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XPO | Con-way Reports Fourth-Quarter Loss & pay freeze

BoxBoss said:
I am going to address this before it turns into an "AIG at the dayspa on taxpayer's money in SoCal" sort of story, because I can already see where it is going...So let's dispel the rumors right now and just lay out the facts:

The newly expanded western area now includes out to Mississippi to the south and to Minnesota to the north. This meeting was called to all class 1 and FAC managers in the western area.
Las Vegas was chosen for a few reasons: One, you can fly to and from there direct from anywhere in the western area of operations in roughly 2-2.5 hours and is a pretty central location with decent weather so you don't have to worry about being delayed at the airport... and those of you that are fond of research, simply look at the midweek rates for hotels in Las Vegas right now...Homeless people now have a place to stay there and can afford it just off the panhandling wages they make.
Attendees arrived between 3-5 pm on Wednesday for a 6pm dinner in a cafe at the hotel (sorry no 5 course bonanza with showgirls this time) to meet and greet their new compadres from the newly formed area. Dinner went until approximately 8pm during which time some introductory agenda was given and the purpose of our meeting was advised. The meeting broke up at about 8:15pm and alot of the managers congregated together in the fairly empty casino and spent the next 2 hours or so talking about their operations, what each was dealing with these days in terms of business, and what we were going to be discussing the following morning. I know a few 20s were thrown around during this time, mostly in slot machines and such that didn't pay anything (Hey, Las Vages has to make a living in these tough times, too!) and pretty much everyone retired by 10pm.
Up at 5am, breakfast at 6, more discussion amongst the managers before the meeting began at 7:30..Meeting went until 1230pm, In a regular old meeting room, and during that time, we splurged on two 5 minute breaks, mostly spent on getting updates from our service centers on the day's operations and business levels, as well as hitting the bathroom to get rid of the soda and water provided at the meeting..
Alot of things were discussed at the meeting, there were some some sobering moments and some encouraging moments. But mainly, we were introduced to our new EVP of OPS, Greg L., who proceeded to give us a refreshing look into his vision of how we will manage going forward, where our focus as managers will be, and I was encouraged by what I saw...You will all be included in that endeavor at your communications meetings in the coming weeks. The core of the discussion was not to talk about what has got us where we are right now, but to talk about what we are going to do to get us back to a position of strength. And we were all interested in that. There was a total of 32 people at the meeting.
At 1230, handshakes, cordial remarks and everybody off to the airport (free shuttle) where most had flights leaving between 2-4pm...
Sorry you are disappointed by the fact there was no scandal, strippers, alcohol binges, or even a couple SCMs getting arrested for lewd and indecent acts...Sorry there are no good pictures to share with you via cellphone or the internet...You must have us confused with AIG...
Some are going to rebut this with their own fantasies about what they think really happened...Live your fantasy...But mostly, I will advise you to "Get a Life"...
Click to expand...

C'mon, not even one naked lady?
 
BoxBoss said:
I am going to address this before it turns into an "AIG at the dayspa on taxpayer's money in SoCal" sort of story, because I can already see where it is going...So let's dispel the rumors right now and just lay out the facts:

The newly expanded western area now includes out to Mississippi to the south and to Minnesota to the north. This meeting was called to all class 1 and FAC managers in the western area.
Las Vegas was chosen for a few reasons: One, you can fly to and from there direct from anywhere in the western area of operations in roughly 2-2.5 hours and is a pretty central location with decent weather so you don't have to worry about being delayed at the airport... and those of you that are fond of research, simply look at the midweek rates for hotels in Las Vegas right now...Homeless people now have a place to stay there and can afford it just off the panhandling wages they make.
Attendees arrived between 3-5 pm on Wednesday for a 6pm dinner in a cafe at the hotel (sorry no 5 course bonanza with showgirls this time) to meet and greet their new compadres from the newly formed area. Dinner went until approximately 8pm during which time some introductory agenda was given and the purpose of our meeting was advised. The meeting broke up at about 8:15pm and alot of the managers congregated together in the fairly empty casino and spent the next 2 hours or so talking about their operations, what each was dealing with these days in terms of business, and what we were going to be discussing the following morning. I know a few 20s were thrown around during this time, mostly in slot machines and such that didn't pay anything (Hey, Las Vages has to make a living in these tough times, too!) and pretty much everyone retired by 10pm.
Up at 5am, breakfast at 6, more discussion amongst the managers before the meeting began at 7:30..Meeting went until 1230pm, In a regular old meeting room, and during that time, we splurged on two 5 minute breaks, mostly spent on getting updates from our service centers on the day's operations and business levels, as well as hitting the bathroom to get rid of the soda and water provided at the meeting..
Alot of things were discussed at the meeting, there were some some sobering moments and some encouraging moments. But mainly, we were introduced to our new EVP of OPS, Greg L., who proceeded to give us a refreshing look into his vision of how we will manage going forward, where our focus as managers will be, and I was encouraged by what I saw...You will all be included in that endeavor at your communications meetings in the coming weeks. The core of the discussion was not to talk about what has got us where we are right now, but to talk about what we are going to do to get us back to a position of strength. And we were all interested in that. There was a total of 32 people at the meeting.
At 1230, handshakes, cordial remarks and everybody off to the airport (free shuttle) where most had flights leaving between 2-4pm...
Sorry you are disappointed by the fact there was no scandal, strippers, alcohol binges, or even a couple SCMs getting arrested for lewd and indecent acts...Sorry there are no good pictures to share with you via cellphone or the internet...You must have us confused with AIG...
Some are going to rebut this with their own fantasies about what they think really happened...Live your fantasy...But mostly, I will advise you to "Get a Life"...
Click to expand...
Did you get to meet Marty?

And by the way we all know the good stuff happens after dinner and before the 6am breakfast.
 
BoxBoss said:
Very few Nascar related stores carry merchandise from the truck series, it's just a fact of life...I agree with you that they should, but as it stands right now, truck series merchandise is limited to the tracks when the circuit visits...I won't bother a debate about "a couple customers" at our events that people think are simply designed to feed corporate fatcats, because I know differently...In the west alone, I have attended truck races during the past 3 years with customers present that represented over 60 million dollars in revenue alone...just in the west...My service center alone has landed 2.3 million in annual revenue since the inception of the program, landed on the back of the racing program, but sustained by a great team that provides the best service they can day after day...We may have never had the opportunity to sit down in serious discussions with those customers if not for that "marketing" avenue...Now, it is great business for us because of what we do for the customer, and we took a "risk" by spending to get them to the track...that's what business is all about..And I have yet to see a corporate "fatcat" at any of the events I have attended..
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Our focus has clearly changed from our previously successful growing with the Mom and POP biz to catering to the outlandishly expensive tastes and wants of our BIG accounts. After hours is when all their hedonistic desires are fulfilled. Girls....or girls AND boyz begging for all orifice intrusion......

The picture you paint lends itself to this imaginary journey. - The part about where our marketing/sales priorities are. Would have to think that all inclusive trips to Barbados or Europe would accomplish the same at a tiny fraction of the costs.

As far as NASCAR truck racing; there was a lot of that racing truck merchandising stuff for sale at the specialized store I spoke of, but no Conway. And please no, I never said they should merchandise Conway truck racing. Am just pointing out its absence. I don't know much about the biz so I don't know who makes the decision to market that stuff, or not. Although, I would clearly want there to be a demand for that stuff before designing and manufacturing it. Unfortunately, it's hard to imagine that there is any demand.
 
Bankrupt said:
Our focus has clearly changed from our previously successful growing with the Mom and POP biz to catering to the outlandishly expensive tastes and wants of our BIG accounts. After hours is when all their hedonistic desires are fulfilled. Girls....or girls AND boyz begging for all orifice intrusion......

The picture you paint lends itself to this imaginary journey. - The part about where our marketing/sales priorities are. Would have to think that all inclusive trips to Barbados or Europe would accomplish the same at a tiny fraction of the costs.

As far as NASCAR truck racing; there was a lot of that racing truck merchandising stuff for sale at the specialized store I spoke of, but no Conway. And please no, I never said they should merchandise Conway truck racing. Am just pointing out its absence. I don't know much about the biz so I don't know who makes the decision to market that stuff, or not. Although, I would clearly want there to be a demand for that stuff before designing and manufacturing it. Unfortunately, it's hard to imagine that there is any demand.
Click to expand...

Have you seen the cost of a week in Europe or Barbados for one person, let alone 5-6..?? Yikes..!!
I do know that before merchandise can be sold to the public, there are licensing agreements and trademark agreements, and Con-way is extremely fussy about our logo and who markets it...We have direct say in the design of the truck...I was in Las Vegas last year for the truck race in September and there were about 110,000 people there...Nobody else in town that weekend, just the trucks...alot of race fans like the trucks because the racing is better, it's more intense, more exciting than the big boys..And Speed's ratings for the races are strong...They have grown year over year for the past 4 years..and the networks have 11-12 million watching every Sunday ( I will be curious about the ratings for the Daytona 500 next Sunday), and Nascar fans are fiercely loyal...
You may indeed be right about us being locked into a contractual obligation and if we had it to do over again, would we...the economy has collapsed so quickly it definitely begs that question...
But if we were to assume for the moment that you were right about that, would it make a difference how people looked at it..?? Would we step back and say "Well, we're stuck with it for another year, we might as well just make the best of it.." ?? Probably not...Some people just don't like the sport, appreciate it's marketing value, or understand it's impact...I would probably feel the same way if we sponsored a bass fisherman in the tournament...Fishing does nothing for me, I wouldn't tune in except to see the blue flames down the side of the bassboat..But that would be the extent of it for me...So I do understand every point of view, but I do feel I am pretty qualified to discuss it's positive impact..
 
Bankrupt said:
Our focus has clearly changed from our previously successful growing with the Mom and POP biz to catering to the outlandishly expensive tastes and wants of our BIG accounts.
Click to expand...


If we don't somebody else will...

Rat :loser:
 
BoxBoss said:
Have you seen the cost of a week in Europe or Barbados for one person, let alone 5-6..?? Yikes..!!
I do know that before merchandise can be sold to the public, there are licensing agreements and trademark agreements, and Con-way is extremely fussy about our logo and who markets it...We have direct say in the design of the truck...I was in Las Vegas last year for the truck race in September and there were about 110,000 people there...Nobody else in town that weekend, just the trucks...alot of race fans like the trucks because the racing is better, it's more intense, more exciting than the big boys..And Speed's ratings for the races are strong...They have grown year over year for the past 4 years..and the networks have 11-12 million watching every Sunday ( I will be curious about the ratings for the Daytona 500 next Sunday), and Nascar fans are fiercely loyal...
You may indeed be right about us being locked into a contractual obligation and if we had it to do over again, would we...the economy has collapsed so quickly it definitely begs that question...
But if we were to assume for the moment that you were right about that, would it make a difference how people looked at it..?? Would we step back and say "Well, we're stuck with it for another year, we might as well just make the best of it.." ?? Probably not...Some people just don't like the sport, appreciate it's marketing value, or understand it's impact...I would probably feel the same way if we sponsored a bass fisherman in the tournament...Fishing does nothing for me, I wouldn't tune in except to see the blue flames down the side of the bassboat..But that would be the extent of it for me...So I do understand every point of view, but I do feel I am pretty qualified to discuss it's positive impact..
Click to expand...


Speed is a cable/sat channel, and I don't pay the extra to subscribe.

I gotta say I kinda smiled and drifted off into another world when, following your opening, Conway was described as being fussy about their logo.

I guess they can be fussy all day long when all they want to do is keep it to themselves and not merchandise it.

"HEY! Don't look at that. That's my logo!"
​
I no longer see our logo on pens, stationary, frissbees, mouse pads, rain ponchos, etc, etc. But, since the DSRs all steal that stuff, then of course I understand why.​
 
BoxBoss said:
Have you seen the cost of a week in Europe or Barbados for one person, let alone 5-6..?? Yikes..!!
I do know that before merchandise can be sold to the public, there are licensing agreements and trademark agreements, and Con-way is extremely fussy about our logo and who markets it...We have direct say in the design of the truck...I was in Las Vegas last year for the truck race in September and there were about 110,000 people there...Nobody else in town that weekend, just the trucks...alot of race fans like the trucks because the racing is better, it's more intense, more exciting than the big boys..And Speed's ratings for the races are strong...They have grown year over year for the past 4 years..and the networks have 11-12 million watching every Sunday ( I will be curious about the ratings for the Daytona 500 next Sunday), and Nascar fans are fiercely loyal...
You may indeed be right about us being locked into a contractual obligation and if we had it to do over again, would we...the economy has collapsed so quickly it definitely begs that question...
But if we were to assume for the moment that you were right about that, would it make a difference how people looked at it..?? Would we step back and say "Well, we're stuck with it for another year, we might as well just make the best of it.." ?? Probably not...Some people just don't like the sport, appreciate it's marketing value, or understand it's impact...I would probably feel the same way if we sponsored a bass fisherman in the tournament...Fishing does nothing for me, I wouldn't tune in except to see the blue flames down the side of the bassboat..But that would be the extent of it for me...So I do understand every point of view, but I do feel I am pretty qualified to discuss it's positive impact..
Click to expand...
:hide: 11-12 million viewers on Sunday, those are cars. The trucks are delegated to the back burner of Friday night or Saturday afternoon. Wonder what their viewership is? :smilie_132:
 
longtimeltl said:
:hide: 11-12 million viewers on Sunday, those are cars. The trucks are delegated to the back burner of Friday night or Saturday afternoon. Wonder what their viewership is? :smilie_132:
Click to expand...

according to the ratings, approximately 3 million..but the trucks are also highlighted and advertised on Sundays as well..
 
Am told that NASCAR's most die hard fans watch the race trucks.

And so it goes, it is the most die hard NASCAR fans
that we are looking to sell.​
 
My guess; Buying 100 season tix at every pro football stadium around the country would be cheaper and more broadly accepted.
 
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