BOSTON — Precision Scheduled Railroad remains a “mixed bag” for trucking giant and intermodal pioneer J.B. Hunt, according to Darren Field, the company’s executive vice president for intermodal. “I’m a supporter o...
http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2019/09/09-jb-hunt-exec-psr-remains-a-mixed-bag
Brian Schmidt, Editor, Classic Trains magazine
If I was the CEO of JB Hunt I would buy a controlling interest in one of the Class 1’s. I’m sure they could better manage and serve the customers, than what is going on with the PSR scam. It would be a win win for investor, customers and employees. Sone of the business that has been lost from PSR might come back again. Currently in the class one industry there appears to be little interest in growing market share and gaining new business.
James Sanchez
Nice idea but one hell of a pipe dream. Why do you ask that? JB Hunt for the year ending in 2018 had a total company wide revenue of just over 8.5 billion dollars. Union Pacific had a revenue for the same year of over 23 billion dollars. It would be like a mouse trying to eat an elephant whole. Let alone the regulatory people throwing a couple wrenches in the mix. Why the other OTR industry players that use that railroad as an intermodal shipper could definitely scream that JB is favoring only their own cargo on trains when it comes to dispatching and spots for loading. You think the FRA is rough to deal with at times try the FMCSA were they're allowed to totally revoke the authorization you need to operate. The biggest fear of any carrier in my industry is a FMCSA audit. Why imagine a IRS audit combined with a colonoscopy along with a root canal all done at the same time and with no pain meds or anesthesia. Then for more fun everyone in the office gets the same treatment if you're involved in operations at all.
It would still be possible. How many times have we heard the refrain, "they bought us out using OUR money?"
Look at the corporate histories. Many times the CEO and uppper management come from the smaller company. See Boeing (run by former MD folks), American Airlines (run by the former CEO of USAir), BNSF was run by the (smaller company) ATSF president, IINM.
You're also talking 2 major different business cultures. OTR trucking is one hell of a different animal compared to being a Class 1 RR in terms of customer service employee relations JB Hunt is non Union for one I doubt they would like to have to deal with the Unions in terms of labor. Then throw in the regulatory hurdles that would be required to jump thru to even attempt it not one carrier is going to attempt it unless you have a CEO with balls that require a 747 to be carried around in. Most OTR that use IM shipments do so in order to save themselves some money. Yes some CEO's come from the taken over companies that is why some companies were taken over for their leadership. However most OTR carriers have more people in customer service than Class 1 Railroads have in their Sales departments. I know at my place of employment every driver is considered a member of the Customer Service Team in fact they are the Front line of said team. Why they are the face of the carrier and are the first and sometimes the only one that customer interacts with. Be amazed what happens when a driver is respectful to a customer. Half the time when I or my boss is trying to get a problem settled with either the BNSF or NS it takes several days to hear back from someone. See the difference.
jsanchez If I was the CEO of JB Hunt I would buy a controlling interest in one of the Class 1’s. I’m sure they could better manage and serve the customers, than what is going on with the PSR scam. It would be a win win for investor, customers and employees. Sone of the business that has been lost from PSR might come back again. Currently in the class one industry there appears to be little interest in growing market share and gaining new business.
Look at the current market cap of the Class 1's..Not even UPS, or Fed Ex can afford to purchase a Class 1... Nor why would they? Operating your own physical plant is not cheap. LP's have a cheap low cost interstate and highway system available...
The way Amazon trailers are popping up like mushrooms at the intermodal yards I go by, maybe they will take over, market cap is not an issue for them.
857.86B for Sept. 30, 2019
Union Pacific market cap as of September 27, 2019 is $114.62B
Amazon wouldn't want the headaches involved. Yes they would have the market cap to do it however can you imagine how hard the management team of the UP would fight being told that our customers come first instead of the bottom line.
jsanchez The way Amazon trailers are popping up like mushrooms at the intermodal yards I go by, maybe they will take over, market cap is not an issue for them. Amazon.com Market Cap: 857.86B for Sept. 30, 2019 Union Pacific market cap as of September 27, 2019 is $114.62B
Amazon is not a trucking company though.. Your original statement was based on your opinion of a trucking company buying controlling interest in a Class 1..
Now..As far as Amazon goes.. Would they want to deal with owning and maintaining their own RoW? Once you know that answer you’ll see where Amazon wants to go..
Shadow the Cats owner Amazon wouldn't want the headaches involved. Yes they would have the market cap to do it however can you imagine how hard the management team of the UP would fight being told that our customers come first instead of the bottom line.
My guess is that you have never sold on Amazon. I have, and can tell you all they care about is the bottom line.
An "expensive model collector"
No but I have bought enough from them and we used to carry product into them. They were one of the worst places that my drivers ever went in terms of how they treated drivers. They refused them access to things like bathrooms breakrooms and refused to let them leave the property until the trailer was empty yet would take a day or more to empty the trailer. Yeah they want their stuff delivered yesterday but then treated the people that did it like they were animals.
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