Panther Bought Conway Now??

[Dynamite 1]

well since we have a little knowledge on the conway situation, we will chime in here with what we know to be as close to the truth as you can get. item one to get straight is that no matter how you look at it conway corp officers not the people in ann arbor sold conway expedite to panther expedite, it was not a buy out. when we were seperate holding co's. it could not be done as easily but once under one roof the board and stockholders can do what the majority decides. in this case it was to make a s**t pyle of money without any reguard to the people who had made them profitable, and no reguard for their employees in ann arbor. which mentioned before were a great bunch of people. two, yes they got the contracts to but lets be real, you cant be sure that when some run out that they will renew w/panther. there are a couple i know of personaly that will not be happy , and whose to say that some wont file litigation to break their contractual agreements. after all they did sign w/conway not panther. i am sure as many will go rite along with the flow and everything will be fine.dont take me wrong we are not trying to come off on the wrong tone just trying to think of all the possibilities. three, i to am in with the thought that no one knew in conways office w/maybe the exception of the top two dogs, they might have been informed and their jobs held over their heads to keep quiet. i know this to be true of one other in the office who was informed and could not speak. this was a terrible situation for them to be put in. no one and i mean no one should have any ill feelings toward anybody in the ann arbor office. the people i have had call me today were all in tears and terribly concerned for us and for all the office and dispatch personnel that were let go and the way it was handled. things will go on panther will absorb most of conways fleet and in a few months this will be forgot by most but not by all of us who were conway blue through and through. we all made great relationships and friends over the years and knew that when we needed it help was just a phone call away. i am sure that this is true with panther also, we just did not intend on having to start over. with all said i hope that everyone of conways PBO's and displaced employees land on their feet somewhere that they can call home as most of us did ann arbor. lastly, i hope you are watching cause you know who this is, our hats are off to LORI, APRIL, MIKE, THE OLD MAN, RICK, MATT, AMBER, JIM, and MIKE C. the first two and the last one for the way they handled this situation. the rest because of the way they are. all but the first two are displaced, so if anyone is looking you would do well to have them and this mike C. guy well lets just say a war should be waged to get him. thank for the memories and good luck to all, which ever direction the long black ribbon leads you tnt, #1175

 

[davekc]

I do applaud the Conway management for seeing a situation that was to the betterment of their contractors. You are correct in that because of logistics and other reasons, not everyone can make that transition from Michigan to Ohio.
I don't believe anyone at Conway would say this is a bad deal for their contractors.
Of course time will tell, but I think the contractors from Conway will experience the same level of service in addition to more revenue through Panther.
I would be patient as a few things might take a few weeks or months for completion.
Whether expediting or something else, the strength is always in the numbers.








Davekc
owner
22 years
PantherII
EO moderator

 

[Moot]

All Con-Way contractors have a choice of switching over to Panther or signing on with another carrier. To Con-Way's credit every O/O that signs with Panther will be paid $1000.00. That money is coming from Con-Way not Panther. As it was explained to me by a Con-Way V.P and a Panther rep there are no strings attached. If you sign with Panther, Con-Way will pay. Once signed you could quit and still be paid the $1000.00. I'm not sure if this is a good will jesture or a way to prevent any breach of contract law suits.

As for employees of Con-Way there is still the truck load-brokerage business that was tied into the expedite component. I'm sure corporate plans to expand that. Also Con-Way Central Express is headquartered right next door. And corporate offices are uptown Ann Arbor. I would think that most of these people will be taken care of.

On a lighter note I can't wait to wear my new Eldridge Clever pants when making my first delivery for Panther. I will stand in front of the consignee and say here's the "package".

 

[mhoy40]

this panther thing could be good, but have seen alot of post latley that panther trucks arent really movin,and this only makes there fleet that much bigger more competition in house. we get freieght from both of these companies i hope it works for all,the ups thing with overnight is fact my brother in law works for overnite in romulus,mi that take over was complete on either the 1st of june or the 1st of july when u see a overnite truck look on the door its got u.p.s. freight stickers on them.

 

[cheri1122]

I thank Dynamite for pointing out a true thing: the ConWay people were always there for me, and always with a great attitude. I would just like to add Marissa to the list of those I will miss being able to call in the middle of the night.
Moot: We might enjoy seeing the "Cleaver pants",
But please - forego the "Black Power" rants! :+

 

[cheri1122]

Moonwalking would be acceptable, though! :+ :+ :+

 

[BonnieMac]

Am I the only one in here that isn't leased? I guess I am in a unique situation in that I am a partner carrier with both Conway and Panther II. They are the 2 we do the most business with. I'm kinda holding my breath here to see what happens to the tractor load rates and number of bids that come in daily. So far in the past month or so I have seen more bid activity with Panther than with Con-Way, but counted on them both a lot. The Panther bid board was active today and not one notice from Con-Way so I am assuming that everything has already been transferred and Panther is handling it already.

I can't imagine that they weren't working together to make this transition happen smoothly. I don't see any evidence of anything out of the ordinary with the amount of loads offered, just that Panther is the only one offering them. I guess Monday will tell a lot more when the work week gets started.

So is there anyone else here in my situation? An independent that is a partner carrier with them both?

 

[Dynamite 1]

just an additional note after the most recent post, cudos to panther. they are coming monday to interview any conway employee that wants to show up and ccx is coming tuesday but, there are only so many positions that they will be able to absorb. not all will be able to make the move. and the ones that see employment w/panther will more than likely have to relocate. i dont see ann arbor to seville being a carpool situation. none the less at least the opportunity is being offered. to add in case you couldnt tell hats off to all the dispatch crew also, you are rite marissa, yvonne, dave, matt, renee, rodney, lets not forget jack and ebb, gary, and many many more all will be missed and not forgotten tnt, #1175

 

[Turtle]

I haven't gotten my call from anyone, yet, so I'm still a little in the dark about some of this. Guess I'll hear from someone tomorrow.

Anyone know which is best? To grandfather the Con-Way "C" contract, or to go with the Panther "B" contract?

 

[Moot]

Turtle,
Call Con-Way's dispatch 1-800-808-2446 this will kick you into Panther's dispatch. They will want your name, address and phone number. They will send either by mail or fax a package of information.
Also your QC should be under Panther conrtol. Bring up macro 25.

Power to the people, oops sorry.

 

[davekc]

Broker loads should be combined and available on Panther software which you are likely already using.




Davekc
owner
22 years
PantherII
EO moderator

 

[guest]

Just remember that more truck's at one Company is not always better. FedEx Custom Critical Had over 2500 trucks at one time and now they have 1500 or more. I hope this will work out for all the Driver's. When Robert's Express changed there name to FedEx Custom Critical the run count went down because the customer's had no Ideal that the name change was coming and they called the Robert's number only to find someone saying FedEx Custom Critical and the customer's thought they called the wrong number and hung up the phone.

Saying that Panther is the Biggest in this business is way to soon to say that. 1900 trucks don't mean your the biggest, it just mean you have more trucks and driver's sitting. i'm not saying this is a bad thing. I think it's great for the business.

Drive safe

Dave Mayfield
FEDExCC/Roberts Express O/O Since 3/1/1995
C1847,C2045,D3397,D5047

 

[huntn1]

i thought i saw con-way bragging on here the other day about how the cargo vans hauled about 30 to 40% of their expedited loads. well i guess the wal-mart of expeditors are taking over. they didnt get that big by being honest.

 

[Turtle]

I called dispatch this morning and talked with the Panther folks. They didn't have me in their system at all, and apparently they haven't received a lot of the information on many of the Con-Way PBO's yet. I sent the macro 25 in yesterday morning, and they didn't get that, either. Late last night I sent a QC test message and got a response from Matt, instead of someone from Panther. SO my QC hasn't been transferred to Panther control, yet.

Soooo, rather than sit here in Davenport and wait until at least Tuesday for an overnight package to be delivered to the Hook, I'm on my way to Seville to just flat out 'git er done'. The package, papaerwork, lettering, all of it.

I think I'll leave the tight pants under the bunk for the time being, though. Rodney Dangerfield in a pair of Speedos is not exactly the first impression I want to make. :7

 

[scootr68]

The macro's will differ from that at Con-Way. They'll have all the reference material and booklets you'll need in the packets you'll receive from Seville. Welcome aboard!!

 

[Dynamite 1]

in rereading a few posts after the initial distrautness has wore down some think its a good thing. some think smartly of the mgmt. of conway or should we, we should the corp. officers and stockholders to sell for the betterment of the fleet. to give us more opportunity. but for those of us that are in this situation, we were fine with being conway pbo's. most we have talked to made the transition. and will see what happens, alot of others did it just to keep the ball rolling until they decide where they want to land. then there are those of us, at least 30 that we know and have talked to of the approximatley 174 straight trucks conway had in its fleet that did not sign and have been accepted by other carriers. what corp. did was not alright with most of the pbo,s. no one likes to move when you have given your time and loyalty to a company. everyone at panther, fedex, or land star that has given a significant amount of time would be as upset as we all are now if they were sold and had to go to the buyer or find a new carrier . i read on the other post that it was reported that conway was in bankruptcy court. this is news i have not heard. we have a very good friend that tracked the sales on the expedite side . we had a call from this person and the subject came up of were we profitable. now this is a person that i trust dearly and was told that conway had goals of 90 to 95% profitability and that we were consistantley in the mid to upper 80's which is very good. no one will ever really know why it was done or should i say it will never be published by a source that can be trusted unless a smoking gun pops up. even then i would have to see a name before i would take it as fact. the other carriers out there that have opened the door to conway pbo,s show great commaradery in this business. we have been told that all are concerned and it is a nice gesture. so thanks to panther for all the ones they are taking and to the rest who are also stepping up. a couple are even offering special orientations to make transitions seemless. i still just wish that the office people could go to work somewhere as easily as it is for us to just p/u the phone and change. some may be displaced for awhile. also, nothing has be mentioned of the conway expedite/now tractors. they did not go in the panther deal they are being soaked up buy the fulload fleet if they wish or will work w/the brokerage side or go somewhere else. have not heard the skinny on why they were not included. if they transfer to fulload they should be ok. once again, thanks all. tnt

 

[Roadpig]

the way I understand it is that this isn't the last buyout for panther2 either. it looks like they have both express 1 and tri state in their sights. both of those companies have been struggling and have seen alot of people leave. this will also push all of the smaller companies in the midwest and great lakes area out. according to a panther 2 dispatcher look for more mergers and buyouts before the end of the year. and as stated before it is hard to say whether this will be good or bad for drivers. but i wonrder if the other copmanies are worried.

 

[msblackfoot]

I just have to make a comment about the clever pants! Panther does not require us to wear any type of uniform, we can wear what we want as long it is we try to be as presentable and professional as possible. And we all know it's all about comfort. Driving long miles you have to be as comfortable as possible within reason.
I have been wondering how they are going to work getting the conway drivers converted over, are you guys getting load offers now? I sure hope that you all are not left sitting wondering what is going on.I know on our end my husband received a load offer for a conway customer yesterday, so they are already starting to come in. We wish you all the best and for those of you signing on with P2, welcome aboard and we look forward to seein you out there on the road.

 

[ATeam]

>the way I understand it is that this isn't the last buyout
>for panther2 either. it looks like they have both express 1
>and tri state in their sights. both of those companies have
>been struggling and have seen alot of people leave. this
>will also push all of the smaller companies in the midwest
>and great lakes area out. according to a panther 2
>dispatcher look for more mergers and buyouts before the end
>of the year. and as stated before it is hard to say whether
>this will be good or bad for drivers. but i wonrder if the
>other copmanies are worried.

For professional drivers who run their business like a business, there will be no worries, no matter what carrier you run for. If smaller companies are destined to be gobbled up by bigger ones, the picture will grow simpler for shippers. They can go either with one of the two "bigs" (FedEx or Panther), or they can go with a tiny carrier that distingishes itself either with pricing or ultra-personalized service, or both.

Among the bigs, FedEx will compete against Panther by pointing out that FedEx's hiring standards and truck standards are higher than the competition. Panther may counter with lower prices, or it may raise its standards to position itself against FedEx. If they do that instantly, their fleet will shrink and Panther will no longer be number one (in terms of having the most trucks in its fleet).

If Panther instead gradually raises its driver and truck standards, it will be the professional drivers who run their business like a business that make the cut.

No matter which carrier you run for or when, it is always in a driver's best interests to keep a clean record and good equipment. When the higher powers that be cause market gyrations to occur, the drivers who have the most to offer will be best able to weather the storm.

 

[joebob1_30132]

absolutly, agree..the better will rise..and you willsee the honeymoon and all the cozy feeling wain soon. The ones prepared to get it done will be fine ..conway has done this before ,And im highly disapointed ..I thourghly enjoyed working with their expidite division.,and found them honest and great to work with .They were driver driven, I would expect the behometh that Panther is becoming to act more as a corperate giant and less intimate with its o/o's. They will accept everyone now cuz conway is flipping the bill, but there will be a ferreting out process coming. Economy slowing loads r tight .. and straight trucks are to easy to handle, ie (look what has happened to the vans)Be flexable,and consider the fleet owners that blog here that says this is fine ..remember they are closer to the panther corp, than the driver, Panther is fleet owner driven. and the fleet owner has more to loose. Im sympathetic to the happy faces being painted on by the ones who says this is fine for us ..but we all know deep down most of us do not like this. panther people ,and conway alike. I am a loyalist, and do not like this at all. I will miss conway expidite, and the people I have worked with. and will wait and see with the Panther peeps. I wish us all much prosparity,and good health.