Yellow Corporation

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the Yellow Corporation second quarter 2021 earnings call. All participants will be in a listen-only mode. After today's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. Please note that this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Tony Carreño, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator, and good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the Yellow Corporation second quarter 2021 earnings conference call. Joining us on the call today are Darren Hawkins, Chief Executive Officer, Dan Olivier, Interim Chief Financial Officer, and Darrell Harris, President. During this call, we may make some forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities law. These forward-looking statements and all other statements that might be made on this call, which are not historical facts, are a subject to uncertainty and a number of risks. And therefore, actual results may differ materially. The format of this call does not allow us to fully discuss all the risk factors. For a full discussion of the risk factors that could cause the results to differ, please refer to this afternoon's earnings release and our most recent SEC filings, including our forms 10-K and 10-Q. These items are also available on our website at myyellow.com. Additionally, please see today's release for a reconciliation of net loss to adjusted EBITDA. In conjunction with today's earnings release, we issued a presentation which may be referenced during the call. The presentation was filed in an 8 along with the earnings release as available on our website. I will now turn the call over to Darren.

Thanks, Tony, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining our call. Today, we reported Q2 2021 adjusted EBITDA of 82.9 million, a 69.7 million improvement compared to Q1 of this year, and an increase of $45 million compared to a year ago. I am pleased with the execution of our yield strategy and the steps we are taking to mitigate higher purchase transportation expense. As we look ahead, we expect a steady staircase of improvement. Demand for LTL capacity has remained strong, driven by e-commerce and a recovering manufacturing sector that has yet to return to full strength. As the U.S. supply chain struggles to keep up, much of the growing demand is in the middle mile segment, which is ideal for LTL carriers due to the shorter length of haul and more appealing lifestyle for LTL drivers, most of whom are able to be at home with their families each night. With the growth of e-commerce requiring warehouses near major population centers, the need for middle mile service is positioned to remain strong. On the supply side of the equation, trucking capacity is being kept in check by an industry-wide shortage of qualified drivers and dock workers. We are working diligently to meet our customers' needs while making sure the optimum level of freight is flowing through our network. In such a tight capacity market, it is also imperative to ensure pricing reflects the demand for the service we provide. Our strategy is to grow the business, However, in the near term, we are leaning into yield growth over tonnage growth to help manage through the industry-wide shortage of drivers and near-term purchase transportation headwinds. Favorable year-over-year pricing trends have carried into Q3. For the month of July, yellow averaged between 11% and 12% on contract negotiations. We are executing key steps in our transformation to one yellow. During the second quarter, Retaway's bargaining unit employees voted to enter into the National Master Freight Agreement, joining the rest of our operating companies. All of our bargaining unit employees are now aligned with the NMFA's March 2024 expiration. A single operating system across the network is the technology linchpin to get to One Yellow. YRC Freight and NUPIN are now operating on the One Yellow platform with the RETAway conversion in process and hotline targeted to be completed by the end of the year. This will set the stage for a fully integrated One Yellow network and streamline the flow of information for operations, sales, customer service, human resources, maintenance, and in-cab technology. We are also making significant progress on our 2021 capital expenditures plan with the acquisition of more than 1,800 tractors, 2,200 trailers, and 400 containers during the first half of the year. Not only are these investments having a positive impact on the age of our fleet, but over time, we expect them to mitigate maintenance expense and help our sustainability efforts through enhanced safety and improved fuel efficiency. As we onboard the new equipment, it is being branded with the yellow name in conjunction with our transformation. We have also rebranded over 10,000 pieces of existing equipment with the yellow brand. Turning to the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, it was signed into law earlier this year to strengthen eligible multi-employer pension plans that are severely underfunded and and to substantially mitigate their unfunded liabilities through 2051. The 120-day rulemaking period concluded in July, and the PBGC issued interim final regulations. The regulations provide pension plans guidance on the application process, along with a timeline through 2023 on when they can apply, primarily dependent upon their funded status. The Act and the relief it provides will protect the hard-earned benefits of retirees from many companies and many industries, including members of the Yellow Team. I will now turn the call over to Dan, who will share additional details about the quarter.

Thank you, Darren. Good afternoon, everyone. For second quarter 2021, operating revenue was $1.31 billion compared to $1.02 billion in 2020. Operating income was $27 million compared to an operating loss of $4.6 million in the prior year, which included a $6 million net gain on property sales. Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter of 2021 was $82.9 million compared to $37.9 million in the second quarter of 2020. Adjusted EBITDA for the last 12 months was $216 million as of the end of the second quarter. and as a result of having crossed over $200 million in LTM-adjusted EBITDA, we are no longer required to maintain a minimum $125 million of liquidity. Our revenue for the second quarter reflected year-over-year LTL tonnage per day growth of 8.3%, and LTL weight per shipment was down 0.4%. Sequential LTL tonnage per day trends compared to the prior year were as follows. April, up 23.7%. May, up 8.9%, and June, down 3.3%. On a preliminary basis, July LTL tonnage per workday was down between 5 and 6%. Including fuel surcharge, second quarter LTL revenue per hundredweight was up 16.2%, and LTL revenue per shipment was up 15.8% compared to the prior year. Excluding fuel surcharge, LTL revenue per hundredweight was up 12%, and LTL revenue per shipment was up 11.6%. Total liquidity at the end of the second quarter was $423 million, compared to $303 million at the end of the second quarter 2020. And total capital expenditures for the second quarter were $144 million, compared to $12 million a year ago. Driven by our strong liquidity position, we are narrowing our 2021 capital expenditures guidance from a range of 450 to 550 million to a range of 480 to 530 million. In addition to the more than 1,800 tractors and 2,200 trailers added through June, we expect to add an additional 300-plus tractors and 400-plus trailers by the end of the third quarter. Next, a brief update on the U.S. Treasury Tranche B loan. As of the end of the second quarter, we had drawn down 381 million and in July we received the remaining $19 million. All $400 million of the Tranche B loan has now been drawn. Finally, our near-term focus on prioritizing yield over volume, along with the execution of targeted pricing strategies to mitigate our highest cost purchase transportation expenses, were key to our improved performance in Q2. PT expenses were still elevated due to strong demand and tight capacity, However, we reduced PT as a percentage of revenue from 16.7% in Q1 to 16.0% in Q2, and we expect continued improvement in the back half of the year. With that, I will turn the call over to Darrell.

Thank you, Dan, and good afternoon, everyone. During last quarter's earnings call, I shared my initial priorities as the new president of Yellow. With my first full quarter in this role behind me, I'd like to provide some additional color and an update on these priorities. The first priority is to consistently meet our customers' expectations. While we are not where I expect us to ultimately be on a consistent basis, by executing our yield strategy, we are carefully managing the volume of freight in our network. This allows the network to operate more efficiently, particularly in high volume lanes. As we complete the optimization of our network on our journey to One Yellow, I am confident that we'll be in position to grow the volume running through the network while meeting our customers' expectations. Transforming such a large company does not happen overnight, but I am pleased that our company and dedicated employees were recognized recently with multiple Carrier of the Year awards from customers including Walmart and DHL. The second priority is to successfully execute our hiring and retention strategies. We continue to focus on a multi-pronged approach in this area. Our Driver Academy site expansion is well underway. We currently have 16 fixed locations across the U.S. with additional mobile academies that can support targeted hiring efforts. Applicants into the program have more than doubled in the past quarter. We are committed to growing our own safe drivers both now and into the future. In addition, our recruitment strategies continue to evolve as we have bolstered our staff and advertising spend to support demand. The third priority is to complete the enterprise transformation to One Yellow as planned in 2022. As we continue our journey to One Yellow, we are laying the groundwork for success. by strategically aligning our teams, optimizing the network, and moving all brands to one technology platform. We will enhance our service by getting faster, creating more next day lanes, and offering regional service in new locations. When the journey is complete, we will go to market as One Yellow, a super regional carrier laser focused on meeting the needs of our customers and growing our business. As we had previously indicated, during the first half of the year, we expected higher purchase transportation expense due to the necessary use of local cartage and over-the-road purchase transportation, both of which are more expensive in such a tight capacity environment. Our yield strategy is helping us manage these headwinds, and we have taken actions to reduce purchase transportation and short-term rental expenses going forward. These actions include purging the network of short-term rentals as we acquire new revenue equipment and adjusting our line haul network to minimize the use of more expensive purchase transportation in certain lanes. As you heard from Dan, we expect to see improvement in this area as we move forward. In closing, I am proud of our employees and the progress we are making. It takes determination and grit to transform a company while also meeting the needs of our customers in such a strong freight environment. Plenty of work and opportunities are ahead of us, and our team of dedicated freight professionals are committed to delivering on the vision of One Yellow. I will now turn the call back over to Darren for some closing comments.

Thank you, Darrell. During Q2, we executed our yield strategy, and I am encouraged by what we see ahead of us in terms of ongoing LTL freight demand and our ability to improve the company and its financial results. With our journey to One Yellow progressing as expected and the tremendous amount of revenue equipment we are acquiring, my expectations for our team and for Yella remain high. I am confident the company will continue showing progress and that we are well positioned for the future. I am also thankful for the dedication of our employees and the continued loyalty of our customers as we manage through the constraints of the North American supply chain. Thanks for your time this afternoon. We would now be happy to answer any questions that you may have.

We will now move into the question and answer section of today's call. I'd like to introduce the first questioner for today, and that will be Jack Atkins with Stevens. Please go ahead.

Okay, great. Good afternoon, and congratulations on good progress here in this quarter, guys. So, Dan, if I could maybe start with you. You referenced... I guess July tonnage down 5% to 6%. Was that on LTL rated freight? If you could maybe provide a total tonnage per day for July, that would be helpful. And then also an update on just the monthly progression, I think, for June, if you could provide that as well, that would be helpful.

Yeah, sure, Jack. Thanks. To answer the first question, yes, that was just on LTL tonnage per day, but that's materially in line with our total as well.

Okay. Okay.

And then historically, tonnage per day from Q1 to Q2 increases between 5% and 6%. And of course, this year, as a result of executing our yield strategy, our sequential tonnage per day was only up around 1%. As I mentioned in my prepared remarks, on a year-over-year basis, July tonnage per day was down between 5% and 6%. On a sequential basis, from June to July, tonnage per day was down between 2% and 3%. which is really in line with our historical average. And then when I think about the sequential change from Q2 to Q3 in total, you know, tonnage per day on a historical basis is about 2% lower than Q2. I wouldn't think that we'd be too far outside of that range as we continue to execute our yield strategy.

Okay. So from what I'm hearing you say there, Dan, it sounds like you're expecting things to maybe follow normal seasonality trends as we move through the third quarter from a top-line or tonnage perspective. When we think about sort of the tonnage decline in June, what type of freight were you guys kind of focusing on purging from the network? Can you maybe talk about that just for a moment? Was that more TL-rated freight that was sort of living in the network? What were you looking to maybe avoid from a freight perspective in June and July?

Jack, this is Darren, and we focused on the large corporate accounts and our contract renewals through that process. Now, our spot and truckload, we've been very selective in that area to reposition equipment, which is in high demand the way the North American supply chain has been out of sync. So truckload and spot is very important to us just to reposition equipment. but we're staying away from that level of business that we would normally do. But on the corporate side was where the real focus was at, and I'm just very comfortable with the yield strategy. We're just sound and strong in that area. I like the direction we're going. We're focused on profitability and the volume equation. We'll look into that next year. Right now we're focused on our network, our people, and our profitability strategy. that yield strategy will remain that way. And when you see the 11%, 12% increases in contract renewals that continued into July, we're going to keep our foot on the gas in that area.

Okay. Now, that makes total sense. And then I guess as we're just thinking about, you know, bottom line seasonality, typically operating ratio deteriorates slightly 2Q to 3Q. You know, with the focus on yields, improved PT as a percentage of revenue. I think that's the plan as we move through the balance of the year. New equipment coming in. I'm not asking for guidance, but would you expect to maybe do a bit better than normal seasonality, just given those tailwinds sequentially?

I want to quantify, before Dan answers the specific question you asked, I do want to quantify where some areas of improvement will occur in Q3, especially around purchase transportation. So since we're on this subject, you know, I believe, and based on what we've seen in the recent weeks, the American worker is coming off the bench. And we've had some success in the area of dock and driver that I believe is going to help with this purchase transportation equation. It's not going to add capacity to our network. What it's going to do is shield us from some of the purchase transportation we've seen. But I'd like Dan to Talk about that, and then he can answer your OR question, and Darryl can follow it up with one of the hiring pieces. Go ahead, Dan.

Yeah, I'll start with the purchase transportation cost, Jack. Total PT for the quarter was up $84 million year over year. $16 million of that came from revenue-generating PT, and that's associated with the growth at our logistics division. Our over-the-road PT was up $28 million. Rail was up $21 million. Local cartage was up $15 million. As I've mentioned in my prepared remarks, PT expenses are still elevated due to the strong demand and tight capacity, but we did reduce PT as a percentage of revenue from 16.7 percent in Q1 to 16 percent in Q2, and we do expect continued improvement in the back half of the year. Lastly on that, I'll say I want to point out that our total SWEB and PT combined in the second quarter was 73 percent of revenue, which is down from 77 percent in Q1 and down from 76 percent in Q2 of last year. As far as margins, you brought up a good point. Sequentially, on a historical basis, our operating ratio increases slightly from Q2 to Q3, but with continued strong focus on yield, our continued investment in the new equipment, I expect we have a chance to perform better than that historical trend.

Okay, that's great. That's very encouraging, Dan. Thank you, and I think that's great to hear. So I guess maybe last question for me, and I'll turn the floor over, but I guess for Darren or Daryl, if you could maybe talk about, as we look forward into 2022 and the completion of the network integration for OneYellow, Getting all four operating companies on one system, can you maybe talk for a moment about what that's going to unlock for you in terms of operating efficiencies? Not asking for you to quantify a number, but just maybe kind of help us think about, you know, will we begin to really see those operating efficiencies show up pretty quickly once that one yellow initiative is really complete?

Jack, with the steady progress we're making on One Yellow, as I mentioned, having two of the companies on the technology, the third one moving over right now, and then the fourth one coming on at the end of the year, we're in a position where the completion of the Retaway contract removed the last barrier. That contract now has the same expiration as the rest of our companies, and also it includes language to allow us to make the changes we need to go to One Yellow on the West Coast. So with all that out of the way, The network's being connected. In 2022, we will be able to go to market as Yellow Super Regional Carrier. We can provide that one, two, and three-day service that anyone's accustomed to from the regional environment and the transcontinental service that any national customer would expect. You can do it through one touch, one contact. You get the best service that we offer just by tendering the shipment to Yellow. That is our value proposition. It puts this company, after many, many years, in a position to actually expand and grow market share. That's why when I made the comments on tonnage, I'm not worried about that area of the business during this segment of Q3 and Q4. We're focused on pricing. We'll continue to do that, and then the tonnage piece will come when we're one yellow and and we're bringing that value to the marketplace that justifies strong yield and strong tonnage growth at the same time. It's an exciting time, and we're proud of what we're doing around One Yellow.

Okay, great. Thank you for the time this afternoon, guys.

Thank you, Jack.

And our next question will come from Scott Group with Wolf Research. Please go ahead.

Hey, thanks. Afternoon, guys. So I just want to follow up on the operating ratio. The other two union carriers were both, I guess, sub-90 ORs this quarter. I know you said we should be a little bit better than or something better than normal seasonality in third quarter, but anything more you can give us in terms of where you think these margins can go in the near term?

Scott, when you look at the yield strategy being sound and strong and coming across market leading on actual revenue per hundred way, the positive trends that we've talked about in purchase transportation also continuing with strong hiring over the last three weeks that we believe will continue to drive purchase transportation in the right direction. largest investments from a CapEx piece, half a billion dollars this year into equipment and others, and then the steady progress on OneYellow that I just talked about, and then you back all that up with a strong liquidity position of over $400 million. This company is in an excellent spot during an excellent market to move in the right direction, and that staircase of improvement I talk about, we're well positioned for that. not guiding around 2022, but I am trying to demonstrate that each quarter we're going to continue this level of improvement while retooling the company to compete as a super regional carrier and that we have the wherewithal to see that strategy all the way through.

Okay. Can you give us an update on where we are in terms of terminals today and When we're complete with the one yellow integration, where do you think we're going to end up?

Right now we're at 322. There's not going to be a dramatic change in that number between now and the end of the year. We will land somewhere around 310 when we're complete, maybe 309. But with the changing capacity equation, one thing I'm not willing to do in this one yellow change is to give up geography or to give up capacity that our customers need in the right market. So we're watching that closely, but the final number is going to be north of 300, probably in the 310 range, and that will play out over the next two or three quarters.

What do you think about other overhead things like be it people or other parts of overhead, what are the opportunities there?

Well, certainly when you look at a holding company that was designed to support four separate companies, there's lots of opportunity in that area as we transition to One Yellow. But I'd like Daryl to talk about some recent trends we've seen and also this area around purchase transportation that Dan gave the percentages on. But Daryl, make a few comments around your plans in that area.

Yeah, thanks, Darren. So, Scott, in that area, I mean, obviously our primary focus in Q2 and then ongoing in Q3 is really about, you know, controlling the PT expense that got away from us in Q1. And we've been very aggressive about returning short-term rental equipment, of course, targeted hiring in locations where we were seeing high levels of PT, and then Darren's already mentioned the whole component of with the yield piece that we're utilizing to throttle that to ensure that those costs remain in check. I guess what gets me excited is more about the future and where we're going when we become One Yellow. You talk about the fact that being on one technology, having been in this job for four months now, I can tell you there's a lot of hoops that you jump through inside the organization when you're on multiple pieces of technology. And so when you combine the integration of the network along with being on one platform, the synergies that are created, the operational efficiencies that are driven, and then, as you mentioned, the opportunities with overhead are pretty clear to be seen. And so, you know, right now we're balancing the, you know, the efforts to transform our business with this strong demand environment that we're in and really focused on the fundamentals along the way.

I mean, I guess what I'm trying to get at, like put the PT issue aside, that will ebb and flow with the cycle. I'm just trying to, Is overhead, is this a $100 million opportunity, a $500 million opportunity, a smaller number? I'm not really sure how to think about it.

We've stuck with the position of this is a show-me story, and each quarter when I talk about a staircase of financial improvement on our path to profitability and our path to One Yellow, We're trying to lay out each piece of the equation and give adequate information on the equipment that's coming in, the actions we're taking, but we're still not prepared to give guidance.

Do you think you've realized any overhead savings yet through this process?

Yeah, absolutely. On the sales side of the equation, our commercial division, we've seen a very streamlined approach. It's happening in our pricing group as well now that we brought that group together. From a human resource standpoint, the human resource department, and then also as it moves through maintenance, and then the corporate structure overall. It's efficiencies that are being gained, and we'll continue to capture those.

All right. Thank you, guys. Appreciate it.

Thank you, Scott.

And our next question will come from Jeff Kaufman with Vertical Research Partners. Please go ahead.

Thank you very much. Well, congratulations on the progress. Just a couple quick things. Can we go back through that purchase transportation discussion? I don't write as fast as I would like to, but it started with, you talked about PT being up 84 million, and then you deducted, I think, the PT that was related to, I don't know whether it was a logistics business, and then you talked about the OTR increase, the intermodal and the Can I ask you to go through that math again?

Yeah, sure, Jeff. This is Dan. So, yeah, you're right on 84 million year-over-year in total. The revenue-generating PT was up 16 million. That's what's tied to our logistics division. The OTR PT was up 28 million. Rail was up 21 million. And local cartage was up 15 million, 1.5 million.

Okay, so you talked about the progression from 16.7% in the first quarter. I guess the way I think about it is when you get this right, what should that percentage be? And is the issue here that you were caught short of people and you had to go out and purchase in the market at higher prices or that you have the right amount of people and you're engaging in normal PT, it's just the market prices are so high?

Jeff, this is Darren. The $16 million in logistics, love it, want more of it. I want to see it grow and expand and double-digit growth. The business is exploding. We're proud of it and I'm anxious to see it to be material where we can talk about it more often. The $21 million rail, very comfortable there. The $15 million in local cartage, that's an area that we can impact with our box truck operation and also we've seen some nice success and local city pickup and delivery hiring that will continue to bring that down. To optimize and go to the point that you ask, what would be ideal? So a portion of over the road, a portion of rail is a very good mixture for us. And what would be ideal right now is for us to have more line haul drivers. We're making nice progress in city operations. We're still short on the over the road drivers. and we're using purchased transportation in lanes that we would rather not. So through the hiring initiatives and my comment about the American worker coming off the bench, Darrell and his recruiting team have seen some nice additions over the last two to three weeks. And even though that doesn't do anything on the overall capacity equation for us, what it does do is we continue to expand this line haul driver piece where we can move away from some of the more expensive PTs. that percentage would be down three or four points total on revenue. But as long as we're using contractual PT in the right lanes and fully utilizing the rail that aligns with our service commitments, I would be very pleased with that piece, and that's what we're working toward.

That was a great answer. Thank you. One follow-up. Not to be critical, I apologize if it comes off that way, but You know, with 16% yield improvement on 8% tonnage growth, I would have thought that the incremental margins would have been a little stronger. I think PT was part of it, but when I went back and looked at the increase in labor expense, it did seem to be a little bit more than I would have guessed given kind of 8% to 9% shipment and tonnage growth. So I just want to know if there were some special items in there or you're just trying to hire and get ahead of things. It just seemed a little bit higher than I would have expected, so can you help me understand that?

Two pieces. One is a training piece. We've got a lot of new employees coming in, and their experience levels requires training, mentoring, and ties up existing employees as well. But most importantly, the part of the discussion goes to we have a tremendous amount of extra people in the organization as part of this transformation. and doubling up in terminals that are converting to new technology to make sure the customer's experience is seamless through that process. All of these people bring tremendous value to the organization, but over time, they will be redeployed into pure customer-facing operational roles that are critical to the business, and a lot of the extra expense and overhead that we're having to invest in to get through the One Yellow transformation will normalize during the next several quarters.

Okay, so the point I guess in today is if I look out, say, a year from now, and let's just say the market's exactly where it is today, that indeed once the singular system is employed at the company and once some of this training and expense is done, there could be 300, 400, 500 points of revenue that we pick up over time.

As I mentioned with Scott, I'm not willing to go into the area of guidance, but what I am willing to say, and I made this comment in my script, I have high expectations for this team, and I have expectations that the system and the One Yellow will be much sooner than the timeframe you just mentioned, and that those benefits will be normalizing. We're aggressive. We're serious about this mission. And we're going to bring that value to our customers quickly.

We wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't ask. So thank you for your answers and congratulations.

Hey, thank you for the coverage.

And our next question will come from Bruce Chan with Stifel. Please go ahead.

Hey, afternoon, gents, and thanks for the time. Got a couple questions here for you. The first one, a little bit more on the housekeeping side. Dan, you gave us some of the sequential monthly trends on the tonnage side, and I may have missed it, but did you give a progression for yield by month, and if not, would you be able to do so?

I did not, and we typically don't give what the sequential yield changes are through the quarter, but what I will say is that yield on a year-over-year basis was accelerating through the quarter. As Darren mentioned, July's contractual renewals were north of 11%. And when I think about Q2 on average, we kind of averaged around 10%. So we still can continue to see momentum there.

Okay, great. That's really helpful. And then, you know, second question, maybe a little bit more thematic on service levels and claims ratios. And, you know, I don't need any hard numbers, of course, but, you know, maybe you can speak to some of the sequential experience there, especially as you start out to roll out some of this, you know, shiny new equipment. Is it opening up some opportunities for you to take pricing up even further?

I'll start with that, Bruce, and appreciate you being on the call today also. And I'll let Daryl make any comments as well. The entire industry right now, the entire North American supply chain is still in crisis with customers really being positive about a carrier being able to pick up the freight. Service is a challenge across the industry. We see it on the larger accounts where service is displayed by carrier and each carrier is really focused on their network, keeping it efficient and also protecting it from those log jams that are created when we get to overcapacity. Anytime there's a lot of re-handle, then claims can be an opportunity. We've been very consistent on claims over a long period of time. There's always room for improvement. All the new trailers that we are purchasing will certainly play well in that arena. We haven't talked about that enough because the tractors are such a big return. The trailers bring a very nice ROI with them as well and also benefit the customers in a positive way. all green shoots in that area for the company. Daryl, anything you'd like to add there?

Yeah, Bruce, I would just say, you know, we're obviously experiencing some constraints in certain markets as all the carriers are right now due to tighter capacity and the employee availability piece. Very encouraged by the last three weeks of hiring. They're the best hiring numbers that we've seen in the last, all year here in the last three weeks, particularly around dock workers and drivers and the city operations. And what that does for us is, it really helps us keep the network more on track and fluidity within the network that allows us to reduce, uh, rehandle, reduce overtime, reduce these things that would create inefficiencies, particularly, uh, might drive claims in the wrong direction. And so we haven't seen inflation there. We have in our claims number, we have seen, um, our service numbers have been challenged when compared to a normal environment. And so our main focus is a high level of communication with our customers, so that they understand where our pinch points are, but then more importantly, providing them the much needed capacity that they, they badly need in this environment with our nationwide network. And so service is one we're going to continue to work through. Uh, and that's why we're utilizing the yield lever as necessary to make sure that we can meet our customer's expectations.

Okay, great. Thanks for that color.

Sure.

And this will conclude our question and answer session. I'd like to turn the conference back over to the company for any closing remarks.

Thank you, operator, and thanks again to everyone for joining us today. Please contact Tony with any additional questions that you may have. This concludes our call, and operator, I'm turning the call back to you.

Thank you, and this now concludes today's call. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines at this time.