YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → Preparing Your FedEx Ground Business and Staff After Peak Season

Preparing Your FedEx Ground Business and Staff After Peak Season — Transcript

by Route Consultant · 9,402 words · 1,249 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:01[Music]
0:08all right hello everybody Welcome to the
0:10rout consultant weekly webinar uh for
0:12those of you who haven't seen me before
0:14or haven't visited a webinar uh I'm Leah
0:16Nelson and I work on the Education team
0:17with Josh Gregory who is our frequent
0:19webinar host here at Route consultant I
0:21primarily work with financials and B
0:23business analysis and all of our
0:25different sectors and silos and checking
0:27out market trends figuring out business
0:29worths things like that all those good
0:30things so uh for our regular attendees
0:33welcome back uh whether you are brand
0:35new to the industry or you've been a
0:36contractor since the RPS days we want
0:38these webinars to be places you can
0:39learn and get uh all of your questions
0:42answered so before we get started with
0:44the content today I do have to read a
0:46quick disclaimer uh as we do every week
0:48so route consultant is not endorsed by
0:50is not re and is not recommended by
0:52Federal Express Corporation FedEx ground
0:54or Amazon Rock consultant is not
0:56sponsored by is not approved by is not
0:58associated with and has no connection
1:00whatsoever with Federal Express
1:01Corporation FedEx ground or Amazon so
1:04basically all this means is that you
1:05will not hear any materially nonpublic
1:08information here today uh on the webinar
1:10but we hope you hear some helpful
1:11information
1:13nonetheless uh one more note for all of
1:15our viewers today before we get started
1:17uh we will have time at the end of the
1:19webinar for a Q&A session so um whether
1:22you want to submit questions on today's
1:23topics or any other topic that you have
1:25questions about you can submit those in
1:27the Q&A feature at the bottom of the
1:29screen screen uh please do not use the
1:31chat feature I will probably not see
1:33your question if you put it in the chat
1:35feature but if you put it in the Q&A
1:36function at the bottom of the screen we
1:38will take a look at those at the end of
1:40the webinar so uh today we're going to
1:42be chatting about uh basically kind of a
1:44post Peak recap and rightsizing your
1:46business you know after Peak uh with our
1:48p&d experts which are Amy and Dave
1:50buyers and with that we will welcome on
1:52Amy and
1:54Dave hi I'm Dave buers Slicker Trucking
1:58um we we we operate p& D Lin hole um as
2:02well as Custom Critical and I'm Amy
2:05buyers I work alongside of Dave and we
2:08run um all these divisions together I
2:10handle most of the operations um HR uh
2:15kind of all the operation side of things
2:18um while Dave handles more of the um
2:21contractual and uh Trucking kind of
2:24logistic side of things perfect yeah
2:27y'all are definitely definitely experts
2:28in the industry value all of your all of
2:31your content and advice so we'll just go
2:33ahead and and hop in here so um
2:35basically just really quickly just give
2:37us a summary of your peak season I know
2:38we're we're right outside of it and
2:40exiting it you know just really this
2:41week so how how did that go um so I
2:44think the the common theme through the
2:47entire Peak was volume and bulk um I
2:51don't think that um we've ever seen a
2:54peak like this in the 18 years um even
2:57during covid I don't think we were
3:00prepared quite for the the volume push
3:04um that we that we had seen what do you
3:05think yeah we we usually plan for three
3:08to five peak days and we had every
3:12single day was a peak day Max Capacity
3:15every single day um 10 20% over our
3:19daily stop threshold which is your kind
3:21of your you know say no say no uh number
3:24um we in past have only hit that number
3:28um I mean we hit our our bonus numbers
3:30but we don't hit our daily um stop
3:32threshold um but just like Dave said
3:35three to five days maybe out of the year
3:37and we were above it on on Saturdays and
3:39Sundays I mean just odd crazy volume um
3:43so you know so there's a a blessing and
3:46a curse right um you plan for one thing
3:49so we know the forecasting wasn't 100%
3:51correct that was a little bit of a pain
3:53Point drw um I know being that we're in
3:56line hall as well we know that they were
3:58pushing volume to the the line hall
4:01Market um and the Hub Market um so we
4:05knew that the numbers were going to be
4:06off but but a lot of people couldn't see
4:08that um so they were doing a lot of um
4:11premiums and and processing a lot of
4:13trailers ahead of time trying to get
4:14ahead of the curve um which caused a lot
4:16of that drove discrepancy um forecasting
4:20obviously wasn't you know I mean I can't
4:22even I'm not going to go there um I
4:24don't know if that was you know there's
4:25lots of different reasons um I I you
4:28know but then on the the blessing side
4:30is that you know FedEx sales they're
4:32they're doing their jobs right they they
4:34got a lot of the volume back for us um
4:36hopefully we did a good enough job to
4:38maintain those um throughout the rest of
4:41the year and and you know prove that we
4:43can handle some of the the things I know
4:45um part of that is you know growing your
4:48business is is taking some of those big
4:50packages that we didn't want to but if
4:51it's going to gain us more foot space um
4:54in this industry then um you know maybe
4:58that's a you know that's a something
5:00that we got to take on the chin right
5:01now uh but otherwise um morale was up uh
5:05profitability was definitely up um it
5:08hurt was not easy for us or our drivers
5:12um but we made it we made it work um we
5:16had different plans for the staffing
5:18that we had we thought that we could
5:20help in a lot of the different
5:21contingency areas and and be available
5:24for flex and things like that and we
5:25ended up really covering our own stuff
5:27covering our own covering covering our
5:29own stuff um the volume was just so much
5:32um and we just didn't want to let that
5:34sit so we were we were perfectly sized
5:38uh though going into Peak thinking that
5:40we were uh what we like to call the O
5:43word which is overstaffed we don't like
5:45to say that word around here um but we
5:47did think that we were in a good
5:48position to to really help um and it
5:51ended up just kind of saving ourselves
5:53so it was um it was good for us but I I
5:55know a lot of companies did not do that
5:58they hired exactly the amount of people
6:00to keep their budgets in line and and
6:03ended up falling
6:04short yes I have I've heard that as well
6:07so uh you know now that Peak is over um
6:10I know we're definitely kind of in a
6:10shifting gear mindset here so you know
6:13what are your kind of immediate like
6:14first of the year plans for your
6:16business um so so Dave and I over the
6:20course of 18 years have kind of
6:23automatically an autopilot come through
6:27kind of what needs to be done in the
6:28beginning of the year
6:30um and with you know us participating
6:33with you guys it's become more of a
6:35focus to us to kind of note some of
6:38these things and not just that we do
6:40these things kind of on autopilot but
6:42why and why these things are important
6:45so things like um I wrote a couple of
6:47things down like right sizing your staff
6:50um doing performance reviews um truck
6:53insurance audit um making sure that your
6:56rentals are returned making sure that
6:58your scanners uh Dave has a big project
7:01he'll talk about scanner audits um
7:03revisiting your maintenance providers or
7:06looking into doing your own maintenance
7:07maybe you know figuring out if what you
7:09did during Peak worked for you this is
7:12the time of year to kind of double check
7:15reassess and make changes if you need to
7:18um and then there's a laundry list of
7:20housekeeping um things that FedEx is
7:22going to ask you for um it's the time of
7:25the year for compliances and in line
7:27hall 2290s uh the tax forms are due and
7:31all of these things that um you know
7:34need to be these boxes that need to be
7:35checked it's a perfect time to uh to get
7:39ahead of those things but those are the
7:40things that we kind of lose sight about
7:42um you know after the peak we're kind of
7:44like exhale and that's kind of the time
7:47to like take a quick breath and keep
7:50moving it comes it comes quick too um
7:53like our scanners we we we need to get
7:55rid of the scanners right we we rented
7:57them till January 15th today's already
7:59January 8th we feel like we just crossed
8:02the new year um yesterday so we we have
8:06uh seven days to get the scanners
8:08returned so we have to collect the
8:09rentals make sure we have them all um
8:12get the rental batteries which we didn't
8:13use we kept them off to the side include
8:16all that bundle get those all back and
8:18and Amy touched on it but one of the
8:20most important thing return the rental
8:21trucks it's easy to just leave them in
8:24the fleet and keep them absorbed but
8:27it's just not there's there's not enough
8:29meat on the bone there to to keep those
8:31rental trucks in the fleet um after
8:34Christmas they got to go back so so
8:36that's that's number one for us like the
8:38day after Christmas those things are all
8:40out of here whether we need them or not
8:43yeah because they get absorbed in and
8:44Everyone likes some and we talked about
8:46not running trucks um that was our
8:49strategy um in one of our previous
8:51podcasts that we don't rent trucks at
8:53Peak we buy new and kind of float those
8:55in and due to the volume and due to the
8:57bulk we ended up running three to four
8:59trucks so that was the first thing that
9:01we had our managers do is we actually
9:03called and said today's return the
9:05rental day everybody get them off and
9:07then I ex then took those once I got the
9:10return slip I made sure those were off
9:12our insurance so you know those are some
9:15things that we just kind of lose sight
9:16on um and then all of a sudden you're
9:18like you know digging up returns to send
9:20to your insurance company to back date
9:23coverages and it's just messy so to try
9:25to just make a list of those things each
9:27year as you go and and this year we
9:29added a couple housekeeping things and
9:31next year I'm sure we'll add a couple
9:32more but if you can kind of stay on
9:35track that okay it's you know the first
9:37week in January let's take a deep breath
9:39and let's you know get some of these
9:41housekeeping items uh cleaned up and
9:43done absolutely um I know one of the
9:46things and you kind of touched on it is
9:48is rightsizing your staff and that's
9:49always a big concern you know going into
9:51Peak and coming out of peak you know
9:52having those extra people on so you know
9:55what are the different things that
9:56you've seen over the years and how it's
9:58you know changed for you today compared
10:00to in the past or or and all that yeah
10:02so I think um Dave if you want to talk
10:04about like when we first started um it
10:07was easy to just hire seasonal employees
10:11yeah right like just for the season
10:13landscapers right firefighters whatever
10:16that looked like um and I think it was
10:18easier then um today we have to start so
10:22early that there's not just like okay
10:24you can turn you on in November and then
10:28shut you off January 1 first so there
10:29really isn't a seasonal like these
10:32people are working for us in July or
10:34August that we're bringing on for the
10:36peak season just because of onboarding
10:40onboarding the classes schedule L making
10:42sure everyone's safe right like just
10:45getting everybody to the point where
10:46they can be productive at Peak and not
10:48having new trainees at Peak so it's just
10:50a different it's a different game today
10:53there's different rules so you know so
10:55to have somebody with you from July I
10:58mean they're pretty much a full-time
11:00employee there's no there's not a whole
11:02season that anybody on unemployment or
11:05any type of layoff is going to tolerate
11:07someone working for you for six months
11:09and then all of a sudden January not
11:10needing them um but for us um I guess
11:14before I jump into how we right size or
11:17what we've done to right size there's
11:18there's some things that we've learned
11:20over the course of the of kind of doing
11:23this um which is first of all job
11:26Seekers people that are looking for work
11:28are more apt to find new opportunities
11:31on birthdays their anniversaries work
11:35anniversaries and holidays specifically
11:38the New Year kind of a new resolution
11:40right so as you are seeing that there's
11:44probably a lot of people that are
11:45looking for work don't be surprised if
11:47some of your people are looking for work
11:50um and not because they hate you or they
11:52you know don't want to do this anymore I
11:54mean right now we have probably 10
11:56inches of snow on the ground here in
11:57Ohio so it's the a time where people
11:59don't want to work for us um getting up
12:02and drudging through this is not great
12:05but it is a time where people reassess
12:07kind of their life goals um so just to
12:09kind of have a pulse on that that it may
12:12be time to start thinking about moving
12:15some people around um having some hard
12:18conversations providing some career
12:20opportunities um and just you know
12:22opening those dialogues with your people
12:25um it's also um the time of year that
12:28it's a little expensive to keep
12:30employees but it is cheaper to keep a
12:33good employee on staff um we're going to
12:36be coming into Valentine's Day and then
12:38tax season and then Mother's Day
12:41Father's Day I always tell Dave we don't
12:42get a lot of volume on Father's day but
12:44Mother's Day um um the volume and then
12:48we go into vacation season and I know
12:50not everybody offers PTO or vacation
12:53time but people are going to take time
12:56um we offer um vacation and because of
13:00the tenure in our company I think we're
13:02awarding like
13:041300 days of paid vacation this year not
13:08to mention so that's like three years
13:10right of someone being off work so to
13:13hang on to those people it's a lot
13:15cheaper to hold on to these people now
13:18invest in them and let them stay right
13:21find a place for them whether that um
13:24could be you know a contingency
13:25opportunity or give people some time off
13:27after this you know if you have some
13:29part-time people that don't like the
13:31snow give them a couple weeks off give
13:33them a couple days a week and and fill
13:35it fill it in but you can get creative
13:39um to do those things um also you know
13:43other contractors did hire seasonal
13:45people so there are people that are
13:47already trained um that are looking for
13:50new opportunities a little bit formal
13:51maybe they're looking they got a job
13:53with one contractor but they're looking
13:54now that they like it they're looking
13:56for someone that has benefits or
13:58whatever so there could be some moves
14:00being made um but I think before you get
14:03into oh my gosh I got 10 people I only
14:06got eight routes I need to cut cut cut
14:08kind of think about those things so that
14:11you're not hiring during Tech season and
14:13you're like oh my gosh here's the volume
14:15again and now what does this look like
14:19um so I would just you know kind of
14:22pause um if that would be yeah my my
14:25best recommendation as far as right
14:27sizing we have injuries to too with the
14:29weather well in any case but especially
14:32with weather um slips and falls and hurt
14:35ankles hurt backs um just injuries in
14:38general it's nice to have those cold
14:40season little flu yeah we have a lot of
14:42sick right now too um drivers are sick
14:45but we're we're able to keep rolling
14:47because we do have a little bit of extra
14:49Staffing yeah so so just some you know
14:52and again that's not um you know for us
14:55we are um we're looking we're growing um
14:58we're adding adding we took on a couple
14:59more zip codes we took on some new area
15:01we're looking um so our our um strategy
15:06right now to not lay off or to not let
15:09anyone go or anything like that is
15:11different um but I think all of those
15:14points as to why we're not apply to any
15:16contractor whether you're you know eight
15:19routes or 80 routes all of these things
15:22apply just at a different level and you
15:25know and I think it's also a good time
15:27to review employees maybe that were
15:30struggling that maybe are on your kind
15:32of quick exit list um everybody has them
15:36whether they were calling off or
15:38whatever I think it's time to sit down
15:40with these people um and you can have
15:42some hard conversations because you know
15:44to be frank uh you don't want anybody to
15:46quit but if you were afraid of having
15:48hard conversations during Peak because
15:50you needed them now is a time that you
15:52can afford to maybe um spark those
15:55difficult conversations and uh Dave has
15:58a great saying he says you're going to
15:59change the people or you're going to
16:01change the people so you're either going
16:03to you know have a conversation that's
16:05going to inspire some change in the
16:07positive and make that person kind of
16:09change some of the things they're doing
16:10or they can um make you know make a
16:12transition into a different opportunity
16:14for
16:17them definitely that definitely makes
16:19sense so um yeah performance reviews um
16:24definitely a good time for that um so
16:26yeah so let's kind of touch into more
16:28like transaction items you mentioned
16:29there's kind of like a laundry list
16:31audits of of everything so let's get
16:32into a little bit of that okay um so
16:35truck audits um I do these uh quarterly
16:40but this is definitely the time of year
16:41if you don't do them quarterly um we get
16:44payoff values for all of our trucks and
16:47then um revalue the trucks with our
16:50insurance company so if the truck was
16:53originally 65 Grand and now it's only
16:55the payoff is 45 Grand um I reassess
17:00that insurance um to a
17:02$45,000 payment you know uh coverage
17:05level um it seems crazy but it can save
17:08you several thousand dollars a month um
17:11and when you're you know kind of in this
17:12transition of keeping somebody or
17:15profitability with the volume down or
17:17snow and 82s and all the things that we
17:19have to deal with um those dollars add
17:22add up quite a bit um and then obviously
17:25like Dave said get rid of the rentals
17:27get them off your insurance do an
17:29insurance audit make sure you're not
17:31covering any trucks that you've gotten
17:33rid of um and make sure that all the
17:35trucks that you know uh that you do have
17:38are covered that one's not as hard
17:40because it's mandated to get trucks
17:41approved but covering excess trucks and
17:44for excess value is definitely something
17:48um you can even consider your deductible
17:50um you know we moved ours over the years
17:52from a $500 deductible to $1,000
17:55deductible um and it just you know it
17:57just it makes a world of difference in
17:59your
18:00everyday but those are things that you
18:02can look at in the beginning of the year
18:04and and see if it would make a you know
18:06make a change um as Dave mentioned the
18:09audit the scanner audit um we I mean we
18:14have like what almost 200 scanners so
18:17it's it's a lot to keep um managed the
18:20scanner batteries just kind of making
18:21sure that all the scanners that are on
18:24our trucks are the ones that say Slicker
18:26Trucking right you ever get that sits on
18:29the back of a bumper and somebody picks
18:30it up and then all of a sudden right
18:33you're flip-flopping and all that you go
18:35to get insurance you're like this isn't
18:37even our scanner right we also use it to
18:40find scanners that maybe there's two in
18:42a truck one's one's under the seat that
18:45fell and they just got a the driver got
18:46a new scanner and that one's been
18:48missing but we're still paying for it so
18:51we can track it down and get with the
18:52vendor they'll track it for us tell us
18:54the last day used what driver used it we
18:56could track what truck and kind of do
18:58some due diligence to to kind of button
19:01button that process up so we do we do a
19:04monthly scanner audit uh in the
19:06operation and it's it's due on the same
19:08day across the board we reconcile it and
19:10any missing scanners we will do a second
19:13audit or call and see last used um where
19:16it was at because we found we were
19:18missing last Peak we were missing um
19:21like 25 scanners so we tracked them all
19:23down right before Peak which we would
19:25have rented 25 scanners so it was a huge
19:28savings for us just to do a little leg
19:30work and find our scanners I mean and
19:32there in people's backpacks and lunch
19:34boxes old employees still had them and
19:36we would just call the old employees and
19:37say hey do you happen to have a scanner
19:39and they say actually I do and and they
19:41mail them back to us or we send a label
19:43to them them the um the overhead in some
19:46of the cargo van or in the box trucks
19:48kind of goes down on a slope they fall
19:50in there and get covered up with papers
19:52and bags and whatever else so just do a
19:55a monthly kind of sweep just to make
19:57sure that those are good and then as
19:58Dave mentioned get rid of those rentals
20:00get them off so that you're not charged
20:02another because they'll do a month month
20:04after that and they'll assess you for
20:06for not getting it back in time so we um
20:09we we also look into our maintenance
20:12providers um even us with our own shop
20:14we we look at our our mechanics how did
20:16they do how we have mobile units that we
20:18use how did they do were they overworked
20:21were they underworked do they have more
20:23capacity were they at Max Capacity were
20:25we using the wrong parts were we using
20:27the wrong Parts should we have should we
20:29maybe use the outside vendor to to do
20:31some of the work maybe tires or or
20:33something like that um we we look at
20:36that we we also look we we don't have it
20:38specifically but you want to look at if
20:40you're overpaid um are people just
20:43charging you a lot because they know you
20:44need the trucks on the road because it's
20:46Christmas season and you can't afford to
20:48have the truck down for more than a day
20:50or two or even at all so they can kind
20:52of put a cost on that convenience to you
20:55and then um use the time to to establish
20:57good relationships with your with your
20:59vendors and you know you go in before
21:01Peak you say Hey look it's going to be
21:03busy for us we need we kind of need some
21:05good service if they gave you good
21:06service maybe give them a little more
21:08business during the year and make them
21:10maybe your go-to vendor for this or for
21:12that even if they're not the cheapest
21:15maybe they the the quality of work and
21:17and a little bit increase in cost is is
21:20worth it yeah to to you and your
21:21business and then
21:24um we we do the Tire and Oil Change
21:27audits you know we give everything
21:28breaks before Peak starts and coming out
21:31we we're doing full Tire audits on the
21:33whole Fleet to get everything back on
21:34track we're doing full audits on oil
21:36changes and what's due what's not due is
21:38anything overdue and we're getting
21:40everything caught up and back on track
21:43uh so that the fleet doesn't fall behind
21:45on
21:47maintenance and then um terminal staff
21:50meetings we um we like to have a kind of
21:55know brm I guess if you will trm I don't
21:58know reverse reverse brm I don't know
22:00how you want to say it but a business
22:01review meeting with our terminal um and
22:04we talk about the things that that
22:06worked and didn't work so very much like
22:08a a medals meeting I guess you would say
22:11um we sit down with our terminal staff
22:13and kind of go over the The Good the Bad
22:15and the Ugly what we could have done
22:17different um if there's still need if
22:19they still you know want us to to help
22:22if there's any additional opportunity
22:24uncovering some of those opportunities
22:26to put some of those maybe excess
22:27staffers on on um but to really just sit
22:30down and and kind of talk to them as
22:34partners right as to to what what needed
22:37to be done um the 300 belt had great
22:39loaders the 200 belt my guys are
22:41screaming um right and and kind of what
22:43that looks like and how we can kind of
22:45help them and how they can help us um
22:48come out of this and and start the new
22:49year on a positive foot um so those are
22:52those are huge um again ask about the
22:54growth opportunities um identify
22:57improvements and then just a quick list
23:00um uh about
23:03housekeeping um which is your your Epley
23:06recertification so your employee um
23:08protection liabilities Insurance um your
23:11ntl and your p& insurance that'll be
23:14renewed um BWC renewals and all of these
23:17things Marsh should be emailing you um
23:20to get these new certificates if they're
23:22not you don't want to be deadlined so
23:24just try to stay ahead of some of these
23:26things um if you're line hall 2290s are
23:30going to be coming up in a month or two
23:31if your line hall plates are probably
23:33coming du um we just got a stack of
23:36plates for one of our lease they all
23:38come in the first of the year um so
23:41those forms need to get to the new
23:42registrations need to get to the
23:44terminal they need to get in the trucks
23:46um just again some just basic um
23:49housekeeping the new year there's a the
23:52alcohol carry um form that we're
23:56supposed to have in the trucks that
23:57allows permits us to deliver alcohol
24:00products that should be a new year um
24:03there should be a 2025 so getting that
24:05in all of your trucks um the do handbook
24:09does have an expiration date um that
24:12little fat little teeny book that needs
24:14to go in there make sure that one's
24:16current um we have a truck document
24:19folder um it's kind of it's a red I
24:22don't even think I have one maybe I do
24:23have one it looks like
24:26this um red folder and it goes in
24:29everybody's truck so no matter what
24:32truck you're in if you're in an accident
24:34or if you're pulled over or you need
24:36anything from the line hall trucks to
24:37the p& trucks you look for this you know
24:39red folder and you can find all the
24:41documents you need basically just hand
24:43it to them and say everything you need
24:45is in here right um so if you're new or
24:47you're you know not good with you know
24:51risk type of situations or tense
24:54situations you can just hand them the
24:55folder and everything's in there um so
24:57we make sure those things are all
24:59updated your Fai inspections so your um
25:02your truck inspections make sure those
25:03are all good um do certifications and
25:07your CT right so anybody's Med cards you
25:11know make sure that you kind of take a
25:1260 90day look First Advantage can let
25:15you do some reporting pull those make
25:17sure you're ahead of those so that you
25:19don't just get deadlined oh my gosh I
25:21didn't know um driver's licenses
25:23birthdays we kind of keep track of that
25:25we send messages to our guys and let
25:27them know they're you know hey don't
25:29forget it's your
25:31birthday um and then also um the CT stay
25:35ahead of your your um qualer make sure
25:37your researchs are done those are all
25:39coming up for for um a lot of
25:41contractors right now um so we got
25:43through I think we had ours all through
25:46the 15th of January so that we didn't
25:48have to we did them early so we didn't
25:50have to scramble during Peak um and now
25:53we're going to ramp back up so we have a
25:55class on Thursday um with some of our
25:58drivers and that's also another way of
26:00getting your people off the road right
26:02so if you need a day where you're a
26:04little bit overstaffed grab a couple of
26:06people and throw them in a class um and
26:09get and get that recertification um
26:11process going so those are just like I
26:14said I know it's a lot and it kind of
26:17but good thing it's it's videoed um but
26:19there are um there are a lot of
26:21housekeeping items that you learn over
26:23the years that just can fall in the
26:25cracks and then all of a sudden you're
26:26like oh I need to do that or oh you know
26:28so I think it's just um a good time of
26:31year to kind of just put some checks and
26:32balances in
26:34place absolutely absolutely in personal
26:37life and business I feel like that
26:38applies
26:40across perfect well real quick before we
26:42kind of hop into Q&A and listings and
26:44things like that you know what are a few
26:46things that y'all are you know looking
26:48at kind of tying together what's next
26:50for Slicker over the next couple
26:53months uh growth growth we're looking at
26:57growth um to grow how to grow when to
27:00grow we just bought two new line hall
27:02tractors so uh we'll get those on
27:04boarded and and rolling so that'll kind
27:06of kill some of our January time at the
27:08shop that might get a little slow those
27:10guys will work to get that onboarded um
27:13we we'll look to just make improvements
27:15in the operation in general just any
27:17anything we can do whether it's it's
27:19behind the scenes or even on the
27:21Forefront um we we might do a focus on
27:24uniforms or um things like that then um
27:30Ju Just just getting getting ready to
27:31get the year Rolling we're we're ready
27:33to go um there's a couple new
27:36opportunities p& D opportunities we're
27:37looking at um and then for me on my side
27:41of things and you guys have seen this um
27:43at Expo and some of the things that I
27:45talk about unique characteristics and
27:47renegotiations so this is a great time
27:50of year because we're a little bit
27:51slower um I know a lot of times you know
27:55we'll be on Facebook or we'll be talking
27:57to our managers like this always happens
28:00this one stop always does this or when
28:03you know the summer hits there's
28:05festivals and this little block of the
28:08this city town and on Saturdays I can
28:10never get through those are great things
28:13to document when you're not up against a
28:16renegotiation or a negotiation right
28:19document it when you have the time even
28:21if you just put bullet points and a
28:23topic down and then go back and fill it
28:26out and then submit it to your SPS s
28:28which is your you know your BDS whatever
28:30you want to call them um your service
28:32provider specialist sent to them and
28:36they will forward it and then remind
28:38them when you go into renegotiations hey
28:40don't forget I sent you these four
28:42documents and I want them reviewed
28:44before we renegotiate and if there is
28:46something that's causing you um you know
28:50our customer does not want us to fail so
28:52I think by saying that like really take
28:55a look if you are losing money and
28:58you're running things the best way you
28:59think you can um or there are some new
29:02factors that that weren't
29:04considered you know have a conversation
29:06but you have to get your terminal
29:07manager involved you have to get SPS
29:09involved and you have to have a
29:11conversation that makes sense um you
29:13know overpaying your guys so that you
29:15don't have to go to the terminal is not
29:16a unique characteristic that's a
29:18privilege um but if there are some
29:21things that are truly um unique and that
29:24have changed since the contract was in
29:27you know signed
29:28or that you've unraveled because it's a
29:30new contract you're like oh my gosh I
29:32didn't know this this and this um you
29:35know that's the time to bring these
29:36things up don't just wait um until it's
29:40time to renegotiate by the time you get
29:42there they've already run the numbers
29:44engineering's already gotten involved
29:45and it's too late so staying on top of
29:48your business reviewing your own
29:50business um for those characteristics
29:52that's your responsibility um and
29:54they'll listen but you got to do it in a
29:56formal way right do it the right way um
29:58get your numbers together um and then
30:01and then have those conversations and I
30:02always find the beginning of the year is
30:04always a really good time to do that
30:05because I'm kind of fresh we're through
30:08Peak you know you kind of have a new
30:10outlook it's kind of like your New
30:11Year's resolution right like I'm going
30:13to do things different now um and I
30:15think it's a good place to start um so
30:17just don't forget about those things um
30:20those are some of the things that have a
30:21tendency to to sit back and then bite Us
30:24in the butt when we don't pay attention
30:25to
30:26them abs absolutely absolutely get those
30:29get those unique characteristics written
30:31down so um perfect well before we jump
30:33into the Q&A just a quick reminder for
30:35everybody um if you do have questions on
30:36the content today or like I said really
30:38anything in general um go ahead and put
30:40that in the Q&A function now and while
30:42people are putting in their questions uh
30:44I'm going to go over some listings and
30:45events so uh we do have one new listing
30:48this week it's quite a big one uh in
30:49Central Alabama it's 27 p& D routes
30:52listed at $2.1 million uh it's got just
30:55over an 18% ebaa with 31 employees 45
30:58trucks and three managers um so three
31:02manager on staff they handle the daily
31:03operations of the business um it's a
31:05rural territory so it offers kind of
31:07easy routes for drivers uh lower than
31:09average turnover um like I said it's a
31:11it's a pretty large business out of
31:12Central Alabama so if you're interested
31:14take a look at that on our website and
31:16then for events uh we will post the link
31:19to the events in the chat if you're
31:20interested but we do have one event in
31:23January and that's going to be in
31:24Orlando Florida uh it's going to be a
31:26happy hour on January 21st which is a
31:28Tuesday so uh if you're in Florida or if
31:31you want to go to Florida where it's a
31:32little warmer than the rest of the
31:33country uh sometime in January uh we
31:36would love to see you at our happy hour
31:37for that so uh looks like we do have
31:40some Q&A questions let me pull those up
31:43here um so we've got one first question
31:46here is you know how much of these kind
31:48of new gear activities these checklist
31:50items are the managers doing versus the
31:53owners uh we we try to give as much to
31:55the managers as we can uh we'll we'll
31:59handle like the insurance and and the
32:01truck value part the scanner audits I
32:05oversee it but the managers do do all
32:07the leg work on on that and I I kind of
32:10manage that um with them and then the
32:14maintenance uh we'll include them in the
32:16maintenance the managers we'll we'll ask
32:18them to kind of get their data together
32:20since we're in multiple Terminals and
32:22and they'll they'll sit with us and
32:24they'll they'll talk to us about that um
32:26the the red folder audits you have the
32:28you have the managers go through all
32:31that yep red folder um and document um
32:34we have uh an office assistant here
32:37she'll get all the documents together um
32:39and put them in kind of folders for each
32:42terminal so each terminal has their own
32:44folder and then the manager or the BC
32:47for that area will come in grab that
32:49folder and then they know what they need
32:50to update um but the managers the the
32:54local BCS and again if you've you know
32:57seen our our conversations before Dave
33:00and I are executive level we have a GM
33:03and then we have three senior managers
33:05and then our local BCS and those are the
33:07guys that report to those terminals
33:08every single day the senior managers are
33:11in rotation so our local BCS the guys
33:14that show up do the drw do the schedule
33:17manage the guys those local level BCS
33:20are doing a lot of these tasks they're
33:23doing the audits they're giving the data
33:25to us or to our senior manager
33:28then we have the data to then execute on
33:31WE involve them um with some of our you
33:34know assessments some of our uh
33:37recommendations and we then work as a
33:39team to kind of implement whatever's
33:41next but those local BC managers are the
33:44ones that are kind of doing the leg work
33:46um we also have our local BCS give some
33:49tasks to maybe team leads um which are
33:52the peer leader drivers uh that are
33:55looking to maybe next step into a role
33:58so um they will take on some additional
34:01uh tasks just to get them kind of
34:04prepared for what's next and to get
34:06involved and they're eager to do so but
34:08all that's done at the local level um
34:10AOS should not be doing that work you um
34:13should have someone in place that does
34:14the that kind of investigative work and
34:17then give you the results um or work
34:19alongside but uh Dave and I are or
34:22neither of us are too good to do the
34:24work it's just you have people in place
34:26for a reason um so so that answers I
34:28think that's and it's slow so it's good
34:30work it's good time to do it because
34:31we're coming out of peak um you know
34:33they they've been working on a lot of
34:35different things and it's a good time
34:36for them to it kind of gives them a
34:38little bit more office
34:41time um what's the next questions so
34:45next we've got that red folder that you
34:46showed what are placed in there so we
34:49have um we actually have a cover sheet
34:52for that red folder and it says
34:54everything that's supposed to be in it
34:55so um we start off with um Team lead and
34:59manager contact information as well as
35:02phone numbers for
35:03CPC um and um emergency contacts and tow
35:08tow Tru companies um so we have all
35:11those phone numbers so important contact
35:12information um terminal uh numbers
35:15things like that um and then we have the
35:18insurance the
35:19registration uh the Fai so the um annual
35:23inspection long form um the long form of
35:27the insurance as well as the cab card we
35:29have the um the the the alcohol um sheet
35:34the current do handbook we have then our
35:38personal information right so we have um
35:41our um labor law packet um so all your
35:47different things that if you had an
35:48establishment that you would post um fed
35:51uh the the BWC and the labor
35:54um attorneys uh tell us that it's okay
35:58that we rely on the fact that those Ohio
36:01labor laws are posted at the Ohio
36:04terminal by FedEx um we like to put all
36:07of ours in a folder essentially the guys
36:09are reporting to those trucks and those
36:11trucks are their office so I make sure
36:13that you know the gun carry law the the
36:15minor law the labor laws hours breaks
36:18all those um posters that are supposed
36:20to be posted in your establishment we
36:22have a packet of those that go in that
36:24booklet also our BWC shortcuts
36:28um who to call if you're injured and
36:29then an injury packet so um required by
36:32BWC so the first um report of injury uh
36:36that packet is in there your FedEx
36:39accident packet our FedEx accident
36:40packet is in there um and sheets and
36:44hand sheets are in there in case the
36:46scanner dies um and then we have a
36:49customer care card that we put um we
36:52didn't want to call it a conflict card
36:54but that essentially is what it is um
36:56it's a card that has our general
36:58manager's phone number on it and it goes
37:00to a separate phone that he carries not
37:02his personal phone not his work phone
37:03it's just a separate customer care line
37:06and these are for um customers that you
37:09know maybe um got a little bit you know
37:13sticky with one of our drivers I don't
37:15want to give you my driver's license and
37:17then our guys's like sorry I can't give
37:18you the package and there's some sort of
37:20conflict or a customers like hey I
37:22really don't like when you guys do this
37:24or I want to talk to your manager or I
37:26think you did this damage to my yard and
37:27the guys like I didn't um it's just an
37:30easy way for our drivers to avoid
37:33conflict and they hand them the card and
37:35it says Hey here I got to get to my next
37:37D you know my next stop but you can call
37:40my boss you can call a representative at
37:42my company and they'll be happy to talk
37:44to you about whatever you need and it
37:46just puts like one degree of separation
37:48between our driver and the customer and
37:51it's formal and they really appreciate
37:53it and then those calls get fielded to
37:55someone that's more suited to have that
37:59kind of conflict resolution kind of
38:01conversation um so those are in there as
38:03well so everything that if you think
38:07about in your business anything that a
38:09driver would need to respond to an
38:12accident an injury um a a stuck a
38:17breakdown um anything like that where
38:19you would think oh my gosh they're going
38:21to need this document we've put it in
38:23that b in that has to have the schedule
38:25yeah statement lease Y and with line
38:27hall there's a couple other things that
38:29um are required to be in the truck um
38:31the statement a lease the schedule um so
38:34just a few other things for line hall
38:36that do need to be in there the e22 or
38:38the um 2290 tax form the heavy duty tax
38:41form um and then cab cards obviously
38:44registrations if you have a portion
38:45plates or regular plates so again if you
38:48think about um we also have like the do
38:51logs manual logs how they send it for
38:53line hall um if they're out and their
38:55logs stop working you have to have paper
38:58logs to get them back so just some
39:00things that over the years that we've
39:02kind of gathered that um you know the
39:05drivers are like oh my gosh I wish I had
39:07this um we even have some drivers that
39:10um put if they're in a regular truck
39:13they'll put their a copy of their DOT
39:15physical in the in the folder just so
39:18they know that they have it God forbid
39:20whatever happens they just they like to
39:22be a little bit more prepared um so they
39:24you know they double check and just kind
39:26of put that in there um that's not
39:28required by us they just do that if it's
39:30their regular truck uh but again
39:32anything that you would think that you
39:33would need um during any type of dot
39:36stop traffic stop accident breakdown
39:39whatever um injury those things need to
39:41be in that um in that
39:44folder perfect and the next question is
39:47basically is there a a template or a
39:49list of all these yearend tasks um that
39:52we've kind of gone over today I know
39:54that I have an email from you all that I
39:56could
39:58make into a list so uh we can cover that
40:00if you uh want to email info@ Ral
40:02consultant.com and just mention hey I
40:04would like to see the list for the year
40:05end tasks we can get that over to you
40:07yeah and I can send over I can send over
40:10some of the things that we do on the
40:11line hall side that we didn't include on
40:12this one and then you can just forward
40:14it to to whomever needs it that would be
40:17great again info Ral consultant.com we
40:20get anything you need on
40:22that and then the next question is uh
40:24basically are you all the AO for all of
40:26your contract conts or do you have any
40:28senior managers listed is your AO
40:30instead of you guys good good question
40:33um I am the AO at at all
40:37terminals the line hall Custom Critical
40:41and p& I I am the main AO uh only AO the
40:45only AO yeah the senior managers are
40:48listed as BC's on the contracts so that
40:51they can do business with
40:53FedEx um and then our and then our
40:56terminal level um BCS or actual BCS but
41:00the terminal is is really good about
41:02recognizing the the the
41:05levels management senior manag
41:07structured in our business yeah they do
41:09respect um it's taken I mean it didn't
41:11happen overnight um but we also didn't
41:12have senior managers overnight like that
41:14never was really a thing it was Dave and
41:16a Truck to start out and then we kind of
41:19Grew From there um but our managers are
41:22definitely our senior managers are
41:25welcome at AO meetings um they never
41:28turn them away um there's only some that
41:31are like the you know if there's an NDA
41:34or something specific going on in that
41:36contract that they won't let them in but
41:37if it's just a normal AO meeting um they
41:40recognize the role that they play and
41:44that it's it's important for their
41:46success um of the contract for them to
41:49be involved so they welcome um them into
41:52the meetings they know that if you know
41:54one of our senior managers says
41:55something it would be like Dave saying
41:57it
41:57um and then it is odd uh but Dave and I
42:01we do have the same entity also we have
42:04one V number for all 200 employees work
42:08under the same V number um outside of
42:10Custom Critical because that's just a
42:12different animal but our line hall
42:14contracts our p& contracts everything is
42:16under one contract uh or One V number
42:20one entity number um line hall is all
42:23one even all because we're in a hub area
42:25so all 40 one trucks are under one
42:30number um one contract and our
42:32individual contracts are still in Dave's
42:34number um so we do that um for ease of
42:40uh contract management uh when we move
42:42people around because we are Regional
42:44moving people from contract to contract
42:46I don't have to move them from you know
42:48what day they worked under What entity
42:50and pay them different um we did that
42:52for for a couple uh years and this just
42:55works out better and it's also um it
42:57really does strengthen our culture and
42:59our brand so not just the FedEx brand
43:01but the Slicker brand um it means
43:04something um and when you you know have
43:06that big culture and have that um kind
43:09of big support system uh and everything
43:12is done consistently um it's just the
43:15the way Slicker does it and these are
43:16our Slicker policies and there's one
43:17handbook and this is kind of How We Do
43:19It um and we just take the successes and
43:23replicate them and take the mistakes and
43:26learn from them and and then replicate
43:28the the solutions um and it just really
43:30has worked out for us I do we I think we
43:33get that question quite a bit um because
43:35I know everybody does have they're like
43:36what about the risk if they take that
43:37contract can they take your contract um
43:40and I think there's more value to us and
43:42being together then there is risk um in
43:46in losing a chunk or or being downsized
43:48or what have you um we're still in
43:50growth mode 18 years later um so I don't
43:53I don't foresee that being an issue and
43:55and we we are definitely we lean into
43:59compliance and and all the things doing
44:01kind of the right thing so um you know
44:04we don't we don't have any open risks in
44:07that regard knock on wood you never know
44:10but but it is a different conversation
44:12but um but yeah I think that's that's
44:14led to a lot of the the strength and
44:16success that our companies had
44:20absolutely perfect well that looks like
44:21it was our last question as of right now
44:24um I'll give it a couple more seconds in
44:26case anyone is actively typing um but I
44:29think I think that's probably it for
44:30today lots of great information of
44:32course and again if anyone wants to to
44:34get kind of a synthesized list just
44:36shoot an email over to info at rout
44:37consult and we'll send that over to you
44:39I know we've got an email or two uh and
44:41I will do my best to get those to you
44:42all but again it's it's a little easier
44:44if you email info Rock consultant then
44:46put it in the chat um don't do that um
44:49perfect I can go over this we have a
44:50little bit of time I can go over if
44:52anybody wants to take some quick notes
44:54um again some of the things just to
44:56reiterate R um we right sizing your
44:58staff and then thinking about um you
45:02know taking on uh performance reviews
45:05when it comes to that looking at
45:07anniversary dates and birth dates as
45:09well as New Year change um we actually
45:12do um a birthday post on our Facebook
45:16and an anniversary post on our Facebook
45:18every month so it keeps those people
45:20Forefront and you would be surprised how
45:22many people their birthday and their
45:25work anniversary with us are in the same
45:27so it really does show that people do
45:30make change during these very important
45:33kind of milestones in their in their
45:34lives um so just kind of take a look at
45:36that and then from the transactional
45:38side truck insurance audit return your
45:41rentals scanner audits return your
45:44scanners revisit your maintenance
45:47providers um terminal staff meetings try
45:50to gather some data and have a
45:51respectful conversation I can't stress
45:53that enough um and then the FedEx
45:56housekeeping
45:57um your Epley um it's a great time to
46:00requote these things too so even if
46:03you're super happy or there's nothing
46:04wrong um it's not a bad idea to protect
46:07yourself as the business and requote or
46:10have conversations with some of your
46:12providers um your Epley your um
46:15non-tracking liability and physical
46:17damage
46:19BWC
46:202290 um if you're Lin Hall that's the
46:23heavy duty tax required to to um provide
46:26services plates and
46:28registrations um current year alcohol
46:31forms make sure all those current forms
46:33are in your trucks dot
46:35handbook um truck document folders if
46:38you have those um again we put not only
46:42our truck folder our truck documents in
46:43there but also our employment um
46:45documents that are important to our
46:47employees um your Fai inspections your
46:50annual inspections and then keep ahead
46:53of your um dot certifications your med
46:56cards for your people and their qualer
46:59research trainings um so whether you do
47:01it through groundcloud or um you know
47:04any of the other providers just make
47:05sure that that doesn't um kind of poke
47:08you and that can all be found um under
47:11your um Association uh your Workforce
47:14list can has all those expiration dates
47:16it's got your uh driver's license
47:18expiration dates for your drivers it's
47:20got your do expirations and it's got
47:22your qualer um expirations so it's
47:25literally if you just export that copy
47:27paste it put it in a spreadsheet um
47:29you'll have all the information um you
47:32know as to what's due and and it won't
47:33bite you in the butt um coming coming
47:36forward so I think those are um like I
47:38said those are those are kind of our hot
47:40topics um for line hall we're coming up
47:42on plates we do get plates through FedEx
47:45um so in February um those plates will
47:48come up um that's a big expense uh in
47:51February the shortest month of the year
47:53uh but that comes up and then shortly
47:55after e2290 or 2290s are due um and then
48:00again do the books for for all lines of
48:02business um so just make sure your
48:04trucks are you know uh Tire
48:07audits uh oil change audits right all
48:10those things um just kind of getting
48:12ramped up to start the new year strong
48:16perfect that is a laundry list but a
48:18good it is a laundry list but it is but
48:20that's why a lot of the things get you
48:22have to make a list um to be fair
48:24because these things these are things
48:26over 18 years that have snuck up on us
48:29you know and you and you everybody knows
48:31that you come in and you go to use your
48:33scanner and it says driver's license
48:35expired and the guy's like I didn't know
48:36it was my birthday like
48:38what right and like what you just took
48:43off two days because it was your
48:44birthday go to the BMV so just some
48:48things that you know again things that
48:50just kind of have a tendency to bite you
48:52we do these things almost quarterly um
48:55but it's a great time of year to get
48:57started in new
48:58habits perfect well we've got no more
49:00questions again great list thank you
49:02guys so
49:03much and we will see you next time
49:06sounds good see thanks guys
49:09[Music]

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of Preparing Your FedEx Ground Business and Staff After Peak Season by Route Consultant, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 9,402 words across 1,249 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.