Roadway Express adding nearly 130 jobs at Buffalo operations

Roadway Express is revving up its local employment, adding nearly 130 jobs as the trucking company reshapes its North American distribution network.
The carrier is expanding the role of its Buffalo area operation, creating the need for more jobs, said Michael Smid, president and chief executive officer of Ohio-based Roadway Express.

The site's broadened task involves consolidating and distributing freight from a wider regional area, as well as consolidating freight for shipments to the West Coast, Smid said. The local operation is in the North America Center, a business park in West Seneca.

Its employment will rise from the current 250 jobs to a total of 375, said Suzanne Dawson, a spokeswoman for YRC Worldwide, Roadway Express' parent company.

The additional jobs allow some laid-off Roadway Express employees to return to work, and some other Roadway Express workers will transfer here to fill positions. But most of the new hiring will occur locally, Smid said.

Most of the new positions will be unionized jobs represented by the Teamsters, except for some administrative and support jobs being added, Smid said.

Among the applicants for the new jobs are employees who lost their jobs when Consolidated Freightways abruptly shut down in 2002.

The switch in the Roadway site's role is set to take effect March 12, and the carrier is working to staff up in time for that date, Smid said.

As Roadway Express reconfigures its distribution network, some communities, such as Dallas, Chicago and Akron, Ohio, are gaining jobs, while other communities are losing positions.

Buffalo's job gain is among the largest in Roadway Express' network, Smid said. Worker performance and geography influenced that decision.

"It is an environment that has worked well for us from a performance standpoint," Smid said. The Buffalo area is also well-positioned to serve other markets, including Canada, he added.

Roadway Express expects the changes will allow the company to move freight more quickly and efficiently, and reduce the number of "touch points" where freight is handled.

Roadway Corp. was acquired in 2003 by Yellow Corp. The combined company was known as Yellow Roadway until its recent name change to YRC Worldwide.

Thomas Kucharski, president and CEO of Buffalo Niagara Enterprise, welcomed Roadway Express' decision and noted that transportation and logistics is an area that BNE has targeted for job growth.

"We think this could be a growth industry," Kucharski said.

The region would enhance its chances of building that industry by resolving infrastructure challenges, such as ensuring smooth traffic flow at the Peace Bridge, he said.

Expansions by companies such as Roadway Express also help business recruiters as they try to persuade other companies to expand in Buffalo, Kucharski said.

"If they make an expansion decision here, that gets noticed," he said.