Central Transport | Chris Keylon is a coward

Your welcome my brother Stunhsif.....Been getting a lot of hateful PM's from up North about kissing Keylons A$$......Its all in your perception I suppose.
 
As anyone that has read my post over the past year you know I blame Gaetz for our current struggles. From the days of Overland very little was invested back in this company. Just stupid purchases of struggling trucking companies. These companies should have been integrated but they were left to rot. Gaetz dug this hole by not reinvesting in technology to bring them out of the stone age. The company made money from 1999-2006 because they didn't reinvest. There is no excuse in the world why we didn't have scanners 10 years ago.....NONE!!!! Now Chris Keylon has to spend millions to catch us up from the lack of reinvesting by Gaetz....It's not all Keylons fault. Like I said however he screwed up big time by not being a negotiator in keeping some of those seasoned sales reps...He should have been more pro-active. Its hard to recover from that kind of loss. My suggestion to him is beg and plead to get some to come back. Just a few would help. Sales is in shambles and that is on him. Biggest mistake he made without a doubt.
This makes me a A$$ kisser.....It really pissed some off. Like I said though, it's all in your perception. I didn't consider it kissing A$$
 
come on people, R.T. is just giving his opinion. none of us here totally agrees with anyone here, but were mostly on the same page overall. in my opinion, R.T. seems to be one of the more level headed posters here.
 
Thanks H.E. but I can take the heat.....It was John Lydgate that wrote and President Lincoln that made famous.........." You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time."
 
Criticism is something we can easily avoid by saying nothing, doing nothing, and be nothing. I will never compromise what I believe for a selected few. All men must stand for something whether it's right or wrong in my book it doesn't matter. JUST STAND FOR SOMETHING. No one is perfect so I have learned to be tolerate of peoples views and simply just walk away when it gets out of control. Because some people will find fault in everything you do. Some people you can never please. So why bother.
 
Thanks H.E. but I can take the heat.....It was John Lydgate that wrote and President Lincoln that made famous.........." You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time."

I agree with Had Enough Train, you are anything but an A$$ kisser. I disagree with you at times but you are level headed and only want the best for this company. You mentioned a couple days ago that the biggest screw up Keylon made was not keeping the best and seasoned reps at this company. I agree wholeheartedly with you on that. In Keylon's address on Vitality he says something like " we are positioned or poised for growth to take off". Keylon is delusional, I would bet my twins and every dollar I have that this will be proven false. The sales group is a complete mess, the new hires lack experience in the LTL market and they are paying the new reps about 40% less than the ones that left. Another rep is quitting tomorrow, and shortly after that, another one will be leaving. Bill count will continue to drop as accounts continue to dump us. It is a damn shame that Keylon wants to blame everyone in the past for the failure of this company. Again, the losses over the past 6 quarters exceed 76 million dollars. No one can be held accountable for that except Chris Keylon.
 
He must have heard through the grapevine the legendary Train called him a coward. Guys hold on awhile. Its the uncertainty that makes this job hard to stay at. If we just knew that things are getting better and we are not on the road to bankruptcy things would be so much better. This letter helps some, at least for me. I know there will remain skepticism. But if you have been here 10+ years it would be stupid to leave now. Don't let all the time you spent here be in vain. It is possible things could get better. I'm not drinking the Kool-Aid.......I'm just going to wait a little bit longer.

me toooooo
 
These numbers don't lie! How does this guy expect everyone to just believe him. Vitran is profitable for YEARS under the same management with Kosovec and crew. This Jackhole comes in and him and his "team" lose more money in a year and a half than Vitran did the previous 12. In his tenure he has lost 10 times more money than the previous management!!! That supposedly had NO LEADERS!!! Anyone can go look at the financials online and see the numbers. Revenue was UP. Shipments were UP. Profit was UP. Operation Ratios were GOOD. That was all under no leaders. Now, with the supreme leaders, Revenue is DOWN. Shipments are DOWN. Profit is DOWN. And Operating Ratios are HORRIBLE. Well I guess the definition of a leader is completely different to AR folk. Maybe this good ole boy took 1 too many hits to the head in his football days cause he sure seems like he is living in Mr Rogers land of make believe!

Really?!! Things were good with kosovic?! How blind were you? A so called leader that closed some of the best operating terminals. Had the customers coming to Vitran instead of Vitran going to the customers! He should have never been put in charge! Kosovic prob cooked the books so it didn't look that bad. Everyone could see how bad Vitran was doing except for the stupid management that thankfully is no longer there!
 
I agree with Had Enough Train, you are anything but an A$$ kisser. I disagree with you at times but you are level headed and only want the best for this company. You mentioned a couple days ago that the biggest screw up Keylon made was not keeping the best and seasoned reps at this company. I agree wholeheartedly with you on that. In Keylon's address on Vitality he says something like " we are positioned or poised for growth to take off". Keylon is delusional, I would bet my twins and every dollar I have that this will be proven false. The sales group is a complete mess, the new hires lack experience in the LTL market and they are paying the new reps about 40% less than the ones that left. Another rep is quitting tomorrow, and shortly after that, another one will be leaving. Bill count will continue to drop as accounts continue to dump us. It is a damn shame that Keylon wants to blame everyone in the past for the failure of this company. Again, the losses over the past 6 quarters exceed 76 million dollars. No one can be held accountable for that except Chris Keylon.
We must agree to disagree on one issue. Gaetz is to blame for those losses too. He dug a hole by not integrating these companies as soon as they were purchased with scanners and updated technology and a complete revamp of line haul. Like I said before we should have had scanners 10 years ago. Keylon was left to do all that on his watch when it should have been done 10 years ago on Gaetz watch. That's why he has lost millions because he had to play catch up because Gaetz never spent that money on upgrades. Keylon had no choice if he wanted to move this company forward. Gaetz walked and let Keylon take the fall. Gaetz knew he neglected this company and knew it would take millions to dig out. He chose to walk and make Keylon the scapegoat. Keylon has got to straighten out the mess he created in sales or we will never survive. The only big mistake he's truly made. He's got to sweeten the pot and get some of those top sales producers back. They may not come back but he has got to try. Because we are doomed to almost certain failure without some of those sales folks back. I've been in the LTL business almost 40 years and that is one department you don't mess with (sales) without serious consequences.
 
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Really?!! Things were good with kosovic?! How blind were you? A so called leader that closed some of the best operating terminals. Had the customers coming to Vitran instead of Vitran going to the customers! He should have never been put in charge! Kosovic prob cooked the books so it didn't look that bad. Everyone could see how bad Vitran was doing except for the stupid management that thankfully is no longer there!

How do you know the terminals were operating in the black? At least the numbers were never negative under Kosovic. But now that Chris has invested massive amounts of money into technology allowing time travel the numbers have been in the basement. There is a lot to be said for the old ways, sometimes less is more.
 
I seen J.J. at a job fair this past week in the Cleveland area. Said he was let go in March. That was a huge surprise.
 
We must agree to disagree on one issue. Gaetz is to blame for those losses too. He dug a hole by not integrating these companies as soon as they were purchased with scanners and updated technology and a complete revamp of line haul. Like I said before we should have had scanners 10 years ago. Keylon was left to do all that on his watch when it should have been done 10 years ago on Gaetz watch. That's why he has lost millions because he had to play catch up because Gaetz never spent that money on upgrades. Keylon had no choice if he wanted to move this company forward. Gaetz walked and let Keylon take the fall. Gaetz knew he neglected this company and knew it would take millions to dig out. He chose to walk and make Keylon the scapegoat. Keylon has got to straighten out the mess he created in sales or we will never survive. The only big mistake he's truly made. He's got to sweeten the pot and get some of those top sales producers back. They may not come back but he has got to try. Because we are doomed to almost certain failure without some of those sales folks back. I've been in the LTL business almost 40 years and that is one department you don't mess with (sales) without serious consequences.
What do you think the chances of Keylon being able to get some of the sales folks back? Like Sparky10 stated on another thread Vitran is like being in a bad relationship in which you keep getting the $hit beat out of you. He could promise them he would never do it again if they would only take him back. He could say he's sorry and learned his lesson. He could say please just give me one more chance. No I'm sorry to say it's too little too late. You should have thought of all that before you did what you did. Drivers, the fallout continues and the wheels keep turning.
 
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Really?!! Things were good with kosovic?! How blind were you? A so called leader that closed some of the best operating terminals. Had the customers coming to Vitran instead of Vitran going to the customers! He should have never been put in charge! Kosovic prob cooked the books so it didn't look that bad. Everyone could see how bad Vitran was doing except for the stupid management that thankfully is no longer there!

You are the blind one...look at the numbers that PJAX had prior to Vitran took over. Mark was a D@@@ Head, but he knew what he was doing
 
What do you think the chances of Keylon being able to get some of the sales folks back? Like Sparky10 stated on another thread Vitran is like being in a bad relationship in which you keep getting the $hit beat out of you. He could promise them he would never do it again if they would only take him back. He could say he's sorry and learned his lesson. He could say please just give me one more chance. No I'm sorry to say it's too little too late. You should have thought of all that before you did what you did. Drivers, the fallout continues and the wheels keep turning.
the salesforce most likely does'nt want to come back, they were burned out and moved on. i bet alot of them took a paycut when they left and glad that the nightmare is over. sometimes the extra few dollars is not worth the agony.
 
The ones I know and still talk to would never go back under Keylon. He is not a very well liked guy by those that quit or were let go. From the beginning - lots of lies and half truths. Bringing in Fed Ex saviors to be put above well seasoned long term Vitran/pjax reps who had twice the amount of business than their now new boss, etc. He pushes this choir boy image of honesty and integrity, meanwhile lies and stabs his own people in the back. Someone mentioned earlier the personal relationships the reps have with their customers. Some customers that quit us, did so 100% because of the way Vitran (ck) pushed
them out. You don't get those customers back very easy.
 
The ones I know and still talk to would never go back under Keylon. He is not a very well liked guy by those that quit or were let go. From the beginning - lots of lies and half truths. Bringing in Fed Ex saviors to be put above well seasoned long term Vitran/pjax reps who had twice the amount of business than their now new boss, etc. He pushes this choir boy image of honesty and integrity, meanwhile lies and stabs his own people in the back. Someone mentioned earlier the personal relationships the reps have with their customers. Some customers that quit us, did so 100% because of the way Vitran (ck) pushed
them out. You don't get those customers back very easy.
That is very true....And its that reason and that reason alone we may fail as a company. Keylon underestimated the power of those sales reps. Him being a former rep himself rather surprises me of that one critical mistake. Even some great pricing may not be enough because in so many cases like this one it's more than just about the money. This is a very critical mistake that is on Keylon that we may not be able to overcome. You never hear me talk about what I have done in this business in the almost 40+ years but let me say I haven't always been a driver and many that know me personally on here out of Dallas know who I am and what I've done in the LTL business. And I'm telling you straight brothers Keylon has done many great things. But this mistake in sales has become this companies undoing. And again that's all on him. He underestimated the cost of losing those sales reps and it very well may cost all of us our jobs.
 
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You are the blind one...look at the numbers that PJAX had prior to Vitran took over. Mark was a D@@@ Head, but he knew what he was doing
Not sure how running 200 miles to customers in stead of 50 to 100 miles makes a company profitable. Kosobitch lied thru his teeth by saying they would save millions by closing the smaller terminals. And how bout when they let salespeople go based on seniority instead ofhow they were doing. Vitran could of hung on to the better sales people for awhile longer. The people who actually cared about their customers!! You can't service an entire state out of one terminal. The customers left in droves. And the ones who stayed only stayed because Vitran was the cheapest carrier. And they had a choice to make ship with vitran and not know when the freight will get delivered or use someone else pay a higher price but then know their freight would be delivered on time.
 
What do you think the chances of Keylon being able to get some of the sales folks back? Like Sparky10 stated on another thread Vitran is like being in a bad relationship in which you keep getting the $hit beat out of you. He could promise them he would never do it again if they would only take him back. He could say he's sorry and learned his lesson. He could say please just give me one more chance. No I'm sorry to say it's too little too late. You should have thought of all that before you did what you did. Drivers, the fallout continues and the wheels keep turning.

Ain't going to happen Train. A 10 year rep out east just quit yesterday, they asked what could be done to keep him and the answer was "nothing". Top guy over local sales asked him not to leave and sit tight till Friday, he is most likely afraid to tell Keylon that we've lost another good rep. This loss is going to hurt big time, he has quit a bit of business. On the other hand, another rep in SBD quit a week or two ago and I would say good riddance to her. She had virtually no business and was a long time Vitran flunkie. Reps are leaving one by one, soon there will be all rookies who couldn't give away cheese burgers to starving African's.
 
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