Response to Greg's post

[davekc]

Greg wrote,
For example in the last year or two we have seen Panther go from an exclusive expediting company to expanding their core services to compete with FedEx and others. FedEx has added more services in-house and moved toward a more homogeneous front line for the customer at the same time limiting their liabilities (I have a really good reason to say this from a very good source and will not talk about it here) by shifting their customers to internal services from contracting services. Both of these are not changes that help us but in the long run hurt all of us because neither carrier has strengthened their sales staff.

With just those two things in mind, the ability an O/O to make changes to their business path is somewhat limited by the fact that they have in some cases solely depend on the company that they are contracted to and being solely dependent they can’t change boats in midstream to produce.
==========================================================
In my opinion, the methods of operation and goals between Panther and Fedex are much different. Fedex is moving freight to their internal divisions for simple economics. Those have ongoing fixed costs that they as a corporation, have all the time. When freight volumes slow, they will move certain loads to their own trucks. They really have no choice. The uncovered loads, or loads into areas of limited return freight is where they will send the other trucks. West coast and Florida come to mind. They can't send a company truck there because they lose money. In those situations, competition internally is just as much of an issue as the external. With Panther, their focus is strictly on their expedite, without financial obligations to other divisions. When it is busy, one wouldn't notice too much change, when it slows, competition heats up and rates drop as well as load avialibilty. Many other industries face these same issues when there is changes in the economy.
Your other issue is true with regards to how one reacts. Very tough when one positions them self at the sole mercy of the carrier.
I do disagree with the statement that one has no choice. There are plenty of choices if one is prepared.
Could be anything from changing carriers, selling out, or obtaining your own authority and doing it on your own. The problem is, it is sometimes too big a step for many. If one doesn't have the resources, they likely made a mistake in the beginning, or by waiting too long.












Davekc
owner
23 years
PantherII
EO moderator

 

[greg334]

Dave,
Sorry for the format of the response.

my opinion, the methods of operation and goals between Panther and Fedex are much different. Fedex is moving freight to their internal divisions for simple economics. Those have ongoing fixed costs that they as a corporation, have all the time. When frieght volumes slow, they will move certain loads to their own trucks. They really have no choice. The uncovered loads, or loads into areas of limited return frieght is where they will send the other loads. West coast and Florida come to mind. They can't send a company truck there because they lose money. In those situations, competion internally is just as much of an issue as the external.

Yes I agree with you, you have expanded on my example and the last sentence is where I am going with the FedEx problem we face as contractors.

With Panther, their focus is strictly on their expedite, without financial obligations to other divisions. When it is busy, one wouldn't notice too much change, when it slows, competion heats up and rates drop as well as load availilibilty. Many other industries face these same issues when there is changes in the economy.

Yes I agree again, panther was a quick example I used but I could not qualify it with the limited information I have about it in comparison but used it because it is a large carrier and directly competitive with FedEx.

Your other issue is true with regards to how one reacts. Very tough when one positions themself at the sole mercy of the carrier.

This is the point.

I do disagree with the statement that one has no choice. There are plenty of choices if one is prepared.
Could be anything from changing carriers, selling out, or obtaining your own authority and doing it on your own. The problem is, it is sometimes too big a step for many. If one doesn't have the resources, they likely made a mistake in the beginning, or by waiting too long.

Ok, sorry I should have expanded on this, but felt many would understand that the perspective I am looking at this is being a contractor with one company and only one company at the time that one needs to be flexible in their business plan is hard to impossible to do. As I think you agree it is generating revenue that is the most important thing. Changing to fit the revenue is one thing and something I should have taken in account and explained further but the one company, one contractor point of view fits a lot of us.

One of the issue I keep hearing is how successful one can be with one carrier and there is even an article published that the author has been with one and only one carrier and not recognizing that there is a uniqueness of their situation which for many of us can’t be replicated readily and without the luck needed that they have created around them - if for some reason we could, many of us would follow that path to success and be very happy.

Now of course someone can move from one carrier to another but in many cases this cost money and can be frustrating to say the least. If it was a solution, than a move to taking more control would pay off in the long run.

 

[davekc]

I clearly sympathize with your situation. We can speak from first hand knowledge of what can happen when things go south. We had to make many adjustments back in 2000 in order to keep things rolling. Even more so as a fleet owner maybe, because we had what we felt were obligations to our contracted drivers that had been with us for a long time.
Because of that experience, we made the move to cut our exposure to a respectable level. Many of those things I talk about right here at EO. Sometimes they are controversial, but I can only share what makes common sense and what worked for us.
I don't think any would be the "perfect" remedy, as it likely would be a combination of several, plus alittle luck along the way.
Oops, there is that "L" word.













Davekc
owner
23 years
PantherII
EO moderator

 

[RichM]

Comon Dave, you know as you have been told that LUCK is not a factor.

 

[davekc]

I am having a hard time coming to terms with that logic.:7







Davekc
owner
23 years
PantherII
EO moderator

 

[ATeam]

As luck would have it (pun intended), I happened upon a Bloomberg radio interview this morning on this very topic. Interviewed was Jackson Lears, author of Something for Nothing: Luck in America.

Lears identifies two cultural motifs and traces their interplay and manifestations through American history. One he calls the culture of chance. The other he calls the culture of control. Chance avails one to the beneficence of the comos. Control is about virtue and working for rewards.

This is not a book about which culture is right or wrong. It is not about which is best. It is a book that probes deeply into how these concepts have been applied through American history, sometimes humanely and sometimes not. It talks about how people have judged and attempted to regulate or deregulate others through the filters of chance and control. Where luck is discussed, we see some of that very dynamic in play here in the Open Forum.

In another thread, I asked a question that was not answered. I asked, "What difference does it make if you believe in luck or not?" For expediters, I belive it makes a great deal of difference.

Expediters that attribute their circumstances to luck (good or bad) stop thinking about their circumstances and how they might change them. Expediters that believe they have more control over outcomes, don't accept things as they are and look for ways to improve.

At least that is my thinking at the moment. After listening to this interview, I plan to purchase the book as soon as I get to a bookstore. I am looking forward to doing more thinking on the subject of luck, and especially to better understand how people come to believe in luck, and how such a belief may help or hinder one in running an expediting business.

Stay tuned!

 

[greg334]

“I clearly sympathize with your situation.â€

Dave,
I know what your say but to make sure there is no misunderstanding on my part, this is not my situation outside of the lack of communication I can attribute to FedEx. Otherwise, my situation is not what others would consider all that bad, overall.

Phil, you are too d*mn funny.

Luck has a lot to do with business in general, especially with a service business – which we are in.

I won’t go into this again… much, but obviously it is clear from other’s comments that an average person who has not followed the golden path to expediting does not have a lot of control over the key factor in this business – revenue production. It is and always will be a customer driven issue and the luck that is involved is only where you get that offer. You as a FedEx contractor (for example) can only deal with FedEx and what they do, you can not go and solicit someone to produce the revenue for you and the company, so being in the right place at the right time matters and that is called luck.

You can only improve your services to a point; you can only have the right equipment for the right customer for the right load at the right time but beyond that, you have no control. Using what resources you have is limiting you to a point, like it or not but as Dave pointed out there are ways to alleviate a specific situation, moving to another company or getting your authority – the latter is actually the best one for people who understand and can excel in real customer service.

As for the book, well there are a bunch of others that I would think show a clear way to what will help understand customer needs, the cycles of customer needs and how to really excel in customer service.

 

[davekc]

You can always do things to limit your exposure or increase your odds of obtaining freight. That isn't a guarantee of success. Luck does play a important role in how things turn. "Right place at the right time" really applies in our industry.
I don't see how this isn't a factor in our business. Without it, is saying there is a specific path of absolute success regardless of circumstance.












Davekc
owner
23 years
PantherII
EO moderator

 

[ATeam]

>Luck has a lot to do with business in general, especially
>with a service business – which we are in.

Perhaps it does. It is very clear that some people believe it, that's for sure. But business is not only about luck. If that were the case, all we would have to do would be to declare ourselves to be in business and wait for Lady Luck to deliver our profits. Focused effort, I suggest, has more to do with business success than luck.

>I won’t go into this again… much, but obviously it is
>clear from other’s comments that an average person who has
>not followed the golden path to expediting does not have a
>lot of control over the key factor in this business –
>revenue production.

The golden path to expediting? I know of no such thing, except perhaps entering the business with enough reserves to see you through the lean times and negative setbacks, and with enough accurate research to start you out on the right foot. People who enter without both of those may be inclined to blame their bad luck for failing, they would do better by looking in the mirror.

It is and always will be a customer
>driven issue and the luck that is involved is only where you
>get that offer. You as a FedEx contractor (for example) can
>only deal with FedEx and what they do, you can not go and
>solicit someone to produce the revenue for you and the
>company, so being in the right place at the right time
>matters and that is called luck.

I do not agree. I will grant that part of expediting success is being in the right place at the right time. For example, if you choose to wait for loads in Montana and rely on luck to produce offers on your Qualcomm unit, you will fail. It is within your control to deadhead to a more active freight area where load offers are more often received. In that case, it is not about luck. It is about your own good sense to to to the right place, which for successful expediters is where the freight can be found. And it is about your own good sense to avoid the wrong place, which might mean declining a load to Montana.

Peter Lynch, a Wall Street investment guru who distinguished himself with above average results for his clients (Fidelity Magellan Fund), said that the secret to investment success is being in the right place at the right time. Greg is saying the same thing.

But Lynch did not rely on luck. He also said that since you never know when the right time is, the thing to do is go to the right place and wait. I believe that same insight can be applied to expediting. Even the most marginal performers in expediting know the difference between a good freight area and a bad one. Going to the right place to wait is something everyone can do.

Another area in which expediters have full control is how often they go home or go out of service for non-business reasons. I have noticed that people who say Diane and I are lucky tend to spend a lot more time at home and out of service than we do.

>You can only improve your services to a point; you can only
>have the right equipment for the right customer for the
>right load at the right time but beyond that, you have no
>control.

Very true, but within one's chosen business model, you do not have to be all things to all people. In every profession, it is the specialists that make more money than the generalists.

Using what resources you have is limiting you to a
>point, like it or not but as Dave pointed out there are ways
>to alleviate a specific situation, moving to another company
>or getting your authority – the latter is actually the
>best one for people who understand and can excel in real
>customer service.

I'm not sure what you mean by "real" customer service. Leased on to a single carrier as we are, Diane and I have no need to provide anything more than excellent service to our carrier and the customers we and our carrier mutually serve. There are a whole bunch of expediters out there that provide outstanding customer service every time with every load. Diane and I are proud to count ourselves among them.

>As for the book, well there are a bunch of others that I
>would think show a clear way to what will help understand
>customer needs, the cycles of customer needs and how to
>really excel in customer service.

"Really excel in custmoer service?" Greg, I can name dozens of expediters that I know personally who do exactly that, and I believe it is fair to say that the overwhelming majority of all expediters with all expedite carriers do the same.

In the door-to-door, exclusive-use business we expediters are in, excellent customer service is what it is all about. People call expediters because others are unable to meet their needs. They call because of the excellent customer service we provide.

 

[ATeam]

>I don't see how this (luck) isn't a factor in our business. Without
>it, is saying there is a specific path of absolute success
>regardless of circumstance.

And perhaps that is why people's feathers get ruffled when I say I do not believe in luck. They take my non-belief in luck to the next step of me saying, "...there is a specific path of absolute success regardless of circumstance."

Only, I am not taking it to the next step. If other people think that is what I am saying, it is because they are putting words in my mouth. I am not saying there is a specific path of absolute success regardless of circumstance. I am not saying that at all. A simple look at the human population provides proof positive that the statement is not true.

That said, there are dozens of things expediters can do to increase their probability of success, including staying in service, maintaining adequate reserves, living within one's means, and getting smart about how to find freight. People do not get smart about finding freight because they are lucky. They get smart about finding freight because they observe, study and think about how to get freight. They do more of what works, less of what doesn't, and when necessary, try something new.

It has been said that the harder you work, the luckier you get. I do not disagree with that statement, provided that working hard also means working smart.

 

[whitey1]

Johnny Unitas was once quited as saying, "You make your own luck."
I believe there is alot of truth to that.

 

[greg334]

“In the door-to-door, exclusive-use business we expediters are in, excellent customer service is what it is all about. People call expediters because others are unable to meet their needs. They call because of the excellent customer service we provide.â€

Phil,
You could have just written this one paragraph and it would have been better. My God I am long winded because I am bored and have nothing better to do at the time I write what ever I write – but you could have just said, I disagree and put in that paragraph. I by the way pretty much ignored the entire post until that point, no disrespect; I know most do that to me anyway.

I think that you provide the end result of the customer service chain, and I think you have this impression that you are the reason for the customer selecting you but I may be wrong. Talking about FedEx only at this point because it is something common, because of my experiences, the customer service starts at picking up the phone when someone calls FedEx, not at your end as much as I wish it was the case that it would start with the truck we would be a lot better off. If they don’t do their job, I or you can’t do our job and my concern is what the customer sees and how it affects us, not the company. For some reason you have limited control over the services that you provide based on the company and its need for you.

Now the luck part, come on let’s be a little more realistic about this. I am sitting at home today, ready to pay homage at the big building in Green and I know if I sit somewhere in Ohio, I will get a run. My luck is that my carrier captures the load for us and offers to me if I am in the right place at the right time or lucky enough to get the call. They may decide to pass me over for a truck that is better equipped, has some favorite son driving for them or just because the computer put me father out than I actually am - two of the three have actually happened to me and I still attribute it to luck.

 

[x06col]

I'll give you boys and girls "my" def of luck.

It is simply when "preparation meets opportunity".

So.... get prepared.

 

[greg334]

> I'll give you boys and girls "my" def of luck.
>
> It is simply when "preparation meets opportunity".
>
> So.... get prepared.

You know wisdom comes from experience.

 

[x06col]

And character comes from bad experience and preparation.

 

[greg334]

That too.....