I aimed for my first post to this blog to touch more on culture as it relates to customs of a group of people, their ethnic tendencies, and building international bridges between societies. But our American cultural fabric has changed so much over the past couple of years!
At the heart of our evolving economic culture: Our transportation system, and the velocity of movement of consumer goods.
Those that know me could sufficiently gauge that I used to volunteer more hours per week in my community than most people work.
Those that know my spouse might have been surprised at how much I really knew about the industry of his previous profession. For nineteen years he worked for an LTL freight carrier – most noted for their high-quality standard of service. He worked his way up through the sales department ranks, and went through the company’s professional development program to earn the title of Service Center Manager. I was able to observe trends in the business, actions that made freight move, and I stayed aware of terms like Load Factor, Operating Ratio, and OS&D. Even inbound and outbound tonnage numbers considered good (or not-so-good) performance for the various size service centers.
During his career, my husband missed very few days of work, and was even recognized for perfect attendance. His facility was chosen as a training ground for the company’s professional development program, and it is also my understanding that my spouse was sent to other service locations for trouble-shooting purposes. He was someone other employees would call on for answers – in short, he could be counted on.
When a tornado brought huge damage to one of the company’s service centers a handful of years ago, my family volunteered an entire day to help clean up the destruction. We took our Mexican exchange student with us as well and made an “American Experience,” of it. I’m quite confident that our family’s collective man-hours saved the company hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. I went along out support for my spouse, pride in the company, and hope that my actions made an impact on potential profit-sharing payouts.
Over time, I had the fortunate opportunity to meet people from other transportation companies through organizational efforts at the state level. Every June for about seven years, along with my husband, I would help judge the Ohio State Truck Driving Championships. A contest of skill! These were volunteer hours for me, but for my husband, a pathway to promote representation and stewardship within the industry.
In November of 2007 my husband was elected as a Ward Councilman for the City of Wilmington, Ohio. The first piece of legislation he voted on in January of 2008 was the annex of the nation’s largest privately owned airport into the City. It was a move that allowed for more frugal use and development of infrastructural resources.
Some of you might recognize this location as the former US headquarters for DHL. In May of 2008, the German company stunned us all by announcing their operational pullout. Elected officials from the smallest area township all the way up to our nation’s capitol were involved in discussion to form committees and calculate area re-development. It was a ruckus! But still, the nation’s largest privately owned airport might eventually be in play for re-designation to whatever industry(s) (http://www.wnewsj.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=166541&SectionID=49&SubSectionID=&S=1).
Relevant Per Share Stock performance numbers from August 15, 2008
ABFS (ABF Freight), $38.56
CNW (Con-Way Freight), $53.61
FDX (FedEx Freight), $87.85
ODFL (Old Dominion Freight), $37.80
UPS (United Parcel Service), $66.14
YRCW (Yellow Roadway Worldwide Corp.), $20.01
On December 2, 2008, my husband – an ambassador, if you will, of this nationally spotlighted entity – was relieved of his professional duties from his long-time employer with the statement that he did not have the skills to fit in with the company’s future. That came as quite a blow. So, while the rest of the world struggled with our nation’s economic downturn, our little Ohio enclave dealt with the double-whammy of that and the DHL pull-out. And so, our family has too.
The ripple effects of this devastation are still rippling. The local unemployment rate is currently 16.1%.
Ironically enough, my husband still sits on City Council representing the 4th Ward. Thanks to the commitment among our local leadership and the determination of our County’s Port Authority, DHL announced they would donate the Air Park in January, 2010 (http://www.wnewsj.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=181913&SectionID=49&SubSectionID=&S=1). Having at one time worked with the County’s Planning Commission, I have an idea of the long hours, intense meetings, and skillful presentations that came before that momentous day.
Even though my husband is no longer employed by a transportation firm, I have stayed aware of the industry trends as much as possible. It is not hard when privately-owned R & L Carriers is headquartered right up the road. In the past few years, the effects of the Yellow/Roadway consolidation led personnel hopping to other companies, and top-level managers in the trucking industry have, no doubt, been busy.
Very recently – News headlines from February 9, 2010 relate Yellow Freight executives have been drafted by Con-Way Freight (http://www.handyshippingguide.com/shipping-news/conway-freight-enlists-yrc-experience_1265).
There have been some ebbs and flows in the stock market in the past few weeks. I find stock numbers from the end of business day on Friday, February 19, 2010 interesting:
ABFS – $25.10, +0.34 (1.37%)
CNW – $30.86, -0.01 (-0.03%)
FDX – $81.76, +1.66 (2.07%)
ODFL – $29.15, +0.32 (1.11%)
UPS – $57.81, +0.64 (1.12%)
YRCW – $0.370, -0.010 (-2.63%)
In business school I learned that every concern and issue is always the result of the highest management – It always trickles up. In my experience, I’d have to say that I have found that adage to be true. There are reasons a stock will sell at less than 40 cents a share.
I was not always impressed with Old Dominion. But lately I’ve watched them knock a few home runs out of the park. ABF has even positioned themselves for recognition via popular family-oriented television shows. FedEx is FedEx – I doubt their position will change coming up.
Just this morning, Jeffrey Pfeffer, Professor at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, spent time with FOX news. His name is on the book jacket of “The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting People First.” He is also the co-author of “Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-Based Management.” Dr. Pfeffer was talking today about The Down Side of Down-sizing. He related that years of evidence show that companies really do not win when they make large staff cuts. The result usually reflects low employee morale, mediocre performance ratios, and declines in stock values. For the employees ejected from their roles, the outcome is daunting and can even be detrimental to their personal health.
Looking at the numbers above, I wonder what the current conversations are like for some Boards of Directors.
While my husband still searches for his next employment opportunity, we have started a company that has continued to get positive coverage from multiple media sources in its short lifetime — Certainly something that takes skill in an environment where negative stories sell papers.
