| USF continues its turnaround |
USF's operational turnaround is on track, states Morgan Stanley. The economy is helping USF and other less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers by providing increasing volumes of freight, even after adjusting for seasonality. But USF's new management is aggressively
pursuing efforts to bring its cost structure in line with its competitors — with some success.
Not all of the benefits of the focus on cost structure will be immediate, but perhaps a more visible effect of the management change for shippers will be a USF that operates more as a “company of one.” Dick DiStasio, CEO, is still saying he has no intent to combine USF's seven operating units, but he is pursuing a strategy that will encourage more cross selling of Premier Plus, the company's inter-regional service. To this end, Stasio has realigned incentives for top managers to take the focus off individual unit profitability and put it on overall profitability.
A series of 12 initiatives designed to improve productivity at USF’s 258 terminals should also have an effect on shippers. In addition to improved labor productivity and safety, the plan focuses on better collection of accessorials and billing accuracy.
USF is also focusing on putting best practices and processes in place ahead of technology.
Subscribe now to one or all of our e-newsletters, sent straight to your desktop:
- News & Views
- Supply Chain Report
- Product Update
Sign up at www.logisticstoday.com/newsletters
Feedback on this article?
© Want to use this article?
Click here for options!
Copyright© 2004 Penton Media, Inc.
