7/20/07

I slept until 11am today, with no alarm clock. Normally that would sound nice and restful, which I'm sure it was, but it's too much sleep for me. I imagine the complete lack of sleep the night before was a contributing factor. In any case, I have felt like crap all day. One of those days I guess.

I was rolling up I-55 and stopped in for fuel. I remembered to pick up my beloved American Express card, so I'm feeling pretty good about that. A short while later I pulled into a rest area to participate in the conference call with Herb Schmidt, our company's CEO. Since I know Herb has been inundated with questions from drivers who are scared about various issues surrounding the merger, I decided to ask about some potentially positive developments that I haven't heard addressed.

The drivers who spoke before I did spent some time addressing their concerns, so I only had time for two questions. My first question regarded the possibility of additional locations from which we would be handled by local dispatchers. We currently have five locations where, when our turn comes up, we get to choose a load from those that are available. I like this because sometimes a load that looks bad to another driver might look good to me. The outlook seems positive for the prospect of adding one or more of these locations at some point in the future.

The first step will be to use the ConWay and Menlo freight to even out our running lanes. Then we'll be adding local pickup and delivery drivers to the locations that have the most freight density. Having a local driver pickup and deliver will mean that all we have to do is arrive at the terminal, drop a trailer, grab another, and be on our way. Then, over the course of time, locations with sufficient traffic could be handed over to a local dispatch staff.

My second question was a more big-picture one. I think the reason some people fear mergers and acquisitions is that they see large corporations go into growth mode, buy up smaller ones, and see what's left. I wondered if ConWay's acquisition of CFI was one step in a larger growth plan, or if it was expected to be adequate to achieve their objectives. On this topic, I was told that the plan is to treat this as a one step deal, and then grow organically within the CFI framework as economic demand allows.

I had a few more questions, but they were no big deal. I imagine the only real answers to anyone's questions are going to require some time.

After the call, I got back on the road and made it just into Iowa where I'll spend the night. The practical route for this trip would have taken me up I-55 through Illinois and then angled over toward the twin cities. Instead I chose to run state highways up the east side of Missouri and the west side of Illinois. From here I'll have a pretty straight shot up into Minnesota. The net result is that I got a much more enjoyable and peaceful ride today, with virtually no traffic, and I'll be paid for around 60 more miles than I actually drive. Tomorrow I'll get as close to the customer as possible and prepare for a delivery early Sunday morning.