Holland Celebrates 80 Years of Driving Customer Success

Holland, a subsidiary of YRC Worldwide Inc. will celebrate 80 years of excellence beginning this week, reinforcing its reputation as a leading provider of next-day and regional service and one of the most unwavering brands in the transportation industry.

“In 1929, the founders were confident they could be successful in spite of the Great Depression,” said Jeff Rogers, president of Holland. “Since then, our experienced professionals have met the challenges of 13 recessions by sticking with a plan to offer our customers the best value.”

Today, Holland is the leading provider in its region with more than 4,000 tractors, 8,000 trailers and 71 percent of its deliveries made next-day. Holland has built the most comprehensive next-day network in its region, with industry-leading performance in on-time service and claims ratio.

Holland’s commitment to outstanding customer service and quality recently earned the company Logistics Management magazine’s Quest for Quality award for the 24th consecutive year. The award is based on an annual customer survey conducted by the magazine. In addition, Holland recently received a 2009 Shipper’s Choice Award for excellence in the LTL trucking category by Canadian Transportation & Logistics magazine, based on the results of more than 5,000 reader evaluations of truck transportation carrier performance.

John and Catherine Cooper started Holland Motor Express in 1929, hauling grain and hay for West Michigan farmers. In 1930, the company began to diversify with the purchase of an International truck and trailer that John drove each day from Holland, Mich., to Chicago.

The company opened service centers in Chicago, Holland, Mich., and Grand Rapids, Mich. in 1931. Two years later, they expanded the network with service centers in Cincinnati, Ohio, Fort Wayne, Ind., Indianapolis, Ind., and Kalamazoo, Mich. By 1939, Holland had grown to a company with 58 employees and revenue of $300,000.

Charles Cooper, John’s son, became president of the company in 1958. Under his leadership, the company exceeded $1 million in profit in 1971. Charles remained president until 1984 when the company was acquired by TNT North America. The company changed its name to US Freightways Corp. in 1996 (and later to USF Corp.) to emphasize its independent identity and industry leadership. These actions also gave birth to the name USF Holland.

Holland was acquired in 2004 by Yellow Roadway Corp. (now YRC Worldwide). Today, Holland is part of YRC Regional Transportation, a strategically important operating division of YRC Worldwide.

“Our core values of integrity, respect, excellence and hard work stitch together our past, present and future,” Rogers said. “Our people are our greatest strength and they will carry our proud heritage into the future.”