MONEY MATTERS
Now that the third quarter is behind us, I thought I would take this opportunity to compare how we have done through the first three quarters of 2020. This year can be characterized as a tale of two periods, pre- and post-COVID-19. While COVID-19 did not impact us to the extent that it did many other companies in our industry, due primarily to the diversification of our customer base and their continued demand in the marketplace, we did see some other things change. Most significantly, since June, we have seen a steady increase in the number of open trucks. This has singlehandedly stunted our ability to create levels of profitability in what might be the “best” carrier environment we have ever seen. In this environment, we’ve seen high levels of demand as many shippers look to restock inventory levels depleted when the economy came to a screeching halt, which has been coupled with the lowest levels of available trucks the industry has seen. As employee-owners in this situation, each and every one of us should be trying to figure out what we can do to turn the trend around. Now, as Paul Harvey would say, “for the rest of the story,” one of the industry advantages of a tightening in capacity — or to put it more simply, a reduction in trucks available to pick up the freight that shippers have — is that the rates we are able to charge some of our customers increase as shippers shift their focus from minimizing costs to increasing their confidence that the shipment will be picked up and delivered where it needs to go. In an ideal world, we’d have the best of both situations with open trucks at a more traditional level of 7%–10% of our total fleet and high rates because everyone else is struggling. Unfortunately, we do not find ourselves in that situation, but we do have one factor mitigating the other. Hello from the sales team here at Big G! I hope you guys are all having a great start to the fall (winter in some places). I am amazed at how quickly the year has moved. We all keep hearing phrases like “new normal,” “unprecedented times,” and “essential workers.” As I look back over the first 10 months of 2020, it certainly has been much different than any other year. However, some things have remained consistent and constant. Our group of employee-owners have given it all they’ve got this year! Our new normal was met with a passion for success. Our essential workers have been out there daily moving product that makes the rest of the world happen. I sent out a video a few weeks ago about the Starbucks awards recognizing our entire team. While I am super excited about this recognition, it should come as no surprise. Big G owners make the difficult look easy every single day.
We continue to make improvements operationally that allow us to maintain levels of profitability despite the difficult driver market we are facing. It is as important as ever that each and every one of us, as employee-owners with a stake in the outcome of our business results, continue to focus on doing what we can to contribute to ongoing beneficial results for all of us as our ESOP balances grow.
GIVING OUR ALL IN UNPRECEDENTED TIMES –Stephen Voorhees, VP of Finance & Accounting
at such an exciting company during a very exciting time. Thank you to all for what you do on a daily basis to move our company and our customers ahead.
Thanks and be safe!
Fall is one of my favorite times of the year, and I like to slow down to count my blessings. I can genuinely say that I am blessed to work
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