FWRD
#We have been really fortunate this year.
We are basically full is one way I would put it.
But we learned, what, three, four years ago: you are never full.
You are always recruiting.
So it was a hard lesson to learn.
We haven't forgot it.
So lot of good things going on in our recruiting.
A lot of good things in running our owner-operators, getting the utilization out of them that they need and we need.
So it has been a very positive year there.
Yes, <UNK>.
You're looking at the other OpEx on the press release.
The $23.4 million number compared to the $23.6 million from the prior period.
Yes, no.
We have had a little increase in our corporate overhead that has been allocated to that segment.
It is probably the main driver.
It has been really good.
It is easier.
I think obviously some carriers are suffering and can't keep their owner-operators busy, and that always gives us a little bit of an advantage in recruiting.
If we go back to 2009, <UNK>, some of our easiest recruiting years were 2009 and 2008 when other carriers couldn't keep their guys busy, and we are experiencing that now.
We are very interested in that.
As you know, we have been ELD compliant for probably six years now.
And we have seen the benefits of it, so we don't have a lot of tolerance for people who don't ---+ or make the argument that they shouldn't be ELD compliant.
The impact of that ---+ in my estimation; most of the people at the ATA disagree with me.
But if people cheat today, they are going to cheat on January 1, 2018.
So I don't think this has a whole lot of impact initially unless there is really strict enforcement.
It kind of ties the whole driver and the process that we go through in terms of booking a load, et cetera, et cetera.
Now we have the driver who, with the ELD, we can determine a day in advance where he needs to break, when he needs to break.
Do we have to get a relief driver in on top of him depending on service.
So it kind of tied all that together.
And we have really think we've benefited from it.
Inflation in premiums.
We have had some underwriters exit the market, and insurance premiums have gone up.
And we had one accident, but the main driver is just the overall cost of insurance premiums.
Hoping it comes down.
It is a hard market, as you know.
Yes.
It is a tough market.
Hey, that was a good article in LTL.
It was.
We would take any help we could get in understanding that, <UNK>.
Well, I will speak to the fourth quarter in our guidance.
The LTL pricing, we are not expecting any significant deterioration.
We think yields are going to hold up.
We think that on the truckload side, it is going to be more of the same around excess capacity.
The softness in our outlook is attributable more to just tonnage and macro effects.
That is really what is driving it.
There is one less operating day.
That is not a total needle mover, but just to throw that into the mix.
And we are trying to put forward a realistic outlook in light of the environment that we are operating.
And if there is any change to that environment, we are going to benefit from it.
But this is what we see now, and we are not ready to handicap any of that change in our outlook.
Yes, let me tell you our view, and I am not telling you it is necessarily right.
But your analogy between truckload and LTL pricing, as we have seen historically, is correct.
But what is happening this time around, the LTLs are hanging tough, shockingly, in my opinion.
They have continued to have rate increases.
They have continued to hold their yields, and we haven't seen the pricing wars that we saw back in 2009 ---+ that time.
So as a result, we think the yields are going to hold pretty steady.
Now, we obviously will update that quarter by quarter, but as we view 2017, we have a pretty ---+ I would call it a neutral bias on pricing.
And the good news about that is it isn't a negative bias.
The quick answer on the Towne side is we are happy with where we are at.
We have retained what we wanted to retain.
We have cleaned up situations that needed cleaned up.
So we don't even hardly think about that anymore.
The negative to the whole thing, as we have discussed earlier: what is the macro conditions going to be like.
What is the market going to do.
Assuming it is a normal market, then we think you're exactly right.
We can go back to that 4% to 6%.
Yes.
I think for now.
Again, this is the adjusted tax rate.
We are in our planning cycle, but nothing has popped up that it would suggest it is going to be any different for next year.
I mentioned $44 million on a full-year basis.
I think for the fourth quarter, that probably leaves us about $14 million to go.
It is not a bad number to use for next year.
Most of our CapEx is just ordinary course trailer.
Fleet replenishment, that is about 80% of it, and then 15% of it is technology because we are heavy investors in IT.
And after that, it is just some cats and dogs.
Yes.
The term loan is going to get paid off relatively quickly.
We have got one more payment at the end of December, and then I think it is the end of February where we have a bullet which is I think equivalent to about two payments.
But we have a revolver available to refinance any portion of that that we need to to meet our cash needs.
But we don't really see much in the way of leverage going forward.
You know, we are in our planning cycle and looking at our capital needs, so I don't want to jump the gun on that.
But our philosophy has been at least to absorb the dilutive effect of equity-based compensation.
Yes, <UNK>, it is <UNK> <UNK>.
Just slightly compared to daily tonnage in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Yes, so the primary adjustments relate to the tax rate for the current quarter.
The GAAP rules around how we account for the tax impact of the TQI impairment charge lead to like a 54 ---+ I think we came in at a 51% tax rate.
We think that the more appropriate adjusted rate is about 37%.
So that was the main adjustment that was done for the current quarter.
There were no adjustments to operating income in the third quarter.
Good morning, <UNK>.
We are pushing primarily through our Central States group.
They did make a purchase in the third quarter when we brought on Triumph.
We continue to look at opportunities in that market and it continues to be a very good ---+ it is laden with opportunities.
So we are excited about that.
It was small.
It was like $10 million.
It is primarily a Milwaukee-based ---+ so it added to ---+ some density to our existing facility.
$10 million annual.
Annual.
We really don't.
It is all international.
If we do have a domestic, it is probably because we are doing a favor for a customer.
But we are 95% at least intermodal ---+ international, sorry.
Yes and yes.
It's hard to predict M&A, but there are some potential for chunky acquisitions, and we have got all the capital we need to do it.
If we can't transact, because we are not going to overpay, then we have got a plan B for capital, which is to return more to shareholders.
Does that answer your question.
Yes.
We view all our businesses monthly, quarterly, annually.
Are you paying your way.
And solutions is part of that.
So we make that assessment, as I said, multiple times.
And really beyond that, I can't comment.
