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Dive Summary:
- Old Dominion Freight Line has hired 500 new workers since September after allowing its workforce to fall amid a widespread drop in freight traffic. CFO Adam Satterfield said on a first-quarter earnings conference call Wednesday.
- The hires brought the Thomasville, North Carolina-based company’s headcount to 22,891 workers, down slightly from the nearly 23,000 people it employed in the same quarter last year. according to the securities filing.
- “We’ve tried to get a little ahead of that, but we’re cautiously optimistic … and the last quarter, so we’ve gone ahead and tried to invest there in that employee growth,” Satterfield said.
Dive Insight:
Old Dominion executives were more reluctant to predict a recovery in fare demand in the second quarter than last year.
Still, the hiring demonstrates the LTL carrier’s confidence that a recovery is not far off — and its determination to capitalize on demand growth whenever it arrives.
Carrier handled nearly 47,000 LTL shipments per day in Q1below the September average of 51,000.
To grow its truck driver pool, Old Dominion provides other employees with opportunities to attend its company’s driving schools, Satterfield said. The recent hires included backfill positions vacated by these employees who became drivers.
“We’ve tried to continue to do all the things to get ahead of the expected growth,” Satterfield said.
The company’s payroll and customer demand are in balance, the CFO said. Old Dominion sees no immediate need to further increase the number of employees unless demand requires it.
“We’re in a good spot,” Satterfield said. “Maybe a bit level from here, but depending [if] we see further acceleration … until September, then that may require some further hiring.”