The “T” in LTL Stands for Triple Option
This past Saturday marked the 118th annual Army-Navy game played in Philadelphia. The game was a close one at halftime, but Navy began to pull away in the second half and won the game 17-3.
John Feinstein wrote on his blog Friday that this contest “is not just a game — it’s an experience.” In fact, it’s one of the purest in the sport. No national titles or prestigious bowl bids are on the line — only pride. Both teams train all year with this one game in mind.
I have a tremendous amount of respect for the men who play in this game, and I’m proud to work for a company that makes a conscious effort to support veterans of our armed forces with job opportunities. Though none of the players will go on to the NFL, all of them will go on to serve on a much more important team.
I love watching the enthusiasm shown by both the Black Knights and the Midshipmen. Being a football fan, I also find the offensive system run by the Naval Academy fascinating.
Known as the “flexbone” offense, it’s a flashback to the days of leather helmets and the single-wing. I first learned this offense as a tailback for my Pop Warner team, and we ran a variant of it in high school as well. In today’s pass-happy football world, this offense shouldn’t work. But Navy has used this system to literally run over teams with faster, stronger and more talented players every season. The Midshipmen beat Notre Dame on the road this year, and they almost beat Ohio State in Columbus as well — an event that would have made all of our Michigan fans here in Ann Arbor very happy.
The staple play of the flexbone is the triple option, illustrated below.
(Graphic courtesy ESPN.com)
To the untrained eye, it looks like another one of my True LTL lane maps, but in reality, it’s a very simple and powerful offense.
On running plays, the quarterback always has three choices:
1) Hand off the ball to the fullback for a run up the middle
2) Sprint to the end of the line and keep running into open space
3) Pitch to the streaking tailback, coming around the end behind him
The quarterback uses a “zone-read” scheme to determine which option to choose. Based on the actions of the defensive linemen and safeties, he has to make split-second decisions as to whether to keep, hand off or pitch the ball. Quarterbacks need both intelligence and decisiveness to run this offense — qualities a Naval officer-to-be has in abundance.
A strong triple option offense has many of the same qualities as a great LTL carrier.
1) Adaptability. You have to know what your opponents in the industry are doing at all times and react quickly. Can your LTL carrier adapt to your evolving needs?
2) Speaking of fast, the triple option needs a fast tailback in order to outrun lightning-quick linebackers. Carriers need to have similar speed in order to excel with their customers.
3) The quarterback running the triple option needs to be exception-free. He can’t make any mistakes. In football, mistakes lead to turnovers. In business, LTL carrier mistakes could lead to turnovers of a different sort (e.g., loss of income or loss of business).
4) Every element in the triple option has to be delivered on time. If the quarterback hesitates or waits a half-second too long to pitch the ball, disaster can occur. How is your carrier’s on-time service record?
When an LTL shipper has these triple option characteristics, it ensures a clean handoff of your freight every time. To see that in action, choose Con-way Freight.
