https://www.ttnews.com/articles/arcbest-reports-lower-q2-midyear-earnings-because-covid-19
All things considered, in my opinion they weathered the second quarter as best as they could.
Very interesting article. Ms. McReynolds said the "one bright spot" was the e-commerce business, in which residential deliveries were up 12% the first quarter,...and 39% the second quarter...
Ms. McReynolds:
"We have had to get comfortable going into neighborhoods and the requirements to delivering to a home....."
Ms. McReynolds says ABF has a competitive advantage,....since the company recognized the rise of computer-based home deliveries way back in 1997.....
I would have to say that.....as much as we may not like it,......Home deliveries will end up driving our industry,.....especially as brick-and-mortar disappear.
And,.....Being Union is a great advantage. As a former Steward,...I was on many private home deliveries. I was able to "call the shots",...as it were..... on what was safe,..what was needed to be safe..and to set the parameters where the DRIVER could make the call per stop,......as the DRIVER was the "boots on the ground".....not someone in an office 50 miles away.
This don't happen at non-Union shops, believe me........The rules there are: "Hunker down, ignore problems, do it as fast as you can,.....and hope there's no liability invoked....." Makes the dispatcher happy.......
Stewards need more training from the Union,....on what a "safe" private home delivery is......What is required for safe handling, what PPE is required to reduce liability to the Customer....AND the DRIVER.
Personally,...I see the rise of many, many legal problems if a customer who had a home delivery hears that the DRIVER who did the delivery.....tested positive. Conversely,.....I see many, many problems if the DRIVER hears the home he was ordered to deliver to.....had Coronavirus in it......Worker's Compensation, for beginners...........
PPE is Critical.........Even more so...the DRIVER'S DISCRETION is even more Critical..........
Yes,.....Private home deliveries will be vital to ABF's future,.....Can't help that guys,...inevitable......
But,....the smartest thing ABF AND the Teamsters could do,....is work together to establish safe private home deliveries......from a DRIVER'S viewpoint.
Much to the disgust of some of my guys I represented,........I fought for refrigerator dollies, four-wheeled carts, furniture blankets, shoe covers, latex gloves,.........If we were going to deliver homes,...By God, we were going to....Do It Right.
Now add PPE,.....and training to prevent the driver getting hurt without the proper equipment,....AND the ability for the DRIVER to "call the shots"....even if it means more than one driver to do it safely.......
And the backing of the Union,...if the Driver has an argument with the.....customer. We all know that they are never...."unreasonable".....