So here we go the start of another new year, man how the years fly by, I now that sounds cliché’ but there is an element of truth to that saying. I recall back in my youth reading a book by Alvin Toffler called “The Third Wave”, the author suggested that as a year goes by it represents one more element of time that you have been on this earth. So if you were one year old, the next year you live on this planet would represent 50% of the time you have been alive, seems like a long time right. If you are 50 years old one more year represents 2% of the time you have been on this earth so the context is less, so it appears to moving at a quicker pace. Like many of you I’m sure my years are flying by right now!

I promised an update on Freight Haulers Express, as you will recall they are a company I have been consulting with for 6 months or so. To give a little more insight into this situation FHE is not a stand-alone company and is in fact a subsidiary of a company from an entirely different sector, a very large company that is asset light and high margin. The parent company almost fell into taking this entity over because of a large receivable it was owed and they decided to venture into trucking almost as an afterthought. This is always a difficult situation, people who don’t know the industry, don’t do enough homework on the the capital investment it requires to grow and don’t see the risk reward for being in this industry. Trucking is tough for those of you that don’t know the rate of return versus capital investment in many other sectors of the economy are much more attractive than in transportation. Ever wonder why there are so very few publicly traded trucking companies, It is certainly no place for the faint of heart, and even though the company had black ink and had the potential of a very good bottom line if the shareholders were patient, in the end they decided to pull the plug and this company is winding down. As is the fate of all consultants I am now kicking stones so to speak, not really I actually have a number of things on the go and plan on being busy in the coming year.

I certainly wish this had a happier ending, I met some great people and this as I said FHE had potential, but the shareholders decided that they could realize a greater ROI by deploying their investment within the sector that had the most experience in. These folks weren’t particularly interested in talking about Mission Vision or values in fact their way of measuring success was to produce what they called a weekly profit statement which was nothing more than a cash flow statement. They would then beat the bejesus out of the leadership based on this statement, which had nothing to do with a growing companies longterm finical results, at any rate the experience did once again drive home to me the uniqueness of trucking and the determination that truckers exhibit on a daily basis. I love this industry along with all it’s challenges and hardships it is also the home of greatest people in the world, I count my lucky stars everyday for being part of it.

2015 will surely reveal to all of us it’s own list of challenges and obstacles, how we chose to deal with those challenges and obstacles will determine if in a year from now we are looking back on 2015 with a grin on our faces or a scowl. Be strong my friends, I wish you all the best for this coming year!

Safe Trucking

Rjh