XPO Logistics Releases Chairman’s Letter to Stockholders - Seite 3

XPO Smart is a versatile technology that we developed to optimize productivity in our logistics and less-than-truckload sites. This proprietary suite of intelligent analytics is already improving productivity by more than 5% on average, and we expect a substantial upside to margin going forward.

Our North American LTL business is a shining example of continuous improvement. That’s saying a lot, given that we’re obsessed with constantly improving all of our service lines. We have the LTL industry’s second-best adjusted operating ratio — the measure of profitability — and the best improvement in this metric over the last five years.

Our LTL business is very much on track to deliver at least $1 billion of adjusted EBITDA¹ in 2022, propelled mainly by our technology. We’re realizing new efficiencies from dynamic routing of pickups and deliveries, automated load-building for higher trailer utilization, and data-driven elasticity models that help inform pricing decisions for our larger accounts. And the best news is, we’ve barely begun.

Diversity, equity and inclusion

At XPO, we’re determined to do more than just verbalize our support of DE&I — we’re taking decisive actions that we believe will make a sustainable difference in our organization. In 2020, we appointed our first chief diversity officer, LaQuenta Jacobs. We also set ESG targets as part of our executive compensation program and we established three core objectives that relate to our best opportunity to make an impact: our recruitment and retention programs.

First, we’re working to significantly increase the diversity of our talent pipeline by collaborating with partners, such as historically Black colleges and universities, to reach underrepresented groups. Second, we’re making sure we promote women and minority employees, particularly to middle and senior management roles. And third, we’re expanding our efforts to make it known that members of the Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American and LGBTQ+ communities belong at XPO, as do women, military veterans and people with disabilities. All of these actions strengthen our cultural framework for DE&I.

In summary

A year ago, COVID-19 looked like a huge, insurmountable “pause button” that would stop the world in its tracks. We never paused.

Instead, we moved quickly to ensure the well-being of our employees. This was our foremost priority, and it allowed us to continue to serve our customers and help communities function. Without compromising safety one iota, we executed dramatic rebounds in our logistics and truck brokerage operations in the third quarter and delivered the best fourth quarter performance in our company’s history.