
Harlow Freight Co. is a made-up company. Its history and people are illustrations.
