Acquisition of Panther II

Tennesseahawk · Jun 11, 2005

Reading the article on the front page about Panther's take-over has me a bit worried. I was thinking this very thing the other day and how I would react. Fact is, it has happened and I don't know what to think.

The article paints a rosey picture of all the good things to come for Panther, because of all the new freight possibilities to come. Fact is, the company that took em over is just that... a company that takes smaller companies over. Segments did the same with Express-1 and it was touted that all this new freight would pop up. It didn't, even though they recruited as though it would.

It's wishful thinking that they would leave Panther to do the work they've done and keep being successful. If it brings in more opportunity, that's wonderful. What's the long term effects, though?

I'm wondering what everyone else thinks about this developement... especially Dave and Lawrence. But I think this would be healthy to talk about by everyone because it deals with the industry as a whole.

T-hawk

Bob and Hooligan · Jun 11, 2005

Well Hawk,

It should be interesting. I too am concerned. Everytime I have been involved with a company that was sold it was not good for the workers or contractors.

One of the things I have liked about Panther is it had a "small company" feel to it. That will probably be lost.

I think the companies to look at in the future will be those like Nations. But, only time will tell.

Good luck

Bob and Hooligan

fullfigured · Jun 11, 2005

well it happens all the time?but why did they get a new building and how come they didint tell all their drivers?Ithink the o/o is what made money for them?so where does that leave most driver holding the bag right?what kind of changes does that mean to people?most companies dont stop and think about us little people right?

raceman · Jun 11, 2005

I think DaveKC provided some good input in another POST on this subject.

I do want to say a few things here that many of you should take to heart and keep in mind as you grow as business people and owners. I hope it helps. I know many folks will never accept this but it is the cold hard fact and reality.

Business is business. It is rare that a company takes the time to discuss their decisions with employees and even more rare for them to ask, inform or even tell contractors what they are thinking of doing, doing or done. The bottom line this is a business owned and operated by some person or persons and they decide among themselves 99% of the time how they run their business.

There are many reasons for this and one is very simple. If they asked for every opinion a decision would never be made. They also, in reality can provide you the info anytime and anyway they choose.

It is always nice to be included or atleast informed but that just does not go on very often in business. There is a core group of people that decide what they are doing and then they do and they ask or tell who every they please and when they please.

I know that sounds hard but it is fact. This is not Panther screwing you guys over. This is big business. It would be nice if all could always be involved but it is impossible and just not reality.

I hope it works out for all of you. I have been involved in a number of these over the years and the last was when I was with Express1. Some worked out and some did not.

If I were in your shoes, I would not take it personal and I would keep my ears and eyes open so you get al info you can. Keep doing what you have done and if you stick with them hope it works.

Raceman
OTR O/O

davekc · Jun 12, 2005

Raceman makes some good points.
I don't think this is an attempt by Panther to screw their drivers.
Aquisitions happen all the time.
Early statements indicate things will mostly stay the same.
The possibility of increased freight opportunities do exist because this is a non asset based company.
Time will tell as to whether this is good for all concern.

When FedEx bought Roberts, that was suppose to be a great thing for the owner operators. Well..................?
Roberts was a great company.
As with the whole industry, many things changed. And certainly not all for the better. Income from that era was more than double what it is today.

I am not educated on Express1 merger enough to say whether it has directly benefited the owner operator or not. They did receive a .05 per mile increase but I don't know if that translated into more total load miles and net profit.

The circumstances in this Panther deal are different. So I wouldn't want to characterize them as the same.

At the same time to be objective, who is good this year, may not be next year.

Again, as far as asking owner operators and employees decision in this matter, is not realistic. Unless they have access to all the necessary information, they would have little to contribute.

Just my penny in the pond
Davekc
owner
20 years

redytrk · Jun 12, 2005

I dont know where Davekc gets his information,but it is sure not from the real world.

Quote:en FedEx bought Roberts, that was suppose to be a great thing for the owner operators. Well..................?
Roberts was a great company.
As with the whole industry, many things changed. And certainly not all for the better. Income from that era was more than double what it is today.

I have been with Roberts/FECC for 17 years and I can assure you this is not the case. Income levels have gone up and down with the economy.
This is consistant with all of our industry.
When comparing a five year average of Roberts Vs FECC,there has been a a 10% increase in revenue.
Please get your facts straight.

davekc · Jun 12, 2005

As with the whole industry, many things changed. And certainly not all for the better. Income from that era was more than double what it is today

"As with the whole industry many things have changed"

What part of that is not understood?

"The whole industry" is the same as "consistent with the whole industry"

My experience,
Remember, My experience tells a much different story.
Others may be completely different.Net income levels at Roberts were considerably higher than with FedEx in my case, all the way to where it is at with a current carrier.

As I said in my other post, it is a different era.
It is not a blast at Fedex but a reflection as to whether it was a change for the better. In my case, statements from both, don't reflect that.

Please read more carefully.
We have years of statements, so I feel confident that my information is accurate.

Update: I took the liberty to search the archives here on EO, and I can't find one claim that anyone has prospered more under FedEx to date (in a given year) than they did with Roberts. On a given year, it is possible someone made more money, but that doesn't translate into net income.
It may be by human nature, that some only report the negative.
Not sure? Just looking at the facts.(Alot of posts to reference!)

Davekc

x06col · Jun 12, 2005

10% over 5 years. Two percent a year, revenue increase?? 25% operating increase. Man, we're crapping in tall cotton now.

davekc · Jun 12, 2005

10% over 5 years. Two percent a year, revenue increase?? 25% operating increase. Man, we're crapping in tall cotton now

I was thinking the same thing

Davekc

mvbn1 · Jun 12, 2005

My 2 cents...

Looks like there's going to be lots of different options about what has happened. It appears to me, that Fenway Partners looks at Panther as a sure thing. They (Fenway) invest monies into companies, they feel, are on their way up. Go to the Fenway Partners webpage and read the press releases and information about the other companies they have invested in.

When FedEx purchased Roberts, that was a company that was in the busniess of moving packages from point A to B, buying a company, that moves packages from point A to B. The acquisition of Panther, by a company that "invests", and I think thats the key word, in up coming companies, may be a great thing. If it works out, that it's not, well then, all of the freight will be going to other expedite companies, and so won't the drivers.

Only time will tell, and I'm sure that every little bump in the road will be well documented in this forum.

x06col · Jun 12, 2005

Yea, it's kinda like the farmer mentality. Plant more of that money loosing corn so we can collect some subsidy. Problem is, they ain't no subsidy. I was a hose'ee (contractor) for Roberts/Roadway/?/Fedex/problem seemed to me was, they finally got it figgured out how to get those nice long monday deliverys for a single driver on the newly acquired American Freightways trucks and hurt my feelings for good. I guess I can't say I personnaly experienced anything positive as a result of any of the above changes. Each was another rung down on the spiral for contractors.

RichM · Jun 12, 2005

FDx did not set out to purchase Roberts Express. After the UPS strike they wanted to get into the ground business in a big way .
What they wanted was the old roadway Package Services (RPS). RPS and Roberts plus Viking Freight and some others were operated by a holding company called Caliber. The way I understand it is that the Caliber Board said you take all of the companies or none. After they aquired Roberts they left it alone for a couple of years ,then changed the name and so on. Personally I agree with the Colonel that some non time sensitive freight now go on FDX Freight,but Ihave also rescued shipments from them,hopefully it's a wash.

Gross income is OK but net income is where we have all taken the hits and they keep coming.

x06col · Jun 12, 2005

Thanks Rich. Caliber was my missing link in the chain.

redytrk · Jun 12, 2005

>10% over 5 years. Two percent a year, revenue increase?? 25%
>operating increase. Man, we're crapping in tall cotton now
>
>I was thinking the same thing
>
>Davekc
I agree 10% increase is nothing to crow about.Especially when you figure that the FSC is also figured into the increase.

I too keep complete records so I can document everythig I say.

My only point here is to say FECC is only doing Half what Roberts did is grossly unfair.Dont forget Roberts only had 1/3 the competition we have today.

dukesadog · Jun 12, 2005

As far as P-2 not telling the O/O of the deal, I'm sure it was written into the contract that way to ward off any other investment companies from taking over the deal.

If you want to buy something and its a great deal the last thing you want is 20 other people knowing about it.

I'm sure P-2s employees that have stock options or retirement plans were notified by the companies law firm but probably had to sign something regarding secrecy until the deal was made.

dukesadog

Tennesseahawk · Jun 12, 2005

True, this acquisition could be good for Panther. But the way I see it, P2 is the closest thing to perfection in expediting, and if it ain't broke...

All we need are know-it-alls fudging with a system they don't know about. I hope they let Sokolowski continue to run the show.

rode2rouen · Jun 12, 2005

After checking out the Fenway Partners website (www.fenwaypartners.com), I don't think I'd be too concerned if I was a PII O/O. There probably won't be any drastic changes forthcoming.

Read the "Game Plan" that outlines their investment strategy, and check out the other companies that they've invested in.

Also, check out the names of their limited partners. Some pretty well known names are listed.

Rex

lostclause · Jun 12, 2005

Guess I'll throw my nickel's worth. An Investment company buys for one of two reasons: 1. The company they are buying has good growth potential. 2. They plan on splitting up the company and selling off it's parts. You could argue a third reason is for tax purposes, but that is rare in this day and age.
Since Panther II has nothing to sell off, I must assume it's reason one.
The trucking industry is very fickle (at least the drivers are), and people change jobs every day. I have to assume any investment company worth more than my nickel, knows that any drastic changes to the O/O's pay, mileage, hometime, etc., that don't benefit the O/O's, will result in a mass exodus of O/O's. If that happens, Panther II won't be such a good investment, will it?
My wife and I (perhaps blindly) are expecting a few minor changes to take place. Likely some will be good for us, and some bad.

Always optomistic,
L & L

davekc · Jun 12, 2005

>>10% over 5 years. Two percent a year, revenue increase?? 25%
>>operating increase. Man, we're crapping in tall cotton now
>>
>>I was thinking the same thing
>>
>>Davekc
>I agree 10% increase is nothing to crow about.Especially
>when you figure that the FSC is also figured into the
>increase.
>
>I too keep complete records so I can document everythig I
>say.
>
>My only point here is to say FECC is only doing Half what
>Roberts did is grossly unfair.Dont forget Roberts only had
>1/3 the competition we have today.

I agree,
That competition is a contributing factor to changes over the last 5 years.
As to whether Fedex performs at half of what Roberts did is only a reflection of my personal numbers. Not everyone elses.
If you will notice at my other posts, I refer differently to revenue verses net income. Completely two different issues.

Whether I am fair or not is not relavent.
It is my experience and apparently many others.
Upon looking at the archives here at EO, I don't see one post that indicates anyone prospered more under FedEx.
I don't know whether it is unfair or not, but just the facts.
Sorry

Davekc

Pilgrim · Jun 12, 2005

Assuming the new owners aren't too meddlesome, there will probably be no noticeable effect on operations for the first year or so. Hopefully, the financial people will take care of the money and let the expedite transportation people take care of moving the freight. However, holding companies like this are always concerned with operating margins so P2 will be less apt to be giving cheap rates to some of their auto related customers

Given their now greater financial backing, my crystal ball shows P2 becoming more competitive with FECC White Glove business and making an even bigger push into the Canadian market. Considering their superior management and sales force, they could seriously threaten the very existance of companies like TST and Thompson. More than likely, the P2 drivers that hang on through the transition will find themselves in good shape a year from now.