United Road Services – Auto Production Ramp-up & Competitive Analysis – 24 August 2021

1.

What key trends should we be tracking in the macro environment for auto production?

2.

There’s a driver shortage in trucking, despite some alleviation of demand which could free up capacity. Is that also impacting players such as United Road, or is it less exacerbated here due to the lower demand?

3.

Can you connect the over-the-road trucking’s relationship with rail in finished vehicle logistics?

4.

OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] are keeping low inventories at the dealerships for a number of reasons. How does this impact the market and do you expect this to continue into the near to mid-term?

5.

What is informing your outlook for auto production in H2 2021? What are you anecdotally hearing from the customer base around returning to pre-pandemic production volumes and revenues?

6.

How is United Road positioned? What are its unique characteristics or core competencies?

7.

How important is the national footprint for United Road? Is it truly a differentiator when working with the OEMs, alongside being a geographic advantage?

8.

It sounds as if you expect revenues to recover, and fairly quickly, depending on the bounceback in 2022. Obviously, we’ve had changes on the driver, insurance and equipment availability fronts. Do you expect United Road’s margin profile to change in a post-coronavirus world, relative to pre-pandemic?

9.

United Road will work with a number of customer types beyond OEMs, including auction houses and used vehicle markets. What are the nuances to understand when assessing the various customer segments?

10.

It sounds like the white-glove service or D2C trend is growing. How impactful will that be and could United Road participate in that delivery process?

11.

Do companies such as Carvana and Vroom use United Road?

12.

What do you think is the right longer-term strategy for United Road? There’s an economic moat due to its sheer size and ability to service the larger OEMs. Do you think the company should place strategic bets and invest in growing trends such as white-glove services and online players?

13.

Are there further consolidation opportunities for United Road? Are there still needle-moving acquisitions available and do you think that would be a smart use of capital?

14.

How should major carriers prepare for the anticipated ramp-up in deliveries as we move into 2022? Obviously, they have to strategically build capacity via equipment and drivers without ramping up too early.

15.

What are the key factors to ramping up on time and at the same pace as OEMs? Is it just keeping track of production at the OEMs and keeping a close line of communication?

16.

What are your thoughts on United Road’s culture and the leadership quality across the organisation?

17.

What are the nuances to consider when comparing the top participants in a bid within the core OEM customer base, beyond pricing? Are there nuances in performance?

18.

How much OEM wallet share can United Road or a similarly sized peer expect to win in the finished vehicle logistics piece? You mentioned a reversal of trends in recent years, which you expect to continue. What are your thoughts on market share expansion within the largest carriers?

19.

How quickly could significant wallet share gains occur, appreciating there are contracts that come up that United Road would slowly eat away to gain more share? You referenced OEMs wanting to avoid giving more than 50% of their distribution to a single carrier.

20.

It seems the largest players who work with the largest OEMs can capture additional share more quickly just due to contract length changes, setting aside equipment or driver constraints. Is that a fair summary?

21.

Are there any further key topics or takeaways on this environment that you’d like to raise in conclusion?