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Central Transport | Baking Up the Keylon Pie

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luci

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The main ingredient in The Keylon Pie is Ex FedEx, and relatives of Ex FedEx.

When these people came into power I saw a shift to the buddy system like never before. I saw kids with no experience in trucking given management jobs. Buddies and relatives of management started filling the ranks.

The craziest thing that came out of this buddy system (which is why the buddy system is frowned on by serious business people) was a general aire of "oh well". No one had a fire in their belly.

My previous TM was no peach, but I would see him on the dock loading or on a fork lift. He would be there early in the morning, late at night and our LH guys said he would pop in unannounced at 2AM. He had a fire in him. He wanted to himself and us to be the best we could.

This new team does good to put in eight hours and when they are there they are locked in the office. Vacation time for these folks is outrageous. I do not want some crazy dude running around all freaking, but it would be great to see passion. I really thought at first these folks took this serious. I thought they would want to be at work making progress.

There is a disconnect between Keylon and regional and the boots on the ground. We do not need top down management. We need executives who are willing to, for a time, get real and get in the trenches to fix things. We need something progressive, creative, something revolutionary to set our selves apart from the crowd.

Someone throw me a life vest, an floating ring or a plank of wood.

What ingredients of the Keylon pie do you think hurt us the most?
 
What ingredient? Character with a strong work ethic. Not a TM that spends most of his time in his office with the door closed. Not working from home on your personal computer when your not in the office with the door closed. Not coding freight incorrectly to make things look better than they really are. We need something that we don't have. Character with a strong work ethic.
 
luci said:
The main ingredient in The Keylon Pie is Ex FedEx, and relatives of Ex FedEx.

When these people came into power I saw a shift to the buddy system like never before. I saw kids with no experience in trucking given management jobs. Buddies and relatives of management started filling the ranks.

The craziest thing that came out of this buddy system (which is why the buddy system is frowned on by serious business people) was a general aire of "oh well". No one had a fire in their belly.

My previous TM was no peach, but I would see him on the dock loading or on a fork lift. He would be there early in the morning, late at night and our LH guys said he would pop in unannounced at 2AM. He had a fire in him. He wanted to himself and us to be the best we could.

This new team does good to put in eight hours and when they are there they are locked in the office. Vacation time for these folks is outrageous. I do not want some crazy dude running around all freaking, but it would be great to see passion. I really thought at first these folks took this serious. I thought they would want to be at work making progress.

There is a disconnect between Keylon and regional and the boots on the ground. We do not need top down management. We need executives who are willing to, for a time, get real and get in the trenches to fix things. We need something progressive, creative, something revolutionary to set our selves apart from the crowd.

Someone throw me a life vest, an floating ring or a plank of wood.

What ingredients of the Keylon pie do you think hurt us the most?
Click to expand...
100% Cronyism.....Yep....That hurts the most.
 
This is a very serious problem here at the Vitanic.

And like Luci stated, they sit in their "Ivory Tower" and have no clue of what's actually going on. I remember when the new TM and ATM came in, they were all gun-ho about turning this company around, then the Vitranism spread. Now it's right back to; whatever.
 
I can and will speak to the FDX guys that are running this company. At one point and time, they were hands on, involved, folks at American Freightways. Somehow, as the salaries increased, and the Purple and Red, replaced the Red White and Blue, they forgot what they learned from Mr. F. Sheridan Garrison. However, VTNC was beyond fixing, long before the FDX guys joined the "team". The person that destroyed VTNC is no longer employed, Mr. Gaetz. Keylon and his team know how to run a truck line, they just dont know how to fix one that is as broken down as Vitran. Vitran's demise started years ago. So for folks to blame Keylon and the Harrison, Ar, group is ridiculous. Mr. Gaetz never re-invested into the truckline. Then after the PJAX aquisition he shifted the decision making to Kosovec and the team in Pittsburgh. Folks there is a big difference between running a regional 5 state carrier and a multi-regional 20 state carrier. Pricing alone, is different. Linehaul is completely, different. Vitran demise is very similar to the Coles, Spartan, Viking, Central Freightlines, combination that took place in the mid 90's. The merger of regional carriers never works, if there is not one voice, one vision, let alone if it is being lead by a CEO that only cares about quarterly results and stock price.
 
aiaslfdo said:
I can and will speak to the FDX guys that are running this company. At one point and time, they were hands on, involved, folks at American Freightways. Somehow, as the salaries increased, and the Purple and Red, replaced the Red White and Blue, they forgot what they learned from Mr. F. Sheridan Garrison. However, VTNC was beyond fixing, long before the FDX guys joined the "team". The person that destroyed VTNC is no longer employed, Mr. Gaetz. Keylon and his team know how to run a truck line, they just dont know how to fix one that is as broken down as Vitran. Vitran's demise started years ago. So for folks to blame Keylon and the Harrison, Ar, group is ridiculous. Mr. Gaetz never re-invested into the truckline. Then after the PJAX aquisition he shifted the decision making to Kosovec and the team in Pittsburgh. Folks there is a big difference between running a regional 5 state carrier and a multi-regional 20 state carrier. Pricing alone, is different. Linehaul is completely, different. Vitran demise is very similar to the Coles, Spartan, Viking, Central Freightlines, combination that took place in the mid 90's. The merger of regional carriers never works, if there is not one voice, one vision, let alone if it is being lead by a CEO that only cares about quarterly results and stock price.
Click to expand...
I have said this over and over from day one that Keylon is not to blame for our demise. Too much damage has been done and this place is just not recoverable (in my opinion) and Keylon will be made a scapegoat. This place is done but I'm just not sure how they will end it. Bankruptcy doesn't seem logical....FYI Central Freight line down sized here in Texas and are now thriving. Maybe Vitran is headed in the same direction. It's hard to say at this point in the game. It's the 4th quarter and the 2 minute warning is in play.
 
we have been down sized due to too many service issues with the freight (damages, late delivery, missed pick ups, incompetent mgt) If we do downsize but many lose their jobs what have we gained.
 
undead said:
we have been down sized due to too many service issues with the freight (damages, late delivery, missed pick ups, incompetent mgt) If we do downsize but many lose their jobs what have we gained.
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Survival of the whole....We have no business being in the massive State of Texas....How can you serve Texas with 2 terminals....San Antonio doesn't even count with a leased 5 driver dock. San Antonio is as big as Dallas. They use agents for 80% of San Antonio....Dallas uses agents for probably 20% of our city deliveries and we have 30 drivers and 55 doors (residential and limited dock access) Why don't we have a few liftgate pups. We have one bobtail that they rarely use. This place is a joke. I work in Dallas but Vitran has no business in Texas. They need to reduce their footprint and pull out of a few more states to even have a fighting chance. Central Freight Line here in Texas reduced their foot print up North many years ago after biting off more than they could chew by purchasing Viking and a few others. They cut their losses and went back to the good regional carrier that built them up from their small beginnings in Waco. Vitran needs to follow Central Freight Lines business plan after their big mistake. Central thrives today. I only have a few more years to work so I'm good with it. I'm willing to sacrifice my job to save my Vitran brothers up North. It's not like I would feel I lost a lot.
 
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aiaslfdo said:
I can and will speak to the FDX guys that are running this company. At one point and time, they were hands on, involved, folks at American Freightways. Somehow, as the salaries increased, and the Purple and Red, replaced the Red White and Blue, they forgot what they learned from Mr. F. Sheridan Garrison. However, VTNC was beyond fixing, long before the FDX guys joined the "team". The person that destroyed VTNC is no longer employed, Mr. Gaetz. Keylon and his team know how to run a truck line, they just dont know how to fix one that is as broken down as Vitran. Vitran's demise started years ago. So for folks to blame Keylon and the Harrison, Ar, group is ridiculous. Mr. Gaetz never re-invested into the truckline. Then after the PJAX aquisition he shifted the decision making to Kosovec and the team in Pittsburgh. Folks there is a big difference between running a regional 5 state carrier and a multi-regional 20 state carrier. Pricing alone, is different. Linehaul is completely, different. Vitran demise is very similar to the Coles, Spartan, Viking, Central Freightlines, combination that took place in the mid 90's. The merger of regional carriers never works, if there is not one voice, one vision, let alone if it is being lead by a CEO that only cares about quarterly results and stock price.
Click to expand...

PJAX was a 10 state carrier not 5. So when stating facts, make sure your facts are correct. Kosovec was a very smart guy, his biggest failure was his inability to listen to anyone else or ask for help. I will agree that his biggest weakness was not knowing how to do linehaul when he had the density to make it work. There is a guy sitting in MIL who could fix the linehaul here, his resume if far more impressive than Keylon's but whatever, it is too late now.
 
runawaytrain said:
Survival of the whole....We have no business being in the massive State of Texas....How can you serve Texas with 2 terminals....San Antonio doesn't even count with a leased 5 driver dock. San Antonio is as big as Dallas. They use agents for 80% of San Antonio....Dallas uses agents for probably 20% of our city deliveries (residential and limited dock access) Why don't we have a few liftgate pups. We have one bobtail that they rarely use. This place is a joke. I work in Dallas but Vitran has no business in Texas. They need to reduce their footprint and pull out of a few more states to even have a fighting chance. I only have a few more years to work so I'm good with it. I'm willing to sacrifice my job to save my Vitran brothers up North. It's not like I would feel I lost a lot.
Click to expand...

All the big boys are pumping out 1000-1500 bills per day in Dallas, how much do we do Train, maybe 350.
 
600 on a good day.....300 on a bad.......Way to few for a labor to revenue ratio. Too much overhead for that kind of bill count. Sell this Dallas terminal for a couple of million. Vitran owns it. Sell it and call it quits before we drag the rest of the company down.
 
Also the PJAX Managers came over from Carolina Freight which is now part of ABF, which is still an outstanding company.
 
runawaytrain said:
Survival of the whole....We have no business being in the massive State of Texas....How can you serve Texas with 2 terminals....San Antonio doesn't even count with a leased 5 driver dock. San Antonio is as big as Dallas. They use agents for 80% of San Antonio....Dallas uses agents for probably 20% of our city deliveries and we have 30 drivers and 55 doors (residential and limited dock access) Why don't we have a few liftgate pups. We have one bobtail that they rarely use. This place is a joke. I work in Dallas but Vitran has no business in Texas. They need to reduce their footprint and pull out of a few more states to even have a fighting chance. Central Freight Line here in Texas reduced their foot print up North many years ago after biting off more than they could chew by purchasing Viking and a few others. They cut their losses and went back to the good regional carrier that built them up from their small beginnings in Waco. Vitran needs to follow Central Freight Lines business plan after their big mistake. Central thrives today. I only have a few more years to work so I'm good with it. I'm willing to sacrifice my job to save my Vitran brothers up North. It's not like I would feel I lost a lot.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty certain Texas will be shut down by the end of the year.
 
Popswasnatlman said:
You are sounding like you want to be put on unemployement. What is the weekly check for unenjoyment down in TX Train?
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436. maximum which I would qualify for if laid off. I'm totally discouraged with our direction and need a change but plan on waiting to see how it all plays out. And while I'm here let me ask that you guys not mistake Central Freight Lines with Central Transport. The difference is night and day.
 
aiaslfdo said:
I can and will speak to the FDX guys that are running this company. At one point and time, they were hands on, involved, folks at American Freightways. Somehow, as the salaries increased, and the Purple and Red, replaced the Red White and Blue, they forgot what they learned from Mr. F. Sheridan Garrison. However, VTNC was beyond fixing, long before the FDX guys joined the "team". The person that destroyed VTNC is no longer employed, Mr. Gaetz. Keylon and his team know how to run a truck line, they just dont know how to fix one that is as broken down as Vitran. Vitran's demise started years ago. So for folks to blame Keylon and the Harrison, Ar, group is ridiculous. Mr. Gaetz never re-invested into the truckline. Then after the PJAX aquisition he shifted the decision making to Kosovec and the team in Pittsburgh. Folks there is a big difference between running a regional 5 state carrier and a multi-regional 20 state carrier. Pricing alone, is different. Linehaul is completely, different. Vitran demise is very similar to the Coles, Spartan, Viking, Central Freightlines, combination that took place in the mid 90's. The merger of regional carriers never works, if there is not one voice, one vision, let alone if it is being lead by a CEO that only cares about quarterly results and stock price.
Click to expand...

I understand all the points you made. CK took on a company with a lot problems. However, He knew what he was facing, or should have researched the company enough to know. CK took this on and made all kinds of promises that he immediately failed to come through on. CK was given multiples of millions of money to spend, and he spent that money on new management that failed and new technology that is not being used correctly. After all that failure V still sold it's only profit making sector for 100million dollars and made this company debt free leaving tens of millions in the bank.

CK has been given all the money and freedom to make decisions he needed and has failed. This is not at all the same company he agreed to take on because he has changed so much and spent so much money.

At the end of the day this is CK's failure. If he could not do the job he should have stayed home.

Obviously the rulers before CK were lame, but CK has no one to blame. I think CK saw the big pay check he was offered and his hubris got ahead of him. He even stated in an open letter posted at terminals that V was more messed up than he first knew. That is his fault for not researching the company. I did months of research before deciding on the company I want to work for next. He is lazy.
 
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