Post Gordon ~ Thoughts, Commentary & Reflections

The HTLD Saga Continues

HTLD stock price continues to impress me, has stubbornly refused to drop below $20/share, up from $14.37 at the acquisition of Gordon--what was that?--Nov. 11 of last year, I think.

There's enough buzz to show me that joseph's none too thrilled and tow departed. (TTR requires I have both on my 'ignore' list.) I see that HeartofaFatTrucker has come back on joseph's thread and now identifies as an employee--ah, something new, grasshopper. Perhaps there's fear comments from Denali, Greyhound, Chowick and the rest will impact hiring.

When I finally get around to reviewing Steve Gordon's money--and, more importantly, Gerdin's, it becomes obvious that Gerdin simply dwarfs the Gordons financially. Dwarfs. Then we'll look at the number of shares outstanding versus the stock price and see how the market values HTLD before and after the Gordon acquisition.

Gerdin's mantra, 'Keep the best, get rid of the rest' probably applies to all aspects of the acquisition. There's a big difference between the departure of, say, Chowick and tow, I think, whereas Chowick just started last year while tow accumulated significant vacation time over his years of service. Don't know how HTLD calculates it, but you can bet HTLD calculates all of it.

Looks at it all. Closely.

"HTLD loves you, HTLD loves you not..."

Chowick seems to have gotten stuck with beaucoup forced time off for repairs--both from Gordon and Heartland. Don't think Joseph's been with Gordon long enough to accumulate much vacation. Dunno.

Funny to read drivers complain about HTLD fixing all issues on their truck. How short-sighted! More importantly, the griping should be that HTLD--like most of OTR, including Gordon--considers your time and wages optional. Doesn't need to 'take care' of you, financially. You're on your own--almost. Your wages are HTLD roulette and the dealer always wins.

Guess who's the dealer? You? Nah-h-h-h...

HTLD had and has a significantly better CSA than GTI and Gordon (GTI) was known for being a leader in safety and truck maintenance long before the FMCSA stepped in and put the big foot down.

The truth of Gordon's 350 mile 'average' (50% of runs below 350 and 50% above), though, came out in the acquisition-related disclosures. Can't make any money that way. Not 'real' money, anyway, when your first two hours loading are free to the company and your first two hours unloading, too--not to mention fueling, scaling and the rest of the brouhaha.

Short runs kill family budgets.

Our time, our pay is NOT OPTIONAL. Working for a company that thinks your time is free, well, just doesn't make sense. HTLD would make big changes fast if it paid even minimum wage for breakdown time. The outfit I part-time for pays $18/hour from the moment you're down to when you're back up and running, making money again, whether it's a flat or mechanical repair.

Oh, well. I recall reading that Steve Gordon said it would bankrupt GTI to pay drivers hourly. He's not worried now.

Whaddya think: Is Mikey (Gerdin) worried??

Almost skipped checking in this week, did skip last week.

Later, amigos!!

Written Feb 20, 2014 at Ellettsville, Indiana. All rights reserved.