ChemTreat Names Holland 2011 LTL Carrier of the Year

Leading specialty chemical company, ChemTreat, has named Holland its 2011 LTL Carrier of the Year. This marks the third time that ChemTreat has extended this honor to Holland since 2004.

A number of carriers were evaluated along several metrics, including billing accuracy, on-time performance, and damage-free delivery. These objective measures were supplemented by input from ChemTreat traffic, shipping, and receiving department employees to create a final score value. Holland received a score of 97.34 out of 100, making it the leading carrier by a margin.

ChemTreat LTL Manager, Susan Coggsdale said, "Holland is an excellent carrier to work with. Shipments are moved along smoothly and our products are being delivered to our customers in a timely manner, which makes our jobs easier, and our customers happy. Holland has been and continues to be a valuable extension of our business."

Holland President Mike Naatz commented, "Holland prides itself in providing an exceptional customer service, and our professionals work very hard to make that possible. We are very grateful and honored to receive this recognition from our valued customers at ChemTreat."

Since 2010, Holland has also been the proud recipient of 15 similar customer satisfaction awards. Previous honors include: Matco Tools 2010 carrier scorecard Gold-level; Echo Global Logistics 2010 Regional Carrier of the Year award; Eastman Chemical Company 2010 Supplier Excellence Award, and more. The close of 2011 also marked the 26th consecutive year that Holland has received at least one Quest for Quality award from Logistics Management.

Truckers haul less freight in January but outlook stays rosy

U.S. truckers handled less freight in January after enjoying a leap in December

“Last month, I said I was surprised by the size of the gain in December,” Bob Costello, chief economist for the American Trucking Associations    , said in a written statement. “Today, I’m not surprised that tonnage fell on a seasonally adjusted basis in January simply due to the fact that December was so strong.”

The trade association has an index to monitor for-hire truck tonnage. The advanced, seasonally adjusted index dropped by 5 percentage points in January, coming off a 6.8 percentage-point gain in December.

The index now stands at 119.4, down from December’s record of 124.4. The freight level in 2000 equals 100 on the index.  Full Story......

YRC Worldwide Reports Fourth Quarter 2011 Results

YRC Freight tons per day up 6.7%, revenue per hundredweight up 4.8%, operating revenue up 11.0%
Regional tons per day up 4.7%, revenue per hundredweight up 5.7%, operating revenue up 12.6%



YRC Worldwide Inc. today reported financial results for the fourth quarter of 2011.

Consolidated operating revenue for the fourth quarter of 2011 was $1.212 billion, up 11.1% over 2010, and consolidated operating loss was $38 million, which included a $13 million loss on asset disposals, $4 million of restructuring professional fees and $9 million of letter of credit fees (as detailed in the reconciliation below). Excluding these items, on a non-GAAP basis 2011 fourth quarter operating loss would have been $12 million.  As a comparison, the company reported consolidated operating revenue of $1.092 billion for the fourth quarter of 2010 and a consolidated operating loss of $28 million, which included a $3 million loss on asset disposals, $8 million of letter of credit fees and $6 million of restructuring professional fees (as detailed in the reconciliation below). Excluding these items, on a non-GAAP basis 2010 fourth quarter operating loss would have been $11 million.

The company also reported positive operating cash flow of $27 million for the fourth quarter of 2011, which included the $4 million of restructuring professional fees, and reported gross capital expenditures of $35 million. When excluding the above noted restructuring professional fees, the company reported on a non-GAAP basis adjusted free cash flow usage of $4 million for the fourth quarter of 2011 (as detailed in the reconciliation below). As a comparison, the company generated non-GAAP basis adjusted free cash flow of $11 million for the fourth quarter of 2010, which included the add back of $7 million of restructuring professional fees (as detailed in the reconciliation below).

"I wish to express my thanks to our employees for their efforts as we work to build a more service-centric culture focused on delivering quality and consistently reliable freight service for our customers," said James Welch, chief executive officer of YRC Worldwide.  "I am pleased with the renewed focus on customer service, but obviously not satisfied with our consolidated operating results. However, I am encouraged that our performance trends over the fourth quarter are consistent with or exceeding the consolidated operating plan created by our now autonomous operating companies," stated Welch.  Full Report.........

YRC Worldwide headquarters gets a face-lift

YRC Worldwide Inc.’s Overland Park headquarters got a minor face-lift last week as workers switched out its name on the side of the building for subsidiary YRC Freight.

The division’s CEO, Jeff Rogers, said most of the almost 700 employees in the building work for YRC Freight, which condenses shipments from multiple customers into long-haul truckloads. He added that the move also follows the corporation’s efforts to put more spotlight on its day-to-day transportation services.  Full Story.....