Leadership. Culture. - This has been talked about over and over again. Leadership is missing and the culture is not good. I'm saying this and I work overtime everyday , have a decent run , and a new tractor.My question is this.
If XPO cut sales staff, that leaves a person on the other end of a phone call to sell the brand name and the service. In my opinion, the drivers are the best salesmen for a company. Sure, the drivers can't set the rate, but they can surely sell quality by their own behavior and projecting the right image to the customers, because believe it or not, the average driver DOES occasionally come in contact with the decision makers at the customer. So how impressive is it when a XPO driver walks in to a customer with a black XPO jacket on, an old blue Conway uniform on, and pulled in the driveway with an old beat up Sterling, pulling a damn off-colored rental trailer?
Good grief, the XPO operation looks like a rag-tag operation nowadays.......similar to the ragged out junk that Roadway, Yeller, and Holland are all swapping with each other.
And they wonder why others are kicking their asses.
Communication is lacking ( we don't all get on Facebook or subscribe to XPO's YouTube channel ) A lot of drivers and office staff have been waiting for upper management to focus on the good people and practices we have and shake out the bad apples. I know this doesn't happen overnight but there's no sign of it happening at all.
Most of these LTLs have an ageing workforce and show no signs of trying to transition new drivers ( good drivers with a good work ethic ) into their operations. Why would anyone that has a life and a good work ethic want to get involved in this? It will take attention to details like uniforms , benefits ( healthcare , retirement , pay ) and how management treats employees.
At my location we may loose 2 to 4 decent drivers SOON. Hardworking , intelligent younger guys. We will be left with the scraps and rejects from other companies creating a chain reaction at my location as other good people retire or move on leaving only lazy , shiftless , good-for-nothing sorry drivers. ( at my terminal loosing 2 - 4 get-it-done , do-it-the-right-way drivers would be tough )
My point is , yeah , uniforms are way down on the list of important items that XPO Logistics needs to address but , it's one more thing added to the pile on the camel's back.
) Nobody's ever said anything but employees have always been responsible for saying something about how well their uniforms fit - who else would know better than YOU if your shirt and pants fit or not?
