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Why did CF go under?

MikeJ

MikeJ

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What was the actual reason CF filed for bankruptcy in 2002? I know it was pretty sudden, but was it not enough business or is there more to it then that. What do you guys think?
 
MikeJ said:
What was the actual reason CF filed for bankruptcy in 2002? I know it was pretty sudden, but was it not enough business or is there more to it then that. What do you guys think?
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the union guys will say mis-management

management will say competition and higher operating costs, like payroll, benefits, etc,etc.

each side, will always blame the other.

then you get people like who owned Yellow, buy out Preston for the accounts, suck it dry, set it free and the survivors of management from Preston, could not make a go of it, and Preston finally folds up for good.

then they guy that own(ed) Jevic, sell out to Yellow, Yellow sucks him dry and sets him free.

they had some sort of contract, where Yellow screws HIM..>!!!

Jevic goes under, after Yellow's sucking it dry.

then the former owner started New Century, they are still in business, but not a company i'd recommend anyone to go to.

the Jevic/New Century owner is a wheeler-dealer, could care less about anyone but his wallet.
 
MikeJ said:
What was the actual reason CF filed for bankruptcy in 2002? I know it was pretty sudden, but was it not enough business or is there more to it then that. What do you guys think?
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As you can see, nobody really has the answer to that one. Lack of business was not the problem and ABF, Yellow and Roadway (all were still stand alone companies that that time) were all profitable under the same contract. I have worked with former CF employees (as most of us probably have) at ABF. As long as I've been at ABF the company has filled it's employee needs from defunct freight companies, PIE, Preston, CF to name a few. It seemed that every two years or so another company was going out and we recruited two or three of their workers. (:off topic:).

Now, back to your question. Some of the stories I heard included an overabundance of freight that they were unable to service combined with operational changes (terminal movements) that defied logic and service areas that were...well...unserviceable as they were set up. I heard tale from more than one of them of weekend work (at 1 1/2 and double time) to root through a cluttered dock to find lost freight. I saw them move two terminals into one from the Philly area into the city limits with a driveway that entered virtually right onto the worst highway in the city. It was horrific getting out of there in the AM to hit the streets and the line reportedly took 45 minutes to get through. If this was an example of what they did all over the country it is no wonder they went out. Conway was started by CF and it is a popular belief that they intentionally ran CF into the ground for the benefit of Conway. Nobody has proven that theory wrong.
 
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Insurance, and they were handing out 70 percent discounts . A guy I know where i live told me I was crazy to stay at rdwy. Said you could work 7 days straight at CF in Chicago, and all the OT you wanted. I told him then, they would not last long with those high discounts. Was within a year of that conversation they closed.
 
MikeJ said:
What was the actual reason CF filed for bankruptcy in 2002? I know it was pretty sudden, but was it not enough business or is there more to it then that. What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

CF didn't go out of business. How so you ask? Well think of Consolidated Freight Ways as still being alive in a sense through Conway Freight when they were spun off from Consolidated Freight-ways back in 1983. How's that you may ask? Well...the new owner of CNW, XPO Logistics, has left in place all the procedures and policies that came w/ Con-Way when they bought them. Hense, through Con-Way Freight and XPO Logistics ...Consolidated Freightways is still alive today.
 
vetran peddleman said:
CF didn't go out of business. How so you ask? Well think of Consolidated Freight Ways as still being alive in a sense through Conway Freight when they were spun off from Consolidated Freight-ways back in 1983. How's that you may ask? Well...the new owner of CNW, XPO Logistics, has left in place all the procedures and policies that came w/ Con-Way when they bought them. Hense, through Con-Way Freight and XPO Logistics ...Consolidated Freightways is still alive today.
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I beg to differ. ... I lost my job to a bankruptcy. ... consolidated freightways is gone in the usa.... if it were still around I would be still working at the best job I ever had . Con way was spun off as part of them true
... it just a different division. .. nonunion division. ...
 
Stimpy said:
I beg to differ. ... I lost my job to a bankruptcy. ... consolidated freightways is gone in the usa.... if it were still around I would be still working at the best job I ever had . Con way was spun off as part of them true
... it just a different division. .. nonunion division. ...
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I agree w/ you SW on the difference of the labor set up between the two companies, but what I was trying to emphasize that there seems to be no change over the years operationally between CF, CNW and now XPO. The philosophy that was told to me many years age when I first hitched my wagon to CNW was this,( and I quote)... "No matter what you do for this company, it's never hard enough, fast enough, or good enough." That thinking, I'm going to assume, originated from CF way back when.
Even though CF was the best job you ever had...didn't they have this operational hard work ethic even w/ the teamster presence?
 
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