YRC unit changes name to better focus its mission, employees

YRC Inc. is changing its name to YRC Freight to better focus attention on its freight services and give employees from the merger of Yellow Corp. and Roadway Corp. a new name to rally behind.

The national unit of Overland Park-based YRC Worldwide Inc. announced the change Wednesday.

Jeff Rogers, the unit’s president, said in an interview that the move is a continuation of efforts to refocus YRC on the long-haul freight business.

The company specializes in less-than-truckload work, or combining shipments from several customers into a single truckload. YRC Freight is in the process of jettisoning its next-day service, leaving that business to regional sister brands New Penn, Reddaway and Holland.  Full Story.......

TEAMSTERS FIGHT AGAINST RECKLESS PUSH TO ALLOW HEAVIER, BIGGER TRUCKS

Hoffa Says Radical Changes Would Endanger Driving Public, Cost Taxpayers

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa joined Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., highway safety advocates and family members of truck crash victims at a press conference today to speak out against legislation that would make radical changes to federal law, allowing heavier and bigger tractor trailers on U.S. highways.

“Many Teamsters drive for a living and they know up close the dangers involved if the size and weight of commercial trucks on our highways are increased,” Hoffa said. “Heavier and longer trucks mean greater stopping distances and shorter reaction times. This legislation is treacherous to the driving public.”

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is considering the legislation, which is sponsored by House Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica, R-Fla.

It would raise maximum truck weights by more than eight tons and would overturn restrictions that ban dangerous triple trailer trucks and other longer combination vehicles on most U.S. highways. It also would impose exemptions on important hours-of-service regulations, Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules and Hazmat training requirements.

“This legislation is a reckless giveaway to the trucking industry, and corporate greed is at the wheel,” Hoffa said. “The driving public absolutely does not support these radical changes that will endanger our highways. This overhaul will not create jobs. It will damage our roads and bridges, costing taxpayers. It will put lives at risk.”

General President Hoffa's Full Statement to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

YRC Becomes YRC Freight

Yellow and Roadway Brands Align New Company Name with Focus on Core LTL Freight Business

YRC Inc., a subsidiary of YRC Worldwide Inc., today officially unveils the launch of its new brand – YRC Freight. The brand was introduced to employees in late January at a company event. In addition to the new name, a new logo, uniforms, equipment and signage will be rolled out across North America.

"We are proudly debuting our new name, YRC Freight. Moving freight is our heritage, what we do best and the key to our future. Our new name, logo and branding program publicly demonstrate the unification of a new company and culture that aligns perfectly with our strategy moving forward," said Jeff Rogers, president of YRC Freight.

YRC Freight will invest in a new driver uniform program, rebrand road equipment and add new terminal signage. The company will begin the rebranding process immediately and convert equipment as part of regularly scheduled maintenance and refurbishing schedules. The new driver uniforms and building signs will feature bright blue, white and orange colors that will proudly be accompanied by the addition of "Freight" incorporated into the brand name.

The company chose to launch the brand internally at a kick-off meeting with several hundred field and headquarter employees. YRC Freight wanted to prepare the organization first in order to send the message that the company plans to build the brand from the inside out and provide significant momentum going into 2012 and beyond.

For the last several months, the company has worked diligently to set a new standard of service, streamline management and refocus its core business. Those efforts are beginning to show positive results. YRC Freight plans to emphasize three top priorities in 2012, including improved service, better safety and excellent customer experience. The talent and skills of its dedicated employees will help the company meet these goals.

"In the four months that new leadership has been in place, we have experienced month-over-month increases in our on-time service performance, our customer satisfaction scores, and in our market share position," said Rick Mathews, senior vice president of sales and marketing at YRC Freight. "As shipment counts trend upward for 2012, we will continue to emphasize picking up and delivering shipments on time and delivering them damage-free."

"Our new name reflects our passion, our purpose and our commitment to regain our role as leaders in the industry. Freight is our business and now it is our name," said Rogers. "We're freight professionals and it's critically important that we focus like never before on exceeding expectations of our customers every day with every shipment. We will work to keep our brand promise – Confidence Delivered."

New name, logo and emphasis at trucking giant YRC

Overland Park trucker to be focusing more on long-haul deliveries

Overland Park trucking giant YRC Worldwide Inc. is bringing “freight” back to its long-haul trucking business.

Starting today, YRC Inc. will go by YRC Freight as part of an effort to return to the basics of long-haul trucking.

“It’s connecting who we are and what we do with the name,” YRC Freight President Jeff Rogers said.

The heir of the familiar Yellow Freight and operator of Roadway Express since 2003 has been running America’s roads as simply YRC.

The rebranding follows last year’s difficult financial restructuring and coincides with operational changes the company plans to make in April. Those changes will relocate dozens of jobs within YRC Freight and change some of the jobs in Kansas City.  Full Story............

UPS Delivers Record 4Q Results

UPS today announced fourth quarter 2011 adjusted diluted earnings per share of $1.28, a 21% improvement over the prior-year period. Total revenue increased 6% to $14.2 billion and adjusted operating profit climbed 17% to more than $2 billion.

Last Friday, the company announced a change in pension accounting to a mark-to-market methodology. Adopted in the fourth quarter of 2011 and applied retrospectively, this new method resulted in after-tax charges in 2011 and 2010 of $527 million and $75 million, respectively. Also, in the prior-year period, UPS recorded a net after-tax gain of $32 million from the sale of certain non-core business units in the Supply Chain and Freight segment. On a reported basis, fourth quarter 2011 diluted earnings per share were $0.74, a decline of 28% from the same quarter last year.

For the full year 2011, UPS achieved a new high in adjusted diluted earnings per share at $4.35. On a reported basis, diluted earnings per share were $3.84.

"UPS delivered record fourth quarter results in volume, revenue and profitability," said Scott Davis, UPS chairman and CEO. "In short, the quarter was a testament to the power of UPS's global model and the company's ability to operate efficiently in evolving markets."

Full Report...........

YRC to Exit Next-Day Market

Network redesign concentrates on long-haul freight, reduced handling

YRC Worldwide is proposing changes to its long-haul freight network that will speed shipments and take long-haul carrier YRC out of the next-day freight market.

The change of operations, which must be approved by the Teamsters union, would be the most significant step yet in the restructuring of YRC launched last year by CEO James Welch and President Jeff Rogers.

“We’re going to have YRC focus on long-haul,” Rogers said in an interview Monday. That means eliminating the next-day Velocity network YRC launched in 2008.

With that decision, the long-haul carrier will no longer compete with sister companies in the YRC regional group for same-day or next-day freight.

“We’ve got Holland, New Penn and Reddaway, the best next-day carriers in their footprint,” Rogers said. “We’re going to let them do what they do best.”

Restructuring its long-haul network will help YRC load more freight direct to more points, reducing the potential for damage, building density and speeding shipments.

“We’re going to eliminate a lot of handling, reduce several thousand handles a day,” said Rogers. “We want to be the best two- to five-day carrier, period.”

Full Story........