tree68 Euclid Well considering what was trying to be accomplished by the CSX layoffs, were they good or bad? Presumably, they were good - cash was moved from the payroll line in the financial statements to the profit line, where it could be extracted by the "investors." OTOH, it's hard to believe that one third of the employees were "deadwood" that needed to be pruned...
Euclid Well considering what was trying to be accomplished by the CSX layoffs, were they good or bad?
Presumably, they were good - cash was moved from the payroll line in the financial statements to the profit line, where it could be extracted by the "investors."
OTOH, it's hard to believe that one third of the employees were "deadwood" that needed to be pruned...
What I mean is this:
Were the layoffs good or bad according to a fair and true, independent judgment, and not by the judgement of those who decided to do the layoffs?
Euclid tree68 Euclid Well considering what was trying to be accomplished by the CSX layoffs, were they good or bad? Presumably, they were good - cash was moved from the payroll line in the financial statements to the profit line, where it could be extracted by the "investors." OTOH, it's hard to believe that one third of the employees were "deadwood" that needed to be pruned... What I mean is this: Were the layoffs good or bad according to a fair and true, independent judgment, and not by the judgement of those who decided to do the layoffs?
Customers are praising the move [/sarcasm]. As they move their traffic to other carriers because of CSX's lack of reliable service.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
tree68 OTOH, it's hard to believe that one third of the employees were "deadwood" that needed to be pruned...
"What do we need clerks for? Make our lazy train crews find those cars themselves!"
"What do we need crew callers for? The robot will take care of everything!"
"Why do we let trainmasters have regular shifts or days off? Fire half of them and put the remainder on call 24/7! If they don't like it and quit, replace them with oilfield rejects or desperate college grads with big debt!"
"I saw that Dispatcher taking a smoke break, and no one crashed while he was outside. Guess the railroad can function fine without him. Consolidate the desks!"
At least that's what happened at CN.
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
EuclidWere the layoffs good or bad according to a fair and true, independent judgment, and not by the judgement of those who decided to do the layoffs?
Unfortunately, only time can truly answer that. In the short term, one can only focus on the here and now.
Almost one third of the employees are looking for new sources of income. It appears that a substantial number of customers are looking for new ways to ship their products.
Too, one can look at what's happened with some of the cuts. Trains that had been dropped have been reinstated. Cuts to facilities like North Baltimore have been curtailed. Maybe those weren't wise moves in the first place and now CSX is having to back-pedal.
There's little doubt that deadwood and inefficiencies can be found in any organization. The question is whether only the deadwood was cut or if some "good wood" was excised as well.
I'm still hearing crews use "three step."
Ask your question in a year or so and maybe there will be an answer.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
tree68 Presumably, they were good - cash was moved from the payroll line in the financial statements to the profit line, where it could be extracted by the "investors." OTOH, it's hard to believe that one third of the employees were "deadwood" that needed to be pruned...
Some cuts were undoubtedly due to the severe decline in coal transportation, even before the arrival of "The Dark Lord of Railroading" in Jacksonville......
I thought I heard that contractors were included in the 'headcount' reduction figures, too. Didn't they contract out most of the Newport News coal dumper work?
tree68 Euclid Were the layoffs good or bad according to a fair and true, independent judgment, and not by the judgement of those who decided to do the layoffs? Unfortunately, only time can truly answer that. In the short term, one can only focus on the here and now. Ask your question in a year or so and maybe there will be an answer.
Euclid Were the layoffs good or bad according to a fair and true, independent judgment, and not by the judgement of those who decided to do the layoffs?
Regarding the layoffs, why is the answer to the question of whether they were beneficial to the company so elusive when all of the other EHH business decisions are able to be instantly judged to be failures?
What do you define as success?
What do you define as failure?
And that's just your opinion. Does there exist any non-biased, true independent definitions of those words when it comes down to business dealings?
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
EuclidRegarding the layoffs, why is the answer to the question of whether they were beneficial to the company so elusive when all of the other EHH business decisions are able to be instantly judged to be failures?
Some measures will take time to observe. Safety didn't suddenly take a nosedive, f'rinstance, but may show a negative trend over time.
I'm not sure all of EHH's decisions were instantly regarded as failures - closing some humps was regarded by some as a great idea. Centralizing dispatch was also seen as an eventuality.
But, as I noted, some decisions have already been reversed. Clearly they were the wrong decisions.
The "wait a year" applies to many of the other decisions that were made as well.
zugmann said:
My reply:
I have no fixed benchmark definition for either term. They are relative to each other. When I refer to EHH's decisions being judged to be failures, I am referring to the popular judgement that is expressed in a billion public comments. They seem to be monolithic in their judgment of 100% failure of EHH business decisions. They say it was a shakedown, a plot to plunder CSX for lining the pockets of a few.
But now when it comes to these EHH layoffs, the jury is not quite in yet. We have to give it time. He might have gotten rid of a little dead wood.
EuclidI have no fixed benchmark definition for either term. They are relative to each other. When I refer to EHH's decisions being judged to be failures, I am referring to the popular judgement that is expressed in a billion public comments. They seem to be monolithic in their judgment of 100% failure of EHH business decisions. They say it was a shakedown, a plot to plunder CSX for lining the pockets of a few.
Hardly a universal sentiment.
charlie hebdo Euclid I have no fixed benchmark definition for either term. They are relative to each other. When I refer to EHH's decisions being judged to be failures, I am referring to the popular judgement that is expressed in a billion public comments. They seem to be monolithic in their judgment of 100% failure of EHH business decisions. They say it was a shakedown, a plot to plunder CSX for lining the pockets of a few. Hardly a universal sentiment.
Euclid I have no fixed benchmark definition for either term. They are relative to each other. When I refer to EHH's decisions being judged to be failures, I am referring to the popular judgement that is expressed in a billion public comments. They seem to be monolithic in their judgment of 100% failure of EHH business decisions. They say it was a shakedown, a plot to plunder CSX for lining the pockets of a few.
I am referring only to where the sentiment exists.
What is one's definition of success - Eddie Lampert of Sears
http://wwd.com/business-news/business-features/sears-holdings-column-1202697169/
Euclid charlie hebdo Euclid I have no fixed benchmark definition for either term. They are relative to each other. When I refer to EHH's decisions being judged to be failures, I am referring to the popular judgement that is expressed in a billion public comments. They seem to be monolithic in their judgment of 100% failure of EHH business decisions. They say it was a shakedown, a plot to plunder CSX for lining the pockets of a few. Hardly a universal sentiment. I am referring only to where the sentiment exists.
So why don't you say what you mean, to what group of a billion you are referring in a simple, declarative sentence?
BaltACD What is one's definition of success - Eddie Lampert of Sears http://wwd.com/business-news/business-features/sears-holdings-column-1202697169/
At least they still exist down south, the Canadian division is no more. Went bankrupt last year and was liquidated, the last store closed in January.
The final executives gave themselves big payouts, while the future of the employee pension plan is in doubt.
SD70Dude BaltACD What is one's definition of success - Eddie Lampert of Sears http://wwd.com/business-news/business-features/sears-holdings-column-1202697169/ At least they still exist down south, the Canadian division is no more. Went bankrupt last year and was liquidated, the last store closed in January. The final executives gave themselves big payouts, while the future of the employee pension plan is in doubt.
Lampert has been closing and liquidating 60-70 stores every six months for the past few years. I have no fear that his intent is to have Sears follow Montgomery Ward into the corporate graveyard.
charlie hebdoto what group of a billion you are referring
Hyperbole
tree68 charlie hebdo to what group of a billion you are referring Hyperbole is a wonderful thing...
charlie hebdo to what group of a billion you are referring
is a wonderful thing...
says Capt. Obvious*. I was trying to pin Bucky down to make him be more explicit as to which group he was referring. "Billion" was his obvious hyperbole, but I guess you thought nobody picked up on that.
* aka Mr. Polymath, aka Larry the Tree 68.
charlie hebdo I was trying to pin Bucky down to make him be more explicit as to which group he was referring.
You should know better than that...
tree68 charlie hebdo I was trying to pin Bucky down to make him be more explicit as to which group he was referring. You should know better than that...
Johnny
Pin Jello down?
BaltACD Here/s the road map: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/sears-kmart-stores-ailing-as-ceos-hedge-fund-gets-hundreds-of-millions/ar-AAyPl8T?li=BBnbfcN SD70Dude BaltACD What is one's definition of success - Eddie Lampert of Sears http://wwd.com/business-news/business-features/sears-holdings-column-1202697169/ At least they still exist down south, the Canadian division is no more. Went bankrupt last year and was liquidated, the last store closed in January. The final executives gave themselves big payouts, while the future of the employee pension plan is in doubt. Lampert has been closing and liquidating 60-70 stores every six months for the past few years. I have no fear that his intent is to have Sears follow Montgomery Ward into the corporate graveyard.
Here/s the road map:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/sears-kmart-stores-ailing-as-ceos-hedge-fund-gets-hundreds-of-millions/ar-AAyPl8T?li=BBnbfcN
charlie hebdo Euclid charlie hebdo Euclid I have no fixed benchmark definition for either term. They are relative to each other. When I refer to EHH's decisions being judged to be failures, I am referring to the popular judgement that is expressed in a billion public comments. They seem to be monolithic in their judgment of 100% failure of EHH business decisions. They say it was a shakedown, a plot to plunder CSX for lining the pockets of a few. Hardly a universal sentiment. I am referring only to where the sentiment exists. So why don't you say what you mean, to what group of a billion you are referring in a simple, declarative sentence?
Oh, the billion comments were right here and also on the blogs, newswire pieces, people they quote, etc. Pretty much any opinion that I have ever heard on the matter expresses the narrative that I mention. In that sense, the view is monolithic. But by monolithic, I did not mean every person in the world. I thought that you thought I did mean that when you said it was hardly a universal sentiment.
The "group" I am referring to is just those with that opinion. That is why I answered your original question by saying I am referring only to where the sentiment exists. Surely it is obvious that they regard everything EHH did at CSX as a business failure, but with the one apparent exception being the massive layoffs at CSX under the direction of EHH. I would think that would be the most inflammatory move of all.
tdmidget BaltACD Here/s the road map: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/sears-kmart-stores-ailing-as-ceos-hedge-fund-gets-hundreds-of-millions/ar-AAyPl8T?li=BBnbfcN SD70Dude BaltACD What is one's definition of success - Eddie Lampert of Sears http://wwd.com/business-news/business-features/sears-holdings-column-1202697169/ At least they still exist down south, the Canadian division is no more. Went bankrupt last year and was liquidated, the last store closed in January. The final executives gave themselves big payouts, while the future of the employee pension plan is in doubt. Lampert has been closing and liquidating 60-70 stores every six months for the past few years. I have no fear that his intent is to have Sears follow Montgomery Ward into the corporate graveyard.
The department store concept has been in decline for years. Online retailing has simply accelerated the process. Sears actually tried bringing in some Amazon tekkies about nine years ago in an attempt to get into online. It didn't work out.
Sears is slowly dying. Mont Wards is gone. Carsons is gone. Retail is a tough place to make a dollar these days. The fact that Eddie Lambert recognized this years ago shows he was ahead of the game. What retailer is doing well these days? I dont go because I seldom shop anymore. Amazon changed everything...even with grocery stores.
Coal is slowly going to way of retail. Not much that can be done with that fact of life.
Ed
Warren Buffett used Berkshire Hathaway - the mill operations, that is - in the same way. Cash from the mill operations went in to other more profitable investments, and eventually Berkshire Hathaway did not need the mill anymore.
kgbw49 Warren Buffett used Berkshire Hathaway - the mill operations, that is - in the same way. Cash from the mill operations went in to other more profitable investments, and eventually Berkshire Hathaway did not need the mill anymore.
The key being that he used the money for other investments - didn't just siphon it off.
[quote user="tree68"]
Of course CSX's traffic is going to grow, NS has proven they can't handle what little overflow they received from "ticked off" CSX customers. And truck companies can't find enough drivers to handle the traffic they presently have.
And when the traffic grows it will be on a lean and mean CSX system which leads to higher profits per train.
longhorn1969And when the traffic grows it will be on a lean and mean CSX system which leads to higher profits per train.
Except that CSX has managed to gridlock itself on the little remaining traffic they still retain. Increases in traffic tie the gridlock even tighter.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.