i been with this company for little over year, and at first every thing seemed fine. but lately i been hearing rumors and talks about being bought, or of us folding up after 75 years from other drives and dock workers. and its not just rumors from what i hear lot s of guys at other terminals have been fired! as a matter of fact our terminal mager and 2 dock supervisors have been canned in the last 2 months!! will anyone in in the know in the LTL industry fill me in, because every thing is hush hush around here and i need to know if i need to start looking for a new job anytime soon.

BY THE way ward trucking = non union AND NO OVERTIME LTL!

Rumors of buyouts are a part of life at an LTL company, especially smaller companies as the big boys keep buying everything in sight. If you like your job dont worry about something you cant control. And if you are bought it will likely be a large company with great pay and bennies anyway. Drivers never get cut because of a buyout, management is the only ones who would be worried. They need the drivers for their expansion efforts. I'm at UPSF which purchased Overnight. No one got cut and they hired more drivers. Quit worrying, you'll never find a job where there are no rumors of selling or buying.

"Non-union" and "no overtime". Yup, those two phrases usually go together.

But it's what you make of it, it's part of the job, if you can't take the heat then get out of the kitchen blah, blah, blah...

another smart, eh uhm, dumbass responce from cold frosty dick. which made me think, you always have some great wisdom on everyone that is getting screwed, but i have never heard who you work for...probably no one that wants you to advertise for them?

yea our terminal manager response to a question was always "ITS THE NATURE OF THE BEAST". Well the beast ate him because he is longer employed by ward lol.

our old dock used to be in this small area right next to over night, fed ex, jp express and like 2 other ltl carriers and i remember when over nite express got bought . all the drivers started to wear the world famous UPS Uniform lol. did you guys get raises or pay cuts?

They (UPS) haven't changed our pay. 5415/mile and 21.50/hr, if anything, it should continue to get better. Although they have made alot of changes with still much more to come. I cant wait to see how much we grow over the coming years. I'm glad they bought us.

That's on par with the other union outifts covered under the National Master Freight Agreement. I don't think you'll see any raises besides the annual COLA. I've also heard that you won't go under the NMFA and that you'll see less work rules (more labor flexibility) in this new contract.

Having the backing of the #1 for-hire transport company in the world and the power of the UPS brand will pay off for you guys. I mean, the $hit would really have to hit the fan for UPS to go under. Ditto for the FedEx drivers, as well.

These smaller, regional-type carriers are going to be left in the dust, tho. Pure-play LTL carriers are going to feel a pinch because the lines between LTL and parcel are blurring. Look for DHL to make an LTL play in the near future too.

Best o' luck to ya'!

Yep--eventually bought out or gone belly-up. Chances are slim that a regional carrier's pockets are deep enough to consider buying a regional carrier competitor.

Yes--to some degree. A pure-play LTL carrier will need to change and adopt to a changing world. That could involve becoming more of a niche player in select markets rather than focusing on both LTL and parcel. No question that UPS and FEDEX are major players in both LTL and parcel. However, they will never monopolize the LTL and parcel industry. DHL is a prime example. 15-years ago, who would even have thought of shipping a package via DHL. In addition, watch out for some giant Asian tiger corporation. In a relatively short time, for example, China could have a giant global LTL and parcel company that could eat UPS, FEDEX & DHL's lunch. Welcome to the global economy.

That will be likely. Heard any good rumors?

I know that the big guys from DHL spent some time last year in Wilmington, Ohio and wanted to buy R&L but the owner said "No Sale"

DHL is huge in Europe with a large bankroll. I remember the rumors that they were going to buyout that piece of crap company Central Transport but that would have been a big joke for them. With Vitran buying PJAX last year and Pitt-Ohio only being regional, the best bet would be for them to buy ODFL. I guess time will tell.

Too bad--DHL & R&L seems like a good fit.

BTW, Hard2explain18--do you work for DHL?

ODFL seems like a good fit as well.

"...that piece of crap company Central Transport" might not be as big of a joke as everyone might think. Things are changing V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W-L-Y there. They're modeling the "new and improved" CT after Conway and Fed-Ex Freight. Granted, it's gonna take time to turn the ship around if they can pull it off. CT does have North American freight connections (Canada & Mexico). Any international company expanding in America would be very interested in that.