terry's and rene's piece on early day's of expedit
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RE: terry's and rene's piece on early day's of exp
Good piece, Terry. Very informative. I wish more people would share their views of the industry as you have done, and I hope you write more pieces like this.
I was especially impressed with your words,
"Expediting is an important and necessary segment of the trucking industry. It will continue to grow in volume and importance....
"...The key to (owner-operator and drivers) respective successes will be the continual review and modification of the business plans to keep pace with market trends and keep an edge on their competition."
Some people seem to have the idea that the expedite pie is only so big, and that whatever someone else gets is taken away from someone else. Others understand that expediting has been and continues to be a growing industry with new opportunities and expanding markets. It is nice to read that, "(Expediting) will continue to grow in volume and importance."
Your point about continual review and modification of business plans is also well made. As DaveKC has said in other posts, those who adapt to changes will succeed (I hope I paraphrased that right. Correct me Dave if I didn't).
Good piece, Terry. Very informative. I wish more people would share their views of the industry as you have done, and I hope you write more pieces like this.
I was especially impressed with your words,
"Expediting is an important and necessary segment of the trucking industry. It will continue to grow in volume and importance....
"...The key to (owner-operator and drivers) respective successes will be the continual review and modification of the business plans to keep pace with market trends and keep an edge on their competition."
Some people seem to have the idea that the expedite pie is only so big, and that whatever someone else gets is taken away from someone else. Others understand that expediting has been and continues to be a growing industry with new opportunities and expanding markets. It is nice to read that, "(Expediting) will continue to grow in volume and importance."
Your point about continual review and modification of business plans is also well made. As DaveKC has said in other posts, those who adapt to changes will succeed (I hope I paraphrased that right. Correct me Dave if I didn't).
RE: terry's and rene's piece on early day's of exp
Terry's article was a nice trot down memory lane. When we talked this week I was surprised that the article was written some time ago.
Very good article and I thoroughly enjoyed the read.
As to adaptation of the business climate, Phil quoted me correctly.
Davekc
owner
23 years
PantherII
EO moderator
Terry's article was a nice trot down memory lane. When we talked this week I was surprised that the article was written some time ago.
Very good article and I thoroughly enjoyed the read.
As to adaptation of the business climate, Phil quoted me correctly.
Davekc
owner
23 years
PantherII
EO moderator
greg334
Veteran Expediter
RE: terry's and rene's piece on early day's of exp
"...The key to (owner-operator and drivers) respective successes will be the continual review and modification of the business plans to keep pace with market trends and keep an edge on their competition."
I did enjoy the article and it was good but I don’t agree with this statement and the advice given here, it seems a little flawed.
Here is why.
I don’t see the ability for an O/O who is contracted to one of the larger carriers to be able to modify their business plan to fit into the carriers program unless there is communications between the two. I feel that my carrier is better than most but they still lack in a lot of areas; one is feedback by the contractors and the other is changes of policies and procedures.
That is one reason; another reason is we are in a different era of expediting, one where there is more competition and more of a quicker change in business philosophies at the carrier level.
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.
As much as this sounds off target, it is not by any means and is observed by others who know more about it than I so. I have to say for the veterans you have the advantage of having built a relationship up with a carrier, learning who is who and being able to determine what is better for you at the time that you drop that load or when these changes take place following suit with your practices. For a beginner, it may be overwhelming and frustrating to hear that you got to think out of the box when they have no clue what the box is.
From my point of view and confirmed by Tallcal and a lot of others, I have no control over the carrier, their rates or their ability to capture more customers and changing my business plan will not afford me the leverage in producing the revenue in the first place but gives me the ability to change what I do with the revenue. And it is production of the revenue first that is utmost important in this business, not what you do with it.
"...The key to (owner-operator and drivers) respective successes will be the continual review and modification of the business plans to keep pace with market trends and keep an edge on their competition."
I did enjoy the article and it was good but I don’t agree with this statement and the advice given here, it seems a little flawed.
Here is why.
I don’t see the ability for an O/O who is contracted to one of the larger carriers to be able to modify their business plan to fit into the carriers program unless there is communications between the two. I feel that my carrier is better than most but they still lack in a lot of areas; one is feedback by the contractors and the other is changes of policies and procedures.
That is one reason; another reason is we are in a different era of expediting, one where there is more competition and more of a quicker change in business philosophies at the carrier level.
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.
As much as this sounds off target, it is not by any means and is observed by others who know more about it than I so. I have to say for the veterans you have the advantage of having built a relationship up with a carrier, learning who is who and being able to determine what is better for you at the time that you drop that load or when these changes take place following suit with your practices. For a beginner, it may be overwhelming and frustrating to hear that you got to think out of the box when they have no clue what the box is.
From my point of view and confirmed by Tallcal and a lot of others, I have no control over the carrier, their rates or their ability to capture more customers and changing my business plan will not afford me the leverage in producing the revenue in the first place but gives me the ability to change what I do with the revenue. And it is production of the revenue first that is utmost important in this business, not what you do with it.
RE: terry's and rene's piece on early day's of exp
Greg wrote;
or 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.
===============================================================
I don't want to detract from Terry's article or efforts, so I will address your post in a somewhat condensed version with another thread.
Davekc
owner
23 years
PantherII
EO moderator
Greg wrote;
or 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.
===============================================================
I don't want to detract from Terry's article or efforts, so I will address your post in a somewhat condensed version with another thread.
Davekc
owner
23 years
PantherII
EO moderator
RE: terry's and rene's piece on early day's of exp
Greg: I disagree with your disagreement. The comment you have issues with is:
"...The key to (owner-operator and drivers) respective successes will be the continual review and modification of the business plans to keep pace with market trends and keep an edge on their competition."
I had Dave and Larry in mind when I said that because each of them expanded their business plans in different and reportedly successful ways. Each were expediters leased to and relying upon a single carrier for all their freight. Each of them now continue to haul expedite but Dave with a combination of carrier lease and own authority, and Larry by breaking ranks with an expedite carrier and joining ranks with a co-op, of sorts, that specializes in expedite and LTL.
I agree with your comment that those of us that choose to rely solely on one carrier, have limited opportunity while operating under the confines of our lease agreements with that carrier. We need a good combination of company policy understanding, load acceptance consideration, layover planning, and luck to financially succeed.
Thanks to all who have commented on my ramblings on the home page.
Greg: I disagree with your disagreement. The comment you have issues with is:
"...The key to (owner-operator and drivers) respective successes will be the continual review and modification of the business plans to keep pace with market trends and keep an edge on their competition."
I had Dave and Larry in mind when I said that because each of them expanded their business plans in different and reportedly successful ways. Each were expediters leased to and relying upon a single carrier for all their freight. Each of them now continue to haul expedite but Dave with a combination of carrier lease and own authority, and Larry by breaking ranks with an expedite carrier and joining ranks with a co-op, of sorts, that specializes in expedite and LTL.
I agree with your comment that those of us that choose to rely solely on one carrier, have limited opportunity while operating under the confines of our lease agreements with that carrier. We need a good combination of company policy understanding, load acceptance consideration, layover planning, and luck to financially succeed.
Thanks to all who have commented on my ramblings on the home page.
RE: terry's and rene's piece on early day's of exp
>I agree with your comment that those of us that choose to
>rely solely on one carrier, have limited opportunity while
>operating under the confines of our lease agreements with
>that carrier. We need a good combination of company policy
>understanding, load acceptance consideration, layover
>planning, and luck to financially succeed.
Allow me to add that for some of us at least, entering into a lease agreement with a single carrier lends itself perfectly to achieving the business, financial and lifestyle goals we have set. Speaking only for Diane and me, the simplicity of our contractor/carrier agreement with FedEx Custom Critical saves us from the complexity of running other types of business models that require more effort and provide less ease between loads. That simplicity and ease is the reason we choose the one-carrier business model over other possibilities. It is a model under which we are happy and under which we have prospered.
Were any of that to change (happiness, prosperity), we have the option of modifying or abandoning the model altogether in favor of another that would meet our goals. We have options. We stay where we are because our current business model is the best choice for us.
>I agree with your comment that those of us that choose to
>rely solely on one carrier, have limited opportunity while
>operating under the confines of our lease agreements with
>that carrier. We need a good combination of company policy
>understanding, load acceptance consideration, layover
>planning, and luck to financially succeed.
Allow me to add that for some of us at least, entering into a lease agreement with a single carrier lends itself perfectly to achieving the business, financial and lifestyle goals we have set. Speaking only for Diane and me, the simplicity of our contractor/carrier agreement with FedEx Custom Critical saves us from the complexity of running other types of business models that require more effort and provide less ease between loads. That simplicity and ease is the reason we choose the one-carrier business model over other possibilities. It is a model under which we are happy and under which we have prospered.
Were any of that to change (happiness, prosperity), we have the option of modifying or abandoning the model altogether in favor of another that would meet our goals. We have options. We stay where we are because our current business model is the best choice for us.
RE: terry's and rene's piece on early day's of exp
It is definitely a very interesting read. The photos are also interesting. I'd love to see a few dozen more in a "through the years" sort of array.
Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB
OOIDA Life Member 677319, JOIN NOW
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.
It is definitely a very interesting read. The photos are also interesting. I'd love to see a few dozen more in a "through the years" sort of array.
Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB
OOIDA Life Member 677319, JOIN NOW
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.
