S&P Initiates Coverage On YRC Worldwide $400 Million ABL Facility With A ’1′ Recovery Rating

YRC Worldwide Inc. today announced that Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has initiated coverage on the company’s asset-backed loan facility (the ABL Facility). The ABL Facility received a recovery rating of ’1′, the second highest recovery rating available, and a facility rating of B-. The ABL Facility rating is two notches above the YRC Worldwide corporate credit rating, the highest facility rating possible relative to the company’s corporate rating under S&P’s scoring methodology. S&P reaffirmed the company’s corporate credit rating of CCC with a stable outlook.

“The ABL Facility provides us the liquidity to grow and invest in our business as seasonal requirements necessitate.  We believe the ’1′ rating of the receivables based facility is an indication of the credit worthiness of our customer base, the industry diversity of those customers, the structure of the facility and the overall high quality nature of the supporting collateral,” said Jamie Pierson, chief financial officer of YRC Worldwide. “Our liquidity position as of March 31, 2012 is the best it has been on a comparable quarter basis in three years, allowing us to continue executing on our strategy.”

“We continue to make great strides at YRCW as our newly optimized network at YRC Freight and corresponding decrease in standard transit times across much of the network is building on our commitment to improve service to our customers,” added Pierson. “And as usual, the regional companies continue to provide best-in-class service for their customers in the next-day and two-day industry segments.”

YRC Freight moving to smaller Toledo terminal

Transportation firm YRC Freight Inc. is moving from the former Roadway Express truck terminal at 6180 Hagman Rd. in Toledo to the former Yellow Transportation terminal at 4431 South Ave., the company said Monday. It has been trying to sell the Hagman Road terminal for about a year, although a price has not been disclosed.

YRC Freight, formed in 2003 through a merger of Yellow Transit and Roadway Express, said the move will not affect its Toledo-area operations and is being done to cut costs. Suzanne Dawson, a YRC Freight spokesman, said she could not say when the move will be completed.

The Hagman Road terminal, built in 1975, has 106,000 square feet and 204 docking bays. The South Avenue terminal, built in 1964, has 13,000 square feet and 41 bays.

ABF Driver Chuck Smetzer Repeats As Maryland Grand Champion

For the second consecutive year, ABF driver Chuck Smetzer has earned the title of Grand Champion in the Maryland Safe Truck Driving Championships, thus becoming Maryland's first repeat Grand Champion.

"Never in the 65-year history of Maryland's Safe Truck Driving Championships has a driver repeated as the Grand Champion, until now," said Craig Talbott, vice president of safety for the Maryland Motor Truck Association. "Making the accomplishment even more remarkable, Smetzer competed in an entirely different driving class this year.  In 2012, Smetzer won the Grand Championship while competing in the twin trailers classification.  In 2011, Smetzer won first place in the 3 axle van class."

Smetzer has been driving accident free for over 29 years, with 21 years dedicated to ABF. Domiciled at Hagerstown, Md., Smetzer has received numerous safe-driving awards, including the Gold Safe Driving Award, the 20-Year Safety Performance Plaque and 20-Year Safe Driving Patches.

The Maryland Safe Truck Driving Championships are sponsored each year by the Maryland Motor Truck Association Safety Management Council.  The contest is open to all drivers who work in Maryland, have accident-free records for at least 12 months prior to participation, and who meet the eligibility requirements of the Maryland Motor Truck Association and the American Trucking Associations. This year's competition included 110 drivers.