Sunday, November 01, 2009

YRC Worldwide gives president title to COO Wicks

YRC Worldwide Inc. Chairman and CEO Bill Zollars has given his president title to recently named COO Timothy Wicks.

On Thursday, directors of Overland Park-based YRC made the change, according to a Friday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Zollars said the board’s action acknowledged a change that actually was made on Oct. 5, but was not included in a company announcement at that time.

Wicks has been a rising star at the trucking giant, which has been making dramatic efforts to survive the recession. He started at YRC a year ago as its CFO and was promoted to the new COO position on Oct. 5.

“Tim’s provided great value to the company since he joined us in October of last year,” Zollars said. “... He has been actively involved in both finance and operational decisions since he got here and has been instrumental in moving forward our comprehensive plan.”

With Sheila Taylor ready to take the CFO role, Zollars said, it was time for Wicks to focus on the operational side of the business.

Before YRC, Wicks was senior vice president of strategic growth initiatives at UnitedHealthcare Services Inc.

Zollars had been chairman, president and CEO of the company since Nov. 9, 1999, according to a biography on YRC’s Web site. He has led YRC through two big acquisitions that helped make the company the largest in its sector but also saddled the company with debt.

YRC, which Friday morning reported a $158.7 million loss for the third quarter, has put off pension payments, cut wages, laid off thousands of workers, sold property, won two rounds of concessions from union workers and gotten repeated leniency from creditors in its efforts to survive the drawn-out freight recession.

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