Evolution or Revolution

[Tennesseahawk]

Do you not see what I and a lot of others see? It's not that he has all these toys, he acts like he's the only one with them.

Personally, when I read a lot of his posts, I get a flashback to the whole Al Gore- internet thing.

 

[tec1959]

Thawk I'm not going there,I'm just saying the more you can offer the customer the better your bottom line will be.As far as Phil thinks he's the only one with the toys I just think he's proud of the truck he build.I agree sometimes he goes on and on but I am on his side as far as the bottom line...OK I WENT THERE ALITTLE LOL...P.S. Thawk I agree with alot of your post and just think everyone see's thing's alittle different sometimes on the post subject...Keep up the good post Thawk...

 

[mrgoodtude]

Sometimes I can see Lawrence shaking his head before pulling the aspirin out of the top right hand desk drawer...
I really want to be neutral in all this because I really enjoy the forum, for me it's entertainment kinda like going to a family reunion. Yeah I may have a favorite uncle or cousin and I will probably be sippin whiskey and telling lies in back of the barn with grandpa but I enjoy everyone at the shindig. I find value in all that participate here and always look forward to catching up on the latest, Pappy, Joebob and Coco always crack me up(to name a few) and I embrace the wisdom of the Davekc and RichM's of the bunch because they have been here and weathered many storms..That being said sometimes jest turns into mean spirited banter that causes ill will and divides the masses, so what if Phil has an ego? It's not new news (sorry bud) but he has come along way in a short time and though I don't agree with everything he says he has a right to speak up and I have the right to agree or disagree. I will say this to his credit if you are able to look past the ego you might find he is a gifted writer, a quick study of our industry and helpful to many. I am not taking up anyones slack but I have learned a great deal from most everyone on this forum including Dr Phil (if nothing else attitude dictates altitude). I have friends I have yet to meet in person and appreciate the On time media staff for hosting my family reunion everyday.
Now back on point... We delivered in Asheville NC this AM and the consignee had preprint post it's with the USF Holland logo and a caption saying "we now provide expedited freight services". Does anyone know anything about this?
Mike and Cyn

 

[RonnieJ]

Do you not see what I and a lot of others see? It's not that he has all these toys, he acts like he's the only one with them.
Personally, when I read a lot of his posts, I get a flashback to the whole Al Gore- internet thing.




Thanks,
That explains alot.

 

[hedgehog]

Listen to the A Team !!!

I don't know if they are for real, or not. But... for what it's worth... they post valuable info.

The old saying...."if it was easy, everyone would be doing it"....it's true.

Everyone is doing it now and that's why expediter's have not seen any significant permile increase.


Even if you think the A Team is an appiration....they, with their super-truck, white glove, etc., et.c, are supposedly doing something that the average driver will not provide, and supposedly, will reap the hard work that most of us are too lazy to compete with.

Be safe and provide a skill or product that others do not.

 

[Moot]

I was at an Old Dominion terminal Monday. Advertising on the sides of their trailers touted "expedited service". I guess that was in reference to me. I picked up their freight and delivered it to their customer.

Many TL and LTL carriers claim to offer some sort of "expedited" service. I don't believe it to be the true form of expediting, as in exclusive use door to door service provided by Panther, FedEX CC and others.

This subject was touched upon in another theard but I can't recall under what post or poster. Anyway the term "expedite" is becoming watered down.

 

[highway star]

10-4 T-Hawk. When the shroud of secrecy was lifted, what we saw was something that had been done many times before. But yes, a very cool truck.

As to the value of xx years of experience, guys like Dave and Rich have learnin' that can't be found in books. We can go on and on about theories and such, but give me the grisseled vet any day.

 

[bryan]

HI

Hate to step on any toes here.We can't run our trucks any faster than the next guy.Customers give us just as much time to deliver as they do anybody else.We don't make expedite faster.Office personel makes the freight move faster.When the customer calls the phone is usually picked up on the first ring and the customer is given the feeling that they have priority.Then they are given an answer almost instantly.This is what sells expedite.

Expedite will always have a place in the transportation industry.We are cheaper than several otr carriers.Some are charging $3.00 to $4.00 per mile and will only take freight to areas that they know have freight coming back.$1.00 per mile freight is becoming a thing of the past due to higher operating cost(fuel, insurance and tolls)as contracts near their exporation dates carriers are renogiating rates.Milk run carriers will catch on here shortly once they start having to replace equipment.Just look at some of the junk backed up to the auto plant docks.

Larger LTL company will not be able to do expedite because of the number of man hours dedicated to each load.They make their money by loading up as many loads as possible in as little time as possible then consolidating them and shipping them overnight.They can't keep a unit available to every customer at all hours of the day and night.They give the customer a pickup time and if the freight isn't ready, then it gets left on the dock.LTL carriers trying to expedite are logistical nightmares.

Also alot of these trailors that say expedited freight on them really mean 3rd party logistics.These are the internet boards that you hear dispatch talking about.Even the large expedite carriers have internet load boards.If they don't have a truck in an area they put the load up on the board and hope one of the other carriers bid on it.Some have (must cover clauses) in their contracts and with the drivers shortage and the large # carriers going belly up the customers don't want to give these clauses up.Paying more beats never getting your freight moved and having to warehouses it.

I think we are going to see an increase in our carriers earning and hopefully they will share the LOVE.

 

[vango]

I have read thru all of the quotes and comments to the above query of Evolution or Revolution and here's my dimes worth of brain matter.
The bottom line is: the customer is always going to be looking for his freight to be delivered from point A to point B by the truck that can get his load there by the cheapest way possible. The customer is ONLY interested in HIS bottom line, HIS profitability and HIS profit and loss report to his investors. And don't kid yourself in thinking the recruiters, for any of these expedite companies, really give a darn about who walks thru their doors wanting to throw their hat in the expediting ring.The recruiters are looking to put "butt's in the seat"and to make money for THEIR investors. These recruiters sell their company as being "we're family here, come join our family and be one of us - one of the team",but if you can get one of these recruiters to really open up and talk,they will tell you, they are looking to put anyone on,that is breathing, not wearing an ankle tracking devise, and preferably bringing a partner along for the ride. They want you to think your "big special rig with all the bells and whistles" is something special, but in reality, all they really care about it getting the load accepted and delivered. Evolution: Yea, the Evolution is: The customer will offer less and less for each load due to high fuel prices and high fsc and they will choose the company who can deliver "the butt in the seat" who will and can do it. The Revolution will be: When each driver, who thought they were special by bringing on "all the bells and whistles" will start to see the truth: that they are just another "butt in the seat" being used by each group (customer and recruiter) to accept and deliver that "meatball at the lowest price.

 

[RobA]

Your Competitors RE: Evolution or Revolution

I think that you should realize who your competitors actually are: NOT FedExCC, NOT PANTHERII but the companies who push the envelope.
YELLOW, yes Yellow offers an expedited service called EXACT EXPRESS and it works!
They pick up a shipment on a (for example) Monday and tell the customer it will be at the destination on Thursday. It's there; guarenteed. I have a customer that uses this service everyday. And; they get their regular discount on the freight bill.
Yellow also moves trailers around for cheap.
Check the website and see that they will move a set of pups for 1.00 per mile between certain points.
One example is Boston to Buffalo......a single pup will cost 60 cents per mile. A complete set will cost the shipper 1.00 per mile! Sure that is moving at a loss but it's better than tieing equipment up waiting for freight.
(from Yellow's website)
Boston Buffalo, N.Y. $0.60 $1.00 Middletown, Conn. Cincinnati $0.60 $1.00
Boston Cincinnati $0.60 $1.00 Oklahoma City Indianapolis $0.60 $1.00
Boston Columbus $0.60 $1.00 Orlando, Fla. Atlanta $0.60 $1.00
Boston Toledo, Ohio $0.60 $1.00


Who will the Bean Counter who makes the ultimate decision want to use?

Expedite was originally designed to make automotive JUST-IN-TIME feasible. It was cheaper for short to moderate haul over the road vs air freight. It was also most times faster to use Expedite since a delivery truck had to meet the flown in parts at the airport anyways.

I hope Phil makes his "Super Truck" work and be profitable.
BUT...I hope Phil will let us know in 2 or 3 years time just how clear his "FORE SIGHT" was or wasn't.

 

[x06col]

RE: Your Competitors RE: Evolution or Revolution

With too many $, in too little equipment, it may be fore skin being stepped on, not fore sight. They all sell customers "expedited" service. Problem is, the sales people make promises the system they work in cannot keep. Yellow, Estes, yada, yada. We have been to many LTL terminals to rescue freight and keep the "promise" for them.Some learn to stay away from "our" game, and some do not. It just keeps on keep"in on.

 

[Moot]

RE: Your Competitors RE: Evolution or Revolution

OUCH!

 

[kempers_gramp]

RE: Your Competitors RE: Evolution or Revolution

Alright I was gonna just keep my mouth shut and my fingers idle but I just can't do it anymore. Lots of truth in the previous posts, and even some rhetoric. O.k. maybe lots of rhetoric to. Here's the way I see it not that it matters.
Dr. Phil, IN MY OPINION, has an ego the size of Alaska. Quite ritely so. He, in his mind is successful. He has accomplished much more in the two to three years that he has been in expediting, than many have, from what I can gather, in 8 or 10 years or more. Kudos to you and Diane.(nice truck by the way). He is also man enough to stand down when he is wrong, and correct himself when he believes necessary. However, as I was told by a very wise man at one time, success is what you make of it. Bret Favre is a successful quarterback, he was the day he became a professional quarterback. That was his goal! To become one of the best in history was just a level of success. Get what I'm saying here? Success is in YOUR mind. In other words, if successful means owning 1 truck free and clear, and you own one truck free and clear, then you are successful in your opinion, and probably a few others. If you think owning a $200,000.00 specialty hauler with all the bells and whistles is successful, and that is so then you are successful in YOUR mind. How many nickles you have to rub together has only to do with how successful others think you are.
Enough about that.
The expediting industry has evolved, from just in time automotive freight, so companys didn't have to warehouse, to agriculture, to medical, to government, to manufacturing....etc....etc....It will continue to do so, reaching proportions unknow. It will fluctuate with the economy, but not necessarily in sync with the economy. What we have recently seen, I believe is a slight downturn in the industry due to lack of necessity vs. economic value. In laymans terms, maybe its ok to get there a day later for a few dollars less. Eventually once again demand will over ride supply. i.e. not enough trucks more freight that has to get there faster combined with too much freight that can wait one more day. Wether or not we have hit the plateau in expediting, supply outweighing demand is yet for me to determine in my own successful little mind. For the time being I believe I will reach another level of success when I pay off the truck I was successful in obtaining!
Fortunately, the expediting industry is not about the customer saving money, it is more, I would have to say, about SAVING HIS OWN ARSE, better known as "OOPS" freight. Or exclusive use, and of course there are other reasons. The day when you can run a expedite load for the same amount as a ltl or truckload, is the day that expediting dies. So, the mentality that the customer is trying to save money on expedited freight is a false pretense or an oxymoron.
If he has a choice who to use, yea he may shop around, but there are different levels of specified needs. Just like there are different levels of success.
The ltl carriers getting into the business just escalates the awareness of expediting. Companys using ltl carriers for expediting will soon learn what true expediting is, and will determine what their level of need is. Price, alot of times is not the only determining factor.
My laptop is a dinosaur, it gets the job done though. My truck is to, and likewise it gets the job done.
MAN DID I GO AWRY, sorry.

By the way, tomorrow I will be heading to pick up my new specialty expedited truck! It is a 07 Toyota single axel car hauling, expedite carring, temperature controlled flatbed, with a liftgate!!!

Kempers_gramp

 

[kempers_gramp]

RE: Your Competitors RE: Evolution or Revolution

After reading my previous post I'm not really sure it still makes sense.....lol.
The voices in my head tell me it does.

 

[MikeC]

Can we have a 13 page dissertation on changing bed pans and slinging meatballs.. How much experience is required to do that. A Teams claims to have such a wonderfull relationship with his carrier. That can end real fast with some cargo claims or accidents. Then what do you do with your $200k C unit specialized truck. As someone else said Ego does not pay for anything.

 

[Moot]

RE: Your Competitors RE: Evolution or Revolution

Always listen to the voices in your head. Uh....I gotta go. Someone is calling.

 

[Vinnie T]

RE: Your Competitors RE: Evolution or Revolution

Interesting discussion. I will say the "hay day" of expedite has come and gone, expedite seems to mirror the economy more so then any segment in the transportation industry. It's the worst it has been in the last 25 years in this industry. It comes down to a few things IMO. Finding a company that won't put all thier eggs in one basket. What good is working for a compnnay as a O/O making 1.80 per mile, if your stuck in Fl, the East coast or out west for 5-7 days at a pop? More so then ever companies have to be more resourceful, give thier trucks individual attention, and have thier sales departments diversify the client base and suppliment other types of frieght to keep the wheels moving. It seems load counts are down with most expedite firms..not because they suck, because customers are being most cost savy in moving frieght these days, and they are selling less product themselves.

Vinnie

 

[RichM]

RE: Your Competitors RE: Evolution or Revolution

I agree that the heyday has come and gone. Simply put there is a definitive pie for both Expedite and Specialized shipments. The last few years have brought on more carriers and more individuals looking for that piece of the pie.

I have watched and seen how individuals publicly boast about the revenue stream that they constantly earn. Well,while some of these individuals believe that the vast majority of us are 5th grade Neanderthals that are not capable of thinking,they are wrong. So what happens is that smaller carriers without the large overhead go after the freight that is publicly boasted about thus reducing the pie for all.

In addition to newer carriers you also have existing driver/contractors adding new units that can handle the so called specialized services .Once again the golden nugget that T Hawk mentioned is in the forefront so why shouldn't others go after it.

Post # 34 from MikeC is informative,we may all be throwing meatballs before it's over.

 

[Vinnie T]

RE: Your Competitors RE: Evolution or Revolution

It's tough on the smaller carriers too because that larger firms which are established and proven get first dibs when there is limited amounts of loads to go around. The only way to survive in that environment IMO reverts to the old saying "if you can't beat em join em". Most of the large firms broker out thier overflow..only after thier trucks have been utilized from those areas.

 

[mrgoodtude]

RE: Your Competitors RE: Evolution or Revolution

Thank's Rich that was the point of my whole post, thank to Kempers gramp for turning the the ship to port and thanks to all that took the time to respond.
I only wish the best for all regardless of their station in life and or expedite....
Mike and Cyn