Post Gordon ~ Thoughts, Commentary & Reflections

HTLD Closed at $23.05 Today (Apr 02, 2014)

Heartland stock has been flirting with breaking past $22/share for some time now. Closed up 26 cents to reach $23.05, but had been even higher during day trading, up to $23.20 and then fell sharply back. All the same, this is new ground for Mike Gerdin's stock, has not closed this high that I know of. Dunno. And there's no other change at HTLD other than the Gordon acquisition that I know of, either, but I merely spot check the closing price occasionally.

Had a little fun with The Recruiter, Brett, in Indy. Called up, identified myself while driving up to Concentra for a pee test in Indy. Actually, I was a little surprised Brett was still there since I'd heard there'd been personnel changes. I asked about Ronnie, my favorite mechanic--old school, stops what he's doing to see what you've got and then fixes your problem immediately, gets you on your way. So maybe Gerdin really is 'keeping the best and getting rid of the rest'. Ronnie's still there, or so Brett told me.

Not that Brett wanted to talk. He did, though, answer my questions, if stiffly and would quickly add, "Now is there anything I can do for YOU?" We went around like this numerous times. Wouldn't it be fun to sign back up with Gordon, get a first hand view of the 'new' Gordon for a couple weeks, collect the bonus and move on? Ha, ha!

Naw... Up at Concentra I commented that they probably had 5 or 6 new Gordon drivers pass through every week. "Oh, sometimes a lot more than that!" came the quick reply. Outside I saw a Gordon tractor but didn't stick around to meet him or her. Instead I swung over to the Haz outfit I've been part-timing with most of the past year. Had told them after my last Indy-Philly-Rochester-Philly-Bridgeport-Philly-Indy run that I planned to take at least part of the winter off, make a trip West and otherwise work on my property.

"What's your availability?" the Personnel Guy asked. "Well, Hell, last week except I haven't made my trip West yet and I've backed myself into such a corner if Dispatch called me today I'd need 24-48 hours to get my financial ducks in a row." The plan had been to sell some equipment to finance both my winter and my trip West and until this last weekend nothing had sold. Well, the only thing I listed anywhere until last weekend was my F150.

With Personnel saying he'd have them put me on some shorties this week, I listed a bunch of stuff, car haulers, F350, F700 dump truck and figured I'd sell one and then pull all the listings 'cause I dropped all the prices $200 below what I really wanted. Happily, the F150 went bye-bye Saturday night.

What a relief!

The wrinkle is an outfit with a 20-tractor yard up the road has a weekly run into here from Prairie du Chien that would be predictable--pays a little less than the Haz outfit for sure but I wouldn't have to run in to Indy to start my trip and they'd give me a schedule a month in advance.

Mmm-hmmm. Stay tuned.


Written Wednesday, April 2, 2014 at Ellettsville branch of Monroe County Library. All rights reserved.

 

A Little Rusty...Eh?

Well, I killed a red squirrel. Ugh! Kind of puts a little damper on the morning, too. Oh, yeah, I suppose, that's trucking. Normally, with the distance in front of me when I saw him up ahead I would have been quickly on the air horn. In my experience, that horn moves 'em. He had plenty of time to get across the lane, but didn't. The fat acorn he held in his mouth just got bigger and bigger as he thought about what to do. Oh, Hell, I suppose if that's the worst of my concerns, my concerns don't amount to much.

Could have been a lot worse. Last night I looked over and saw a large deer right up on the fog line. And I was in my car, not a truck. This truck, an International Eagle that started out as a Wal-Mart rig, has a cow-catcher up front. I hope not to be that unlucky, though.

So this is a get-acquainted run. Technically, I'm still attached to the Haz outfit I've driven for this last year. All the same, this run goes out to Prairie du Chien and back to my neighborhood. There's a schedule a month or more in advance, the money's okay and I wouldn't have to drive to and from Indy. About 4 a.m. this morning I met Toby and Bob, both have been 9-1/2 years here. I had run up last night to square the truck up and spend the night in the truck. The short-timer here of twenty drivers (other than myself if I like the job) has three years. That tells you something right there.

No job's perfect and I wasn't planning to do the musical driver seat thing. Wasn't at all unhappy. We truck drivers just tend to have itchy feet, I guess. Crossed Kickapoo Creek on I-74 about 10:30 Central and the Illinois River going on into Peoria at 11:11. Got to find out about that double-spired church, got to be some interesting history in that...


Written April 07, 2014 at the Woodhull, IL Pilot off I-74. All rights reserved.

 

Informing the Haz Outfit

If there had been just one run this week to Prairie du Chien, like most weeks, I might not have had to say anything to the Haz outfit. But with a Monday and a Thursday run this week--and since I had stopped in to find out how busy they were at the Haz outfit--and because I knew the Personnel Guy was planning on hooking me up with some work this week...

So I sent an email to both Personnel and Transportation that I had just finished this first run and liked it enough that I wanted to give it at least six weeks or so to get to better know the company and make an informed decision. Which makes sense to me because it seems in the trucking industry it just isn't possible to get 'the scoop' on a company from the company itself. For that matter, look what a battle I've had here at TTR telling my experience at Gordon and attacked for it!

I never felt Gordon was a bad outfit. It just didn't pay well. Gordon was a great outfit that didn't pay very well for the time you put in--probably still is under HTLD. You could do a lot worse in this business: a lousy outfit that doesn't pay well. What an eye-opening experience, eh?

Fact is, many who went the Gordon way (insert any number of company names here instead of Gordon, too, if you like) never graduated into a trucking job that pays well for their time. Their mega experience compromises their CDLs and life with tickets, trivial accidents, medical issues or who knows what that then become barriers to better jobs. Yuppo, there will always be a need for OTR drivers willing to live in a truck weeks on end and put in 80-100 hour weeks for 40-hour pay. Ugh!

Anyway, good part-time gigs are especially hard to find compared to the number of full-time and the Haz outfit, where the full-timers make $65K on average, has been a really good part-time gig. Transportation sent back a friendly email that said, "Down the road you can keep us posted or if we get really busy we can check on you to see what you have going on at that time. wish you luck and talk to you later on."

Very cool!


Written April 11, 2014 from the Bettendorf rest area, I-80 eastbound. All rights reserved.

 

Third Prairie du Chien run

So tomorrow, Monday (4-14-14... a nice mathematical sequence!), I make my third run to Prairie du Chien with this new outfit, pulling out at 7 a.m. if the boss doesn't talk my ear off for 45 minutes again. He denied it later, but was nervous, I think, about letting me go and getting chewed out by the folks in Illinois because we didn't have an outbound. Illinois opens an hour later and I think he wanted me not too far out in case they wanted me to stay put until they could find a load.

Now if that DID happen it would be a rub and I half expect it. I'm running empty out and very light coming back--this is a good thing when the roads aren't coated with black ice. Otherwise, I'd like some weight to hold that trailer down if I need hit the brakes. Well, it's a new gig and none of the other guys want it. New guys get the... well, you know. But it's a good weekly run for me. Very good.

At the Haz outfit I was told that after a year part-time they'd start to offer 'extra incentives' to go full time. They made it clear they preferred full time anyway. Not me. I can see the yard boss at this new outfit already trying to fill up what he sees as all my 'spare' time and that doesn't get it. After this run tomorrow I have next week off and the run after that goes out on Thursday of the week after. I LIKE that!! Big time. Almost a two week break!

Should have done my taxes sooner. The over $800 refund from the Feds would have helped pay for a trip West. But there's plenty to do. We got hit with 5-6" of rain the night before I did my first Prairie du Chien and I have dirt work to prepare for the next rains. This morning I've been out, shovel in hand, and there are at least two more areas out there that I absolutely need to work on before head up the road later on tonight for a 'sleep over' in the truck before pulling out in the morning.

An eagle-sized bird of prey swooped between the trees down the hill as I walked up from this dirt work. Couldn't see where he landed and didn't want to expend the energy to work my way down there. So I hurried up to my chickens and found all three safely in the coop. Now, if they're smart enough to take shelter when the bad boys are in the air above, I'd like to see them stop kicking stuff into their water feeder...

Okay, break's over and two large pizza slices consumed along with a glass of inexpensive Chardonnay. Back to the shoveling...



Written 4-13-2014 at home, six miles north of Spencer, Indiana. All rights reserved. HTLD stock has taken a hit while NASDAQ has taken a bigger hit. Was down to $22 Thursday (had finally broken above $23) and ended the week Friday at $21.63.

 

Today's My Friday

So tax day, Tuesday, April 15, is my Friday this week and next! That is, I just finished my third Prairie du Chien run--that's it for this week. Next week there's no Prairie du Chien run because I did two last week and the next goes out Thursday of the week after next. I have like two weeks off now and only my second week on the new job. Cool! Talk about home time, eh?

And like the Haz outfit, these runs pay as much as some 7-day weeks at Gordon! Cruel world!

Around mile 90 on I-80 this morning the odometer turned 999,999 and I expected it to go 000,000. Instead, it went 1,000,000 and make no mistake, the 'old' truck (2005) feels GOOD. It hit 998,000 about 7:30 p.m. last Monday in Patch Grove, WI on my first run and 998,999 at about the same spot on my second run that went out Thursday. Not only that, the ISX in this old truck uses little oil, not enough after three trips to have to add. (And yes, it does have an APU and it works.)

Left out yesterday (Monday) morning at 7:15 a.m. (after a pretrip) and got in about 4 p.m. this afternoon (Tuesday) despite nasty tie ups on I-65 south that ate up about an hour or more. A tanker flipped northbound and a flatbed went over its side into the median from the southbound. He landed in an eight-or-more foot deep grassy ditch median and the damage to the tractor looked severe. Hope he's okay but I doubt it.

So this turn and last Thursday's were each worth $382 and change--not as much as the Haz outfit would pay but still a nice part-time gig, especially in that it pays by mileage. Suits me just fine so far. There's word that they'll start an outbound of dog food, so we'll just see about that in two weeks.

Mileage vs. Percentage--what's the diff??

This new outfit pays hub miles, which is good if you're paid on mileage--which this is. And it pays none of the cool extras the Haz outfit paid, like all breakdown time and all wait time over your first two hours at $18/hr. The Haz outfit also paid percentage.

Here's the rub with mileage: I get very little extra if they start adding an outbound load and probably lose four hours right out the gate for loading and unloading. Hmmm. I still like that it's close, runs are scheduled well in advance (I know when I'm off and can plan things better) and doesn't have the issues that come with Haz... It sometimes took an hour to sign the minimum 5-copy bills and USUALLY took a half hour or better to figure out and placard the trailer if a van. Of course, that was paid time...

With the Haz outfit, though, I also get a percentage of EACH load, so wouldn't get caught in this bind where I get nothing extra for an added outbound except a few paid miles that can hardly pay for time lost loading and unloading. Nyestky, I say.

Funny thing if you think about it: Gordon always said you 'earned' a day off for each week you were out. What hooey!! Imagine any other line of work trying to tell their people they had to 'earn' time off. What malarky! How far would McDonalds or Sears get with that?? You know, if they're paying you for your time, they WANT you to go home. Get you off the meter. Go home, please. The mega OTR's like Gordon (or--like Gordon WAS... ) don't pay you for your time.

The result? They consider your time their time and you have to 'earn' your time off. You have to pay for it. What a crock!! The $382 for this two-day run pays for a long, typical-truck-driver day yesterday (10.25 driving) and almost what would be a full work day out in the normal world of 8-5. This was 7-to-4. But that's a short day to an OTR trucker.

Think about it!


Written April 15, 2014 at home after my third Prairie du Chien run for the new outfit I'm trying out. HTLD bounced up today to close at $22, up from $21.67 Friday but well below the $23 and some it had risen to the week prior.

 

HTLD Hits Two New Highs

Yesterday and today HTLD hit new highs, $23.15 yesterday (Monday, 4/21) and today $23.17 (Tuesday, 4/22)--and those are all-time highs, not just since the acquisition. I checked the stock price before I left for Bloomington (Indiana) today and HTLD had hit $23.42 during day trading.

Interesting analysis at a site called 'Seeking Alpha' said that the change in HOS last July resulted in increased demand (because drivers could put in fewer hours per week so it effectively 'reduced' available truck hours, thereby increasing demand... ) and the impact of the polar vortex tying up the industry in severely cold temperatures and unexpected snowfalls (reducing availability of trucks by making it take longer to get each load delivered) made HTLD/GTI a home run with its breadth, depth and capacity hugely extended as a result of the acquisition.

So what made other trucking companies take it in the shorts (and same for drivers on mileage or percentage) actually put HTLD, Old Dominion (ODFL) and big firms like them (think Swift--SWFT, Knight--KNX) in a stronger position in the transportation market. Interestingly, Con-way (CNW), Werner (WERN) and J B Hunt (JBH) were said to have just tread water and more or less just held their position but did not gain great ground like HTLD.

That ODFL has done well is no surprise. Just seems like a rock-solid, top drawer firm. Just check the ODFL threads here on HTLD. If I wanted to work full-time, I'd probably strongly consider going there myself.

Did you know that Swift has $1.2 BILLION in debt? Apparently it does!! Contrast with HTLD which, I believe, is debt-free and already paid off the $150 million borrowed from Wells Fargo (---I think it was--) to do the Gordon acquisition. Interest rates are at a historic low at this time but can't stay low like this indefinitely. Where will SWFT be if interest rates shoot up--which they can--all it takes is some particularly bad news from the Ukraine, from North Korea, from Syria or the MERS virus.

Which company would you bet on--SWFT with $1.2 billion in debt or debt-free HTLD/GTI???? Yeah, right. By the way, if you haven't read anything about MERS spreading with 30% death rate, better look it up now. That may just be the coming plague that killed you, me and a third of everyone around you or that you ever met who's still alive today.

It's happened before...


Written Tuesday, April 22, 2014 at home, six miles north of Spencer, Indiana. All rights reserved.