DC Velocity - October 2013

22 DC VELOCITY OCTOBER 2013 www.dcvelocity.com newsworthy

Earlier this year, it seemed the world was Jeff Rogers’ oyster. Named in 2011 to the presidency of YRC Freight, the long-haul unit of YRC Worldwide Inc., he seemed on track to turn around the beleaguered operation. Business was improving. Customers seemed more confident in the unit’s survival. Operating ratio, the measure of revenues versus expenses, had reached its best level in years. Claims, long the unit’s bugaboo, were down significantly. After three successful years running YRC’s profitable Holland regional unit, Rogers was now spearheading one of the trucking industry’s greatest turnarounds.

Suddenly, on Sept. 20, it all ended.

On that day, the company announced it had let Rogers go. The end came that morning and was disclosed after the close of equity market trading. James L. Welch, YRC’s CEO and Rogers’ direct boss, assumed responsibility for the unit. Welch was unhappy with the pace of progress at the division and had become increasingly involved in the unit’s affairs, according to industry sources. There was no indication that a personality clash or corporate politics had anything to do with Welch’s action. “I’m surprised, but I’m not surprised,” said a source close to the company about Rogers’ departure.

A YRC statement shed little light on the subject. “We have more work to do at YRC Freight,” was the closest Welch came in the statement to addressing the issue.

Rogers was named to the YRC Freight post shortly after
Welch assumed the reins at the parent company. At the
time, YRC was struggling badly, with much of its trouble
laid at the feet of the long-haul operation, which accounts
for about 60 percent of the company’s revenue. The long-
haul unit is the amalgamation of the former Yellow
Transportation and Roadway Express. Yellow bought
Roadway in 2003 but over the past decade has struggled
mightily to profitably integrate the two companies.

In last year’s fourth quarter, YRC Freight’s operating ratio—considered the key gauge of a carrier’s efficiency— improved 600 basis points year over year to 97.3, its best fourth-quarter operating ratio in six years. However, the unit posted a lower second-quarter revenue and a wider operating loss over the year-earlier quarter. Company executives attributed the declines to the impact of a major network realignment implemented in May, a period that coincided with an increase in traffic. As a result, operations and service quality were affected, the company said. ;

—M.S.

Rogers out as head of
YRC Freight

UPS Freight has opened an additional service center in
Indianapolis. … Caro Trans, a global ocean freight consol-
idator, has launched a new direct weekly less-than-con-
tainerload and full-containerload export service from
Houston to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. … UTi Worldwide, a
global supply chain services company, opened its new
London operations in Heathrow last month. … Intermec
Inc. has introduced “Intermec C# for Printers,” a program-
ming language capability for Intermec’s PM43/c industrial
printers and PC-Series desktop printers. … Four new Super
Post-Panamax cranes manufactured by Shanghai Zhenhua
Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. are being installed in PortMiami.
… Datalogic’s mobile computers are now available with
voice-picking solutions. … The American Red Cross
received a total gift of nearly $64,000, representing a
$50,000 donation from the Con-way Charitable
Foundation and an additional $14,000 in personal dona-
tions from Con-way employees, to help tornado victims in
Moore, Okla. … Amber Road, a provider of global trade
management solutions, has acquired EasyCargo, a
Shanghai-based solutions provider specializing in complex
Chinese trade regulations. … Hannibal Industries has
received orders from Saudi Arabia and Thailand for its
patent-pending TubeRack product. … In his State of the
Port address, Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director
Curtis Foltz reported record cargo volumes, an influx of
new business, and more than 1 million square feet of dis-
tribution center space leased or developed. … BlueGrace
Group, the parent company of BlueGrace Logistics, has
acquired United States Transportation Consultants of
Baltimore. … The Utz Group, B&B Plastics Inc., and
Greystone Logistics have joined the Reusable Packaging
Association. … Old Dominion Freight Line’s new mobile
app, “OD4Mobile,” is now available for Android devices.
short takes
go figure …

53%

Profit margin on first-class mail handled by the U.S. Postal Service. USPS has proposed a 3-cent increase in the cost of a first-class stamp, effective Jan. 26.