XPO | Selling Off

[XPOHo]

What really should set off the alarm bells is the claim that XPO has a better OR ratio than Con-Way ever did. Does anyone really believe XPO is a better performing company now? While the short-selling outlet from 2018 of course had their own reasons, I'd believe their point in claiming that XPO has just found ways to inflate their numbers.

In my time starting with Con-Way and then XPO I saw my barn and area which covers a lot of territory go from running full boxes on linehaul runs to mostly running single trailers while using subservice carriers for most of the freight. They are still running guys out on linehaul for maybe 10K in a box. But somehow my local manager before he left was able to show the most profitable year in a decade when we were moving about a tenth of the freight we used to while paying several subservice carriers to deliver what came in. We had almost no outgoing customers left.

Con-Way was having enough issues with the changing culture after the fiasco of the John Labrie years but now it's just a disaster. If you're at a good barn then congratulations but some areas of that company are a disaster. Look at an area like Canada for example. After they flushed Gantenbein they split Canada off and the guy they put in charge of the entire country had been with the company for five months. He lasted 18 months. The executive turnover is crazy. But they're touting nothing but top metrics. Come on, pull the other leg.

The guys who are left that I know are only there for the money because no one cares how many hours they are faking on their linehaul sheets. I don't know how long Jacobs can keep up the con but it's going to be funny if he can't escape this one like he's done before.

 

[Fly-by-night]

the most profitable year in a decade when we were moving about a tenth of the freight we used to

Income minus expensive/labor equals profit. If you can get better paying freight and control you expensive your profit will always be better. When I came here Con-way hauled a lot of freight for free. what I mean by free is once you factor in your cost (expensive/labor) it was either braking even or costs the company money to move the freight. Now were I'm at I have seen sub service massively decrease. I have also seen accounts we had for years leave. These account were not or barley making any profit making room for freight that did make a profit. IN some cases it removed a trailer or set from that lane cutting expensive/labor. The company also re-routed freight flow in the system itself. This also helped with empty miles driven by LH driver at night. Also the via's list at night takes into account empty miles. What sic can run the via with the less amount of empty miles. Now in some cases you don't have a choose and we do what we got to do to get the freight there and even in some cases leaving it sit.
You must remember just because the trailer only weight 10K doesn't mean we are making less. We are in LTL the more bills we put on a trailer the more profit we make. A 4 bill 24K trailer might make less proffit than a 14 bill 10K trailer sometime weight has nothing to do with it

 

[Dude-PWB-]

What really should set off the alarm bells is the claim that XPO has a better OR ratio than Con-Way ever did. Does anyone really believe XPO is a better performing company now? While the short-selling outlet from 2018 of course had their own reasons, I'd believe their point in claiming that XPO has just found ways to inflate their numbers.

In my time starting with Con-Way and then XPO I saw my barn and area which covers a lot of territory go from running full boxes on linehaul runs to mostly running single trailers while using subservice carriers for most of the freight. They are still running guys out on linehaul for maybe 10K in a box. But somehow my local manager before he left was able to show the most profitable year in a decade when we were moving about a tenth of the freight we used to while paying several subservice carriers to deliver what came in. We had almost no outgoing customers left.

Con-Way was having enough issues with the changing culture after the fiasco of the John Labrie years but now it's just a disaster. If you're at a good barn then congratulations but some areas of that company are a disaster. Look at an area like Canada for example. After they flushed Gantenbein they split Canada off and the guy they put in charge of the entire country had been with the company for five months. He lasted 18 months. The executive turnover is crazy. But they're touting nothing but top metrics. Come on, pull the other leg.

The guys who are left that I know are only there for the money because no one cares how many hours they are faking on their linehaul sheets. I don't know how long Jacobs can keep up the con but it's going to be funny if he can't escape this one like he's done before.

Gantenbein was a flake and should have been booted to the curb long before he was allowed to put his sticky fingers on the Canadian operation. He knew nothing about Canada, wanted to know nothing about Canada, and just wanted us to stay quiet and don't force him to do any work. Hence, lets not do any sales, cartage everything so we don't have to hire people or get equipment. Just stay quiet, that's all he wanted.

I see roughly the same amount of equipment moving up and down the road for us, but with half the freight. Because of these handy little 'metrics' things, we can't build a good load, maximize cube, or anything. Pull it out of one trailer, shove it into another. Doesn't matter if it doesn't work well with the other freight, doesn't matter if it stops you from getting 4 other pallets on the trailer, just shove it in there and close the door. For 'metrics' sake, don't stage freight on the dock and build a good load, just load it, close it, and send it. Very poor business model.

 

[smokin'joe]

Income minus expensive/labor equals profit. If you can get better paying freight and control you expensive your profit will always be better. When I came here Con-way hauled a lot of freight for free. what I mean by free is once you factor in your cost (expensive/labor) it was either braking even or costs the company money to move the freight. Now were I'm at I have seen sub service massively decrease. I have also seen accounts we had for years leave. These account were not or barley making any profit making room for freight that did make a profit. IN some cases it removed a trailer or set from that lane cutting expensive/labor. The company also re-routed freight flow in the system itself. This also helped with empty miles driven by LH driver at night. Also the via's list at night takes into account empty miles. What sic can run the via with the less amount of empty miles. Now in some cases you don't have a choose and we do what we got to do to get the freight there and even in some cases leaving it sit.
You must remember just because the trailer only weight 10K doesn't mean we are making less. We are in LTL the more bills we put on a trailer the more profit we make. A 4 bill 24K trailer might make less proffit than a 14 bill 10K trailer sometime weight has nothing to do with it

Also, you must take into effect Conway has just started to deploy Weights and Measures employees and technology to begin to run more efficiently. We also went from a "customer first" model to a "well something's gotta give" model for profit by cutting some things to a bare minimum. I think XPO's OR looks good because we know that the way they move freight is quite different from the way Conway did. Just my opinion.

 

[Dude-PWB-]

Also, you must take into effect Conway has just started to deploy Weights and Measures employees and technology to begin to run more efficiently. We also went from a "customer first" model to a "well something's gotta give" model for profit by cutting some things to a bare minimum. I think XPO's OR looks good because we know that the way they move freight is quite different from the way Conway did. Just my opinion.

And Con-Way didn't quite run things the same way CCX, CSE, CWX did either. I blame that shift on John Labrie, he started us in this direction, and it's been a downhill roll ever since.

Our rates back then were considered 'premium' compared to our competitors. But our customer base back then knew that, and paid it, because we did, without a doubt have the fastest transit times in our sector of the industry. Cut times were far more strict back then. And, guys worked more together on the docks, Remember, we, the drivers, the guys that know how to move freight, were the ones that loaded the freight and worked the dock. And we worked together to help each other out and make our far more strict cut times, and for the most part we were very successful at it. Our OR's may not have been as high, but we were streamlined and focused and that built us into the company that Jacobs saw as so lucrative. Then, he just undervalued the people that got the company to where it was, and replaced it with a numbers and metrics company, rather than a company that moves freight.

 

[XCCX]

And Con-Way didn't quite run things the same way CCX, CSE, CWX did either. I blame that shift on John Labrie, he started us in this direction, and it's been a downhill roll ever since.

Our rates back then were considered 'premium' compared to our competitors. But our customer base back then knew that, and paid it, because we did, without a doubt have the fastest transit times in our sector of the industry. Cut times were far more strict back then. And, guys worked more together on the docks, Remember, we, the drivers, the guys that know how to move freight, were the ones that loaded the freight and worked the dock. And we worked together to help each other out and make our far more strict cut times, and for the most part we were very successful at it. Our OR's may not have been as high, but we were streamlined and focused and that built us into the company that Jacobs saw as so lucrative. Then, he just undervalued the people that got the company to where it was, and replaced it with a numbers and metrics company, rather than a company that moves freight.

 

[Fly-by-night]

Our rates back then were considered 'premium' compared to our competitors. But our customer base back then knew that, and paid it, because we did, without a doubt have the fastest transit times in our sector of the industry.

Well back then there were other companies that had the same transit in as CCX did in my area. I also was told about a survey the company did with there customer and does anyone know were service fell on that list. Well it was #20 price and damages were near the top. Service didn't even make the top 10.
Back then yes CCX offered a service that called for premium pricing, but times have changed. I can call may different companies and get the same transit time and some time for a better rate

 

[Dude-PWB-]

Well back then there were other companies that had the same transit in as CCX did in my area. I also was told about a survey the company did with there customer and does anyone know were service fell on that list. Well it was #20 price and damages were near the top. Service didn't even make the top 10.
Back then yes CCX offered a service that called for premium pricing, but times have changed. I can call may different companies and get the same transit time and some time for a better rate

Yes, I agree with you. Especially with you guys down there. With us up here, YRC was, and is, our only true competition in most areas and we smoked them hands down in transit times. Now, not so much. I've just seen way too many HUGE accounts that have dropped us over the years because we are now just an 'average' carrier, not like we were before.

 

[icuicp]

Yes, I agree with you. Especially with you guys down there. With us up here, YRC was, and is, our only true competition in most areas and we smoked them hands down in transit times. Now, not so much. I've just seen way too many HUGE accounts that have dropped us over the years because we are now just an 'average' carrier, not like we were before.

Not only is XPO's service average ( at this point ) but there is an arrogance with XPO people that deal with the customers - and the customers notice this stuck-up attitude that doesn't match the actual service provided.