YRC introduces automatic No-fee, Money-back Guarantee on standard service shipments

YRC Inc. announced the introduction of its new No-fee, Money-back Standard Service Guarantee. Effective in January, shippers are automatically eligible to receive a 100-percent refund if their shipments fail to deliver on the scheduled day of service.

"Shippers want peace of mind, knowing their goods will deliver as scheduled. Nothing delivers that level of confidence like a YRC guarantee," says Mike Smid, YRC Inc. president and YRC Worldwide chief operations officer. "Given the performance excellence of our comprehensive network, it was an easy decision to offer the added value of a guarantee at no additional charge."

Highlights of the program include:

•Automatic guarantee on YRC and YRC Reimer standard LTL transit schedules across the contiguous 48 states and between the United States and Canada.
•All net line-haul charges and fuel surcharges reimbursed if the company fails to deliver by the end of the day on the scheduled day of service.
•Service guarantee automatically available to customers under the current version of the YRC North American Transportation Tariff 551/557 base rate and YRC Preferred Pricing Tariff 5516 rate schedules.
The new No-fee, Money-back Standard Service Guarantee complements the YRC Guaranteed PrecisionTM services. Available for an additional charge:

•Guaranteed AM ensures delivery by noon on the standard service date;
•Guaranteed PM promises delivery by 5 p.m., or the end of the business day, on the standard service date; and
•Multiday Window guarantees the shipment will deliver to customers' specifications within a 2- to 5-day window.
YRC Guaranteed Precision and Expedited PrecisionTM services are available to all customers, regardless of their pricing program.

The No-Fee, Money-back Standard Service Guarantee is subject to the terms, conditions, rules and exclusions in the applicable tariffs. Shippers currently under contract with YRC may be eligible for and enroll in this offer by written addendum to the applicable contract.

Arkansas Best Corporation Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2009 Results

Arkansas Best Corporation announced a fourth quarter 2009 net loss of $88.7 million, or $3.54 per share.

These results include previously disclosed charges for non-cash goodwill impairment of $2.55 per share and supplemental pension settlements of $0.11 per share. Excluding these charges, Arkansas Best had a fourth quarter 2009 net loss of $22.1 million, or $0.88 per share, compared to a net loss of $11.0 million, or $0.44 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2008.

"Arkansas Best's fourth quarter results illustrate the impact of an extremely weak and uncertain freight environment that has continued now for forty months," said Judy R. McReynolds, Arkansas Best President and Chief Executive Officer. "This economic recession has been unprecedented in its length and depth. Its impact on the LTL industry has accelerated the level of price competition throughout 2009, and the fourth quarter was no exception."

"Although the economy has presented us with extreme challenges, the strength of our balance sheet and the depth and experience of the ABF team have allowed us to continue our focus on enhancing our services to customers. A high standard of dependability, superior cargo care and adaptability to customer-specific requirements are the important elements of that focus," said Ms. McReynolds.

The national Share the Road highway safety program has returned to West Virginia for the fourth time in three years to deliver life-saving highway driving tips from the nation's top professional truck drivers.

The 2010 West Virginia International Auto Show provided the perfect backdrop for the elite group of million mile accident-free drivers to share their message of road safety. According to the West Virginia Department of Transportation, West Virginia saw 380 highway fatalities in 2008.

The West Virginia International Auto Show Share the Road stop demonstrated to drivers how to share the road safely with large trucks. The auto show presentation will continue through Sunday, Jan. 31 with drivers available for interviews in the cab of the truck or in studio.

"Being at the West Virginia International Auto Show is an opportunity to talk to a great number of people about highway safety," said Clarence Jenkins, a professional truck driver for UPS Freight from Poca, W. Va. "We can get attendees up inside the cab of a truck to see first-hand the limitations I face on the road everyday. That's why we're out here today – to educate the public and make us all a little safer."

Featured at the auto show are professional truck drivers Ron Hawkins (K-Limited Carriers), Barry Holland (UPS Freight), Clarence Jenkins, Jr. (UPS Freight) and Tony Sperro (ABF Freight System). These drivers are members of an elite team of million-mile, accident-free truck drivers who deliver the trucking industry's safety messages across the country.

West Virginia Motor Truck Association President Jan Vineyard told reporters, "I'm excited to see the Share the Road safety program at the West Virginia International Auto Show educating attendees on the differences professional truck drivers face on the highway. The trucking industry is an integral part of West Virginia's economy, so educational programs like this are paramount to keeping everyone safe and keeping our goods and products moving."

Today's presentation of Share the Road safety measures is important for motorists because:

•Over the past decade alone, the large truck fatal crash rate dropped by 23 percent (USDOT)
•35 percent of all truck-involved highway fatalities occur in a truck's blind spots (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration).
•According to three different studies – including the AAA Traffic Safety Foundation and DOT, 3 out of 4 truck-involved fatalities are unintentionally initiated by car drivers.


The safety demonstration today at the West Virginia International Auto Show will continue through Sunday. Reporters will be able to view the road from the truck driver's perspective, and learn up close and personal some of the differences between how cars and large trucks operate on the highways. Today's demonstration was designed to teach specific skills to motorists in order to drive safely around other automobiles and around trucks and large commercial vehicles on the highways, and to arrive safely at their destinations.

ABF, Teamsters to Meet for 'Dialogue'

LTL carrier seeks more even playing field with YRC

ABF Freight System is holding a "dialogue" with the Teamsters union over pension liabilities and labor costs, the company's top executive said yesterday.

"We've had continuing dialogue" with the Teamsters, and "we do have a meeting set with them to discuss our issues," Judy R. McReynolds, president and CEO of Arkansas Best, said in a conference call with investment analysts.

Those issues center on wage and benefits concessions the Teamsters gave YRC Worldwide last August, in effect making ABF a higher cost LTL carrier.

The Teamsters late last year said no talks with ABF were under way after an ABF executive said they had a dialogue and an agreement was expected "soon."

The Teamsters "are aware of our issues," said McReynolds. "They're aware that our cost structure is higher than both the nonunion and union competitors we have out there."

The union and company have a common goal, she said. "We share an interest in growing jobs, and for us that means growing revenue. We're looking forward to that meeting."