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XPO | Oh boy, now things will get really interesting

No need to reinvent the wheel. Maybe Conway will become the FedEx Ground of freight. All the other freight companies will no longer have a labor shortage as drivers leave Conway. Ask Fred Smith he already perfected the business model. I don't want to be too negative but that does seem like the trend nowadays.
 
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shins said:
No need to reinvent the wheel. Maybe Conway will become the FedEx Ground of freight. All the other freight companies will no longer have a labor shortage as drivers leave Conway. Ask Fred Smith he already perfected the business model. I don't want to be too negative but that does seem like the trend nowadays.
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I have no idea what might happen next.

But , don't you think that the first LTL company to try the FedEx Ground business model would be FedEx Freight?

Not a company that has zero experience , or deep knowledge about the ins and outs of non-company drivers doing routes with pups with HARD deadlines.

I'll go out on a limb and say if an LTL company ever goes to an owner/operator model , a purchase your route model , it will be a company ( THE company ) that's had the most success so far doing this: FedEx.

But like most that are commenting , I have no idea.
 
highheadblues said:
As an outsider (yrc) the statement they made about squeezing another 200 million in profits out of conway seems very unrealistic. Either conway is run terrible or xpo has reinvented the wheel and I don't think either of those are true. To generate that much more they would have to turn the place upside down. Another thing I would be concerned about is the amount of debt xpo is taking on and especially if servicing the debt relies on operational improvements like they're talking about for conway. That seems like a steep mountain to climb to me.
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No it really is that terrible. The biggest savings will come from having a competent leadership that values modern methods.

Sure the good old days were great. But we came up with better ways to do things with good reason.

They half assed moving into the computer age and bumbled through it. Spending a fortune on the way.

Read the press release again. Most of that 170-210 million he talks about is just from eliminating IT expenses.
 
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shins said:
No need to reinvent the wheel. Maybe Conway will become the FedEx Ground of freight. All the other freight companies will no longer have a labor shortage as drivers leave Conway. Ask Fred Smith he already perfected the business model. I don't want to be too negative but that does seem like the trend nowadays.
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This a good point. We have talked about this a lot. Most of our competitors operate completely differently from Con-way.
 
icuicp said:
I have no idea what might happen next.

But , don't you think that the first LTL company to try the FedEx Ground business model would be FedEx Freight?

Not a company that has zero experience , or deep knowledge about the ins and outs of non-company drivers doing routes with pups with HARD deadlines.

I'll go out on a limb and say if an LTL company ever goes to an owner/operator model , a purchase your route model , it will be a company ( THE company ) that's had the most success so far doing this: FedEx.

But like most that are commenting , I have no idea.
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Imagine half the terminal independent contractors. Hauling all the big shots, what we call volumes. Full trailer of this or that. And our peddles loaded for bear with all the junk they wouldn't take.
 
Considering all the harm 3PL's have done over the years by beating asset-based carriers into the ground with depressed freight rates, FAK's, exemptions from accessorial fees, I just cannot wait to see them try to pay the bills for their own drivers and hard assets. Yield management has never been their problem, they just leverage volume for the lowest rate and screw the carrier if the account operates at 120 operating ratio. Will they direct current Conway traffic to other carriers if the numbers tell them they can make a faster buck by parking their own truck and farming out the work? Will the logistic arm of the company be selling against their own LTL field sales reps, one trying to keep the freight on company equipment and the other one trying to move it to XYZ carrier for a 2 percent higher discount? I don't see how the business model of 3PL can translate into running an asset-based business. You guys have been through hell over the last several years and I wish you the best, but this I a real head scratcher.
 
highspeeds said:
Imagine half the terminal independent contractors. Hauling all the big shots, what we call volumes. Full trailer of this or that. And our peddles loaded for bear with all the junk they wouldn't take.
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Linehaul is THE biggest target.

You KNOW it's hard for management college types to accept drivers making the type of money that gets earned PROFESSIONALLY driving.

With our model of out-and-back the same day/night being different than most of our main competition , I see this changing.

I don't know if having a linehaul driver running all over the lower 48 and Canada is cheaper , but it gives Con-way more flexibility and I'm guessing it would give drivers a shot at more miles.
 
donethat said:
Considering all the harm 3PL's have done over the years by beating asset-based carriers into the ground with depressed freight rates, FAK's, exemptions from accessorial fees, I just cannot wait to see them try to pay the bills for their own drivers and hard assets. Yield management has never been their problem, they just leverage volume for the lowest rate and screw the carrier if the account operates at 120 operating ratio. Will they direct current Conway traffic to other carriers if the numbers tell them they can make a faster buck by parking their own truck and farming out the work? Will the logistic arm of the company be selling against their own LTL field sales reps, one trying to keep the freight on company equipment and the other one trying to move it to XYZ carrier for a 2 percent higher discount? I don't see how the business model of 3PL can translate into running an asset-based business. You guys have been through hell over the last several years and I wish you the best, but this I a real head scratcher.
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If I'm not mistaken , Con-way isn't the only asset-heavy trucking company that XPO would have.
They also have a French company , Tressangle is the name , I think. Anyway , I'm guessing it's much smaller but may have been XPO's guinea pig before they decided to go big.
 
beingpissed on said:
go on their website and see what they pay. Also they said they want to really make more money. It won't matter to me I am done. Just saying
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icuicp said:
Linehaul is THE biggest target.

You KNOW it's hard for management college types to accept drivers making the type of money that gets earned PROFESSIONALLY driving.

With our model of out-and-back the same day/night being different than most of our main competition , I see this changing.

I don't know if having a linehaul driver running all over the lower 48 and Canada is cheaper , but it gives Con-way more flexibility and I'm guessing it would give drivers a shot at more miles.
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I hope that never happens. I am never going OTR again. I would rather drive a city bus than be gone all the time. I did it when I was a younger man but never again.
 
radman said:
I hope that never happens. I am never going OTR again. I would rather drive a city bus than be gone all the time. I did it when I was a younger man but never again.
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I would never do it either. But with the shortage guys are back to making good money again. A bunch of people are buying trucks to cash in. BUt lucky for us. The shortage is deep. Bus jobs and all other sorts of CDL gigs are popping up everywhere.
 
highspeeds said:
I would never do it either. But with the shortage guys are back to making good money again. A bunch of people are buying trucks to cash in. BUt lucky for us. The shortage is deep. Bus jobs and all other sorts of CDL gigs are popping up everywhere.
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There is no amount of money I could make that would me OTR again. Quality of life is non existing. Being a stranger to my family is the price to be paid. Home everyday or at least every other day. I would do overnight laydowns.
 
shins said:
No need to reinvent the wheel. Maybe Conway will become the FedEx Ground of freight. All the other freight companies will no longer have a labor shortage as drivers leave Conway. Ask Fred Smith he already perfected the business model. I don't want to be too negative but that does seem like the trend nowadays.
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Not Fred but Roadway
 
Obviously no one knows what will happen. You guys have made a lot of good points on this thread. In theory the customers will pay more for better service which 3PL can't deliver (supposedly). It would be quite a challenge for XPO to go from non-asset to asset heavy.
On a side note, does anyone have any idea about what will happen to Road Systems?
 
shins said:
Obviously no one knows what will happen. You guys have made a lot of good points on this thread. In theory the customers will pay more for better service which 3PL can't deliver (supposedly). It would be quite a challenge for XPO to go from non-asset to asset heavy.
On a side note, does anyone have any idea about what will happen to Road Systems?
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Well since everybody else is speculating on here, I will too. I would have to guess they will make a lot of trailers for XPO.
 
icuicp said:
If I'm not mistaken , Con-way isn't the only asset-heavy trucking company that XPO would have.
They also have a French company , Tressangle is the name , I think. Anyway , I'm guessing it's much smaller but may have been XPO's guinea pig before they decided to go big.
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It's the number one LTL in Europe. So probably not exactly small. And they bought it in June. So it's not like they have been successful in the long term.
 
Maddog said:
I believe that is up for a vote in the house sometime in the near future. If it goes through, then yes I believe that we would pull them.
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I think with the 33ft trailers - if a Democrat wins the Presidency , then I think it won't happen. ( I'm guessing big labor would be against 33ft trailers - less drivers , and Dems would back them ) if a Republican wins the Presidency , we'll see 33ft trailers ( 33ft'ers allow less drivers to haul more freight - pro investors/shareholders/Republican lobbyist )
 
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