Wednesday, June 03, 2009

YRC says it's making progress ... but is it enough?

YRC Worldwide CEO Mike Smid knows his customers and competitors are wondering whether the nation's largest LTL carrier will survive. There's no question in his mind that it will, he told DC VELOCITY at NASSTRAC's 2009 Logistics Conference and Expo in late April.

YRC has made substantial changes in its operations while aggressively managing cash, liquidity, and fixed and variable costs, Smid said. "We have not gone to a bank and asked for any additional money—not a dime," he said. (Two weeks after the interview, however, YRC Worldwide Chairman, President, and CEO Bill Zollars told The Wall Street Journal that the company would ask the federal government for $1 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds to help it meet pension obligations.)

Smid believes the recently completed integration of Yellow Transportation and Roadway Express—the integrated unit now goes by the name YRC National—will improve the carrier's outlook. The integration included a network restructuring to eliminate terminals in some areas and expand in others—YRC now operates about 100 more service centers than either Yellow or Roadway did individually, with direct service to an additional 21,000 locations. The carrier also says it has cut average transit times by half a day and boosted on-time delivery rates by several points. Meanwhile, it continues to reduce operating and personnel costs. Full Story.......

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