ABF to withdraw from National
Master Freight Agreement
ABF Freight System Inc., one of the nation’s largest less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers, is withdrawing from the
National Master Freight Agreement (NMFA), the pact that
governs relations between trucking management and the
Teamsters Union.
In an Aug. 13 letter sent to Teamsters president James P.
Hoffa and Gordon Sweeton, head of the union’s freight
division, Fort Smith, Ark.-based ABF said it would terminate its participation in the labor agreement upon its expiration on March 30, 2013. In the letter, ABF President and
CEO Roy M. Slagle said the carrier wants to negotiate a
new and separate collective bargaining agreement that
would apply only to ABF. Slagle said ABF is “prepared to
commence negotiations” with the Teamsters as soon as
possible.
Union officials did not return a request for comment.
ABF’s move would affect about 7,000 unionized employees. It would also leave archrival YRC Worldwide Inc. as the
only major trucking company still covered by the agreement. As a result of a separate and controversial agreement
with the Teamsters, YRC’s contract does not come up for
renewal until 2015.
The Aug. 13 letter reflects ABF’s long-held belief that the
NMFA is no longer in its best economic or legal interest.
Three weeks ago, a federal district judge in Arkansas dismissed ABF’s charge that YRC and the Teamsters had violated the tenets of the NMFA by negotiating three separate
concessionary agreements in 2009 and 2010 in order to
keep YRC afloat. ABF had alleged that the agreements were
illegally negotiated outside the NMFA and left ABF at an
unfair cost advantage. ABF had proposed similar concessions to its own rank and file but was rebuffed.
After the latest legal setback on Aug. 1, ABF was advised
by some analysts to forego any further courtroom maneuvering in favor of pursuing an acceptable outcome at the
bargaining table. David G. Ross, transport analyst for Stifel,
Nicolaus & Co., wrote at the time that ABF’s “money and
energy is better spent getting the best contract” rather than
fighting what had always been an uphill legal battle.
Analysts have said that ABF, whose labor costs are the
highest of any LTL carrier, will find it hard to remain competitive until it gets those costs under control.
In the mid-1960s, when unionized trucking was at the
peak of its power, the NMFA covered approximately
400,000 workers. However, trucking company bankrupt-cies, consolidations, and a dramatic shift to nonunion labor
have decimated NMFA membership over the decades. ;
—M.S.
accolades
Matthew J. Cox, president and chief executive
officer of Matson Navigation Co., will be presented with the Connie Award by the
Containerization & Intermodal Institute (CII) for
his influence on global containerized trade and
transportation. … UPS is one of only 10 U.S. corporations to have achieved an “A+” rating for
superior transparency with the Global Reporting
Initiative (GRI) to date this year, according to
UPS’s latest annual “Sustainability Report.” …
C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. has been presented with the Human Rights Award from the City of
Eden Prairie (Minn.) Human Rights and Diversity
Commission for providing fresh produce donations through the C.H. Robinson Community
Giving Garden. … Port Everglades’ Foreign-Trade
Zone (FTZ) Number 25 was recognized as July’s
“Zone of the Month” in the National Association
of Foreign-Trade Zones’ (NAFTZ) “Zones Report”
for its economic development achievements.
Global market for WMS
software remains strong
The worldwide market for warehouse management systems (WMS) hit $1.3 billion in 2011, a 10-
percent increase from 2010 levels, according to a
study by consulting and research firm ARC
Advisory Group.
WMS applications oversee and manage inventory, equipment, and workers in a warehouse or distribution center.
The author of the study, Clint Reiser, a research
analyst at ARC, said the growth resulted in part
from strong sales in Latin America and Asia. Sales
of add-on WMS modules such as analytics, labor
management, and optimization also contributed
to growth in the warehouse segment of the supply
chain execution software market, Reiser said.
Reiser noted that in 2011 a large number of
WMS sales occurred in the field of discrete manufacturing. He expects robust activity in 2013 from
food and beverage companies as they look to
improve their track-and-trace efforts.
Retailers are also expected to purchase WMS
solutions that fully support piece picking, packing,
and labeling to manage the high labor levels associated with e-commerce fulfillment. ;
—James Cooke
