You can still find a few of those original Sears homes around the country. I watched a PBS special where they were highlighting those once. To think back in the 1920's and 30's all you needed to do was to order up the original prefab home and have it delivered to your lot. Can you imagine how messed up some of those homes have to be with novice do it yourselfer's putting them together.
The downfall of Sears; like the downfall of YRC and Holland is not necessarily the competition. The real blame falls internally. Companies such as these over extend themselves, while at the same time fall behind with the changing marketplace. I have said this many times, companies like YRC/Holland/New Penn etc... are dinosaurs in many aspects in today's day and age. What worked 20, 30, and even 15 years ago doesn't really work today.
The old mentality of the workforce strongly set in its ways, and the overall operational structure bent on doing it "this way" at all costs with little flexibility is truly going to be the meteor that kills off the old dinosaur companies such as the aforementioned companies.
Just like putting lipstick on a pig doesn't change the fact that it's still a pig; the small and ineffective upgrades and changes that these companies are currently attempting doesn't change the fact that it's a ticking timebomb waiting to explode.
For so long now many have held out hope of another buyout to shore up this company, but when you examine it as a whole even that would not change the course of this corporation. The many scenarios that could occur if one actually happened would in most likelihood not be what many hoped for. I say this not to be on the negative, but as someone looking at it with a different view. One that would look at it in the business sense. Let's play that game for a moment and stop looking at it from labors side.
1) Financial health
2) Tangible Assets- need/cost for modernizing and upgrading
3) Liabilities - pension's, claims ratio, overall damage and insurance outstanding medical/health/accident to date
4) Modern up todate technology or there lack of and overall cost to bring it truly up to speed with competition. -- not the current 2nd and 3rd generation stuff they are attempting to implement now that is already out of date coming online.
Heck your smartphone works better than anything the company is trying to pass off as state of the art.
5) Average age of current workforce - this is a bigger factor than many would like to admit or examine.
6) Labor: This is huge! Without everyone jumping on me over this, take a moment and put yourselves in the shoes of a perspective buyer or investor for a moment. You have to disassociate yourself from the Union mindset a moment and truly examine how this alone is a liability to anyone coming in and wanting to buy this company.
7) cash flow
8) accounts and lanes: The day of loyalty to a carrier is over. Today it's all about price and availability. 3rd party brokerages dictate the market more and more each day and they expect the price point to be low and the service to be at least comparable.
This is something that the YRCW family is struggling with currently and it shows to both the customers as well as the brokers, as well as to any investor or potential investor.
On a side note to this particular point. The only reason a potential investor would truly examine purchasing this place would be exactly for this.
As a potential outside investor this is/would be my only target! Not labor or providing Union employment I hate to say, but the marketshare potential of the accounts and lanes of operation.
But Toby you would still need someone to haul it and the rolling stock to do so right?
Yep and yep! BUT does it have to be Union and does it have to be with the current set up? Maybe for a time it will, but if I was going to pour Billions of dollars into something your damn straight I would consider all my options and examine the current model and its deficiencies as well as its aspects.
Today's marketplace is rapidly changing as I mentioned. And honestly even with another even somewhat concession in 2019 the righting may be on the wall due to the fact that YRCW and its family of companies are not able to keep up with the eveloution of the industry.
What company survives after 10 years of consecutive give backs and concessions by its workforce with little to nothing to show besides keeping its doors open another day?
The aged overall workforce and equipment as well as the out of date operations and mentality are killers really.
For so long we were told by stewards and such; are you saving aside money for a potential strike? Are you setting aside money just in case of the doors closing? Do you live below your current income or is it absolutely imperative to work the overtime due to living beyond the 40 hrs?
Folks it's gut check time as 2019 approaches and it may just survive, but are you truly in a place personally to be able to walk away or worse case scenario of them actually closing the doors?
The knight in shining armor coming in and buying this pig with lipstick on is not something to bank on. Just like Sears , Yellow overextended buying Roadway and then USF.. in many cases they parallel one another for many of the same reasons.. but one thing is for sure, without drastic measures both may end up in the boneyard of history in their respective fields.
