XPO Logistics Releases Chairman’s Letter to Stockholders

GREENWICH, Conn., April 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  XPO Logistics, Inc. (NYSE: XPO), a leading global provider of supply chain solutions, has released the text of the 2021 letter to stockholders from Brad Jacobs, chairman and chief executive officer.

The full letter appears below and was distributed with the company’s proxy statement on April 13.

To Our Stockholders

In my letter last year, I said I was a pragmatic bear in the short-term, a bull in the mid-term and a mega-bull in the long-term. Well, the bear has left the building and the bull has arrived ahead of schedule. After a painful 12 months for pretty much everyone, 2021 and 2022 are shaping up to be big comeback years for the vast majority of our customers.

Many companies, especially those in consumer markets, are now in an accelerated V-shaped recovery. The 6% GDP growth some US economists are forecasting for this year could be conservative. Based on what our customers are telling us, I don’t think 10% growth is out of the question. Freight transportation is a leading economic indicator, and our customers, for the most part, think they’ll be in a much stronger position a year from now than they were before the pandemic.

The crux is whether burgeoning government spending will ultimately stimulate or stagnate the economy. Here, my mega-bullishness is cooling down a bit. When governments expand their role in allocating capital instead of letting free markets do their thing, historically that’s led to higher inflation, higher interest rates and higher taxes — and, eventually, to low or no growth. That’s not a certainty, but it’s certainly a question mark.

One thing I’m sure of is that we have a resilient company and outstanding people. Our global team was able to keep goods flowing through supply chains in 2020 because they know our company is 100% committed to their safety. I thank every one of our 100,000 employees for showing true professionalism under circumstances that have been trying at times, but have also brought out the best in Team XPO.

Automation, outsourcing, e-commerce and the industrial economy

The rebound for our business began midway through 2020, driven by three massive tailwinds: e-commerce, outsourcing and customer demand for supply chain automation. By year-end, we had met or exceeded our pre-pandemic performance in all major areas of our business: logistics, less-than-truckload and truck brokerage.