2009 Quest for Quality Awards: NATIONAL LTL: High drama on the open road
By Logistics Management Staff -- Logistics Management, 8/1/2009
The less-than-truckload market has unfolded like a high-caliber drama over the last three years. If it were to be scripted and played out on the big screen, it would star Philip Seymour Hoffman and Kate Winslet; the mood would be dark, and the title might be “Only the Strong Survive.”
The back drop for this epic story has been well documented and the premise is short and sweet. According to our intrepid trucking correspondent John Schulz, we are living through the worst freight downturn we've seen…ever.
The U.S. economic slump, particularly housing and autos, drove this dismal LTL market. Shippers and manufacturers are now slowly working their way through excess inventory, but LTL carriers with high fixed costs are still struggling to manage through the sagging volumes. There's also been a lot of consolidation of long-time players, which analysts believe will lead to better long-term health; and now the market is waiting for the final shoe to drop on the YRC situation—a separate saga that could certainly write its own sequel.
However, like all great dramatic films, Schulz reports this month (page 70) that the LTL saga may be inching its way toward an inevitable conclusion, or at least a “bottom.” He reports that some truckers say they're “starting to see the effect of a nascent recovery in demand.” Whether this is normal seasonal uptick in volume or the start of a return to rising freight levels is top-of-mind conversation among trucking executives and analysts—and one we'll be listening to.
And with this positive news, let's also congratulate the National LTL carriers that soldiered to deliver world class service during the most challenging operational period we've ever witnessed. In fact, during the past year, Con-way Freight has used this difficult period to overtake FedEx National LTL in the National LTL Carriers category. Con-way scored an impressive 11.08 in On-Time Performance, and topped FedEx National LTL in Value (8.58) and Customer Service (6.02). FedEx National scored a 4.99 in Information Technology and took the Equipment & Operations with a 3.94.
As it has for the past three years, FedEx Freight took the top position in Multiregional LTL, scoring an impressive 35.87 weighted average. FedEx took every category but one, scoring a 11.78 in On-time Performance, 5.26 in Information Technology, 6.36 in Customer Service, and a 3.99 in Equipment & Operations. R&L Carriers scored an impressive 9.35 in Value winning that critical category.
While nearly every Quest for Quality category tends to get a few new actors in the running, Surface Package Carriers has been a two nominee race for a long time. For the fourth consecutive year, UPS has topped FedEx Ground in this category, scoring a solid 37.50. In fact, UPS improved its scores in every attribute category with the exception of Equipment & Operations this year—a tough role to pull off considering current conditions.
| On-time Performance | Value | Information Technology | Customer Service | Equipment & Operations | Weighted Score | |
| Logistics Management - 2009 Quest for Quality - LTL National- Reed Business Information - June 2009 | ||||||
| Con-way Freight | 11.08 | 8.58 | 4.75 | 6.02 | 3.83 | 34.26 |
| FedEx National LTL | 10.83 | 8.44 | 4.99 | 5.97 | 3.94 | 34.16 |
| AVERAGE | 10.10 | 8.19 | 4.72 | 5.82 | 3.65 | 32.47 |
| On-time Performance | Value | Information Technology | Customer Service | Equipment &Operations | Weighted Score | |
| Logistics Management - 2009 Quest for Quality - LTL Multiregional - Reed Business Information - June 2009 | ||||||
| FedEx Freight | 11.78 | 8.47 | 5.26 | 6.36 | 3.99 | 35.87 |
| R&L Carriers | 10.90 | 9.35 | 4.36 | 5.83 | 3.74 | 34.17 |
| Estes Express Lines | 10.52 | 9.10 | 4.53 | 6.06 | 3.65 | 33.85 |
| UPS Freight | 10.41 | 8.57 | 4.91 | 5.91 | 3.65 | 33.46 |
| AVERAGE | 10.38 | 8.68 | 4.60 | 5.83 | 3.61 | 33.10 |
| On-time Performance | Value | Information Technology | Customer Service | Equipment & Operations | Weighted Score | |
| All scores are weighted. Weighted scores are determined by multiplying the average raw scores by the average importance of each attribute (1= least important; 5= most important). To find the attributed weights for this category, see the introduction to the Quest for Quality report. Logistics Management 2009 Quest for Quality - LTL Surface Packages - Reed Business Information - June 2009 |
||||||
| UPS | 12.02 | 9.47 | 5.53 | 6.32 | 4.15 | 37.50 |
| FedEx Ground | 11.57 | 9.31 | 5.39 | 6.34 | 4.04 | 36.65 |
| AVERAGE | 11.37 | 9.35 | 5.11 | 6.01 | 3.95 | 35.78 |
View All On-Demand Webcasts