LANDSTAR SYSTEM/ 3
providers via administrative and operational support, are centralized in two primary Company locations. In order to protect the health and well-being of all Landstar employees and their families, reduce the risk of community spread within our two primary office locations and substantially limit the potential for disruption in our administrative and operational functions, during March we transitioned over 800 of Landstar’s 1,200 corporate employees based in the United States towork-at-home. We now have over 1,000 Landstar employees working remotely. That transformation has been highly successful.”
“During the 2020 second quarter, we do not expect to take any drastic cost reduction measures that would disrupt our ability to service Landstar’s customers, agents, BCOs or other third party capacity providers or slow the progress on our technology initiatives,” Gattoni said. “Additionally, we have undertaken to provide additional financial support to Landstar’s agents and BCOs during this crisis. These initiatives will impact the Company’s earnings in the 2020 second quarter. Most notably, for each load delivered by a BCO with a confirmed delivery date from April 1 through April 30, 2020, Landstar will pay an extra $50 to each of the BCO hauling the load and the Landstar agent dispatching the load. We estimate Landstar BCOs will deliver between 60,000 and 70,000 loads in April of 2020. Also, if a Landstar BCO tests positive forCOVID-19 or is placed under a mandatory quarantine by a public health authority, Landstar will provide up to $2,000 to the affected BCO.”
“In this highly unpredictable economic environment, we will not be providing revenue and earnings guidance for the 2020 second quarter. Nevertheless, as an example of how Landstar’s variable cost business model would react under certain unfavorable assumptions, it is worth noting that if one were to assume a 20% to 30% decrease in revenue in the 2020 second quarter as compared to the 2019 second quarter, plus taking into account the $100 per load cost of the additional purchased transportation and commissions to agents payable with respect to loads anticipated to be delivered by BCOs in the month of April, diluted earnings per share would be expected to be in a range of $0.70 to $0.85. This in no way should be interpreted as any sort of guidance, but rather a demonstration of the resiliency of the Landstar model, and that Landstar’s ability to generate earnings is somewhat insulated from the possible effects of a prolonged recession. Additionally, in the event that current market conditions persist, it is possible that Landstar will provide additional financial pandemic relief to its agents and/or BCOs during the 2020 second quarter which could impact the Company’s earnings.”