Doug Rockel Quotations

I would have been disappointed if they had not raised rates by about 3 percent. This is what we all modeled for.

I'd like to give Pat Blake a chance, to hear what his strategic vision is for the company. But I go into it with apprehension knowing Roger (Curry) had a good background and a good track record. Why is Pat going to succeed where someone like Roger didn't?

Splitting up the assets makes infinite sense, not only from a financial perspective but from an operating perspective or competitive perspective.. No one wants market dominance to take place. The shipping community certainly doesn't want it, even the competing railroads out West don't want it.

I think people still think of UPS as a strong and good company, but I think people are more rational now. They came in with fine earnings, but it wasn't the Internet play that people thought. The realization that traffic was up 5 percent, and that is equal to GDP growth, not two, three or 20 times GDP growth. The stock at that time had a premium valuation. Some of that premium has evaporated.

Most every company has a Web presence these days. Primarily they are using it to trace and track freight.

Consensus moves markets, and UP certainly has the momentum now. A healthy UP is good for everyone.

I've been waiting most of my career to see these guys go public. I can't think of a bigger and better company in recent memory that's decided to do this.

The tender offer tells me a lot of ups employees are incredibly loyal, that they believe in the company long-term. But I think there could be some selling of shares and until that overhang is taken up through higher demand, it will put pressure on the stock.

Right now, the timing of this is difficult. There's no doubt a price increase of this magnitude would be justified by the costs. But it's not what the shipping community is willing to hear right now.

A lot of people think Federal Express is an Internet play -- it isn't. They forget FedEx is a high-end transportation provider. The transport companies benefiting from the Web boom now are the Post Office and UPS, which are hard to invest in.

It still doesn't carry the day. But as e-commerce grows, it's becoming more significant. I'll end up eating those words one day.

It's unbelievable to be sitting here a year and a half after the integration and still seeing this low level of Norfolk earnings. They couldn't have done these cuts on day 1 because service was paramount. But service levels have been back up for six-to-nine months.

They'll have to do something. If he senses in six to nine months that the deal is going forward, he can't sit there for years and watch them cherry-pick their best freight.

The investment community has developed an incredible fear of railroad mergers. A lot of people think the court will reverse the moratorium. That's more important than fuel prices right now.

If you order a paperback book, slower delivery time via the mail or UPS is fine. But if you've ordered a fur coat, then FedEx is more of an option.