Trucking Freight

YRCW announced that the company has been named a recipient of the 2010 CIO 100 award by CIO magazine. The 23rd annual award program recognizes organizations around the world that exemplify the highest level of operational and strategic excellence in information technology (IT).

YRC Worldwide was honored by CIO magazine for the company’s integration and systems migration of Yellow Transportation and Roadway Express into YRC. Combining the strengths of Yellow and Roadway through the integration of networks, services and capabilities required the largest technology migration in the history of the transportation and supply chain industry.

“Our team is dedicated to creating an exceptional customer experience. Accelerating our business leadership through technology leadership is an important part of delivering on our commitment to customers,” said Mike Naatz, president-Customer Care Division and chief customer officer-YRC Worldwide. “Receiving this honor again this year recognizes the outcome and significant value of successful business and IT collaboration at YRC Worldwide.”

The primary business goal of the project has resulted in increased operational effectiveness and margins; improvements to the industry value chain; globalization and supply chain efficiency.

“The IT team at YRC Worldwide managed to do what no one had done before: a complete and successful migration of all systems between two huge transportation providers. And it was accomplished in a very compressed amount of time,” added Naatz.

The comprehensive business integration included:

• New use of existing technology to minimize disruptions and ease the transition
• Migration of all systems, data, and processes, including custom applications
• Innovative use of team resources to prepare for the transition and deal with challenges that inevitably arose during the integration process
• Freight quote system

“This year’s CIO 100 awards draws well-deserved attention to companies that are not only innovating with IT but creating genuine business value as well,” said Maryfran Johnson, editor in chief of CIO magazine & Events. “These winning companies and their IT organizations are an inspiration to businesses everywhere.”

The 2010 CIO 100 awards will be presented at the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, Cal., on Aug. 24 at the conclusion of the 12th annual CIO 100 Symposium(R) and Awards Ceremony.

YRC Worldwide Inc., a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Overland Park, Kan., is one of the largest transportation and logistics service providers in the world and the holding company for a portfolio of brands including Yellow Transportation, YRC Reimer, YRC Glen Moore, New Penn, Holland and Reddaway. YRC Worldwide has the largest, most comprehensive network in North America with local, regional, national and international capabilities. Through its team of experienced service professionals, YRC Worldwide offers industry-leading expertise in heavyweight shipments and flexible supply chain solutions, ensuring customers can ship industrial, commercial and retail goods with confidence.

Our owner-employees are trained to deliver confidence with claim-free shipping based on proper use of equipment, close adherence to procedures, and a personal commitment to your complete satisfaction.

How you prepare your shipments for transit is also important. Depending on what you are shipping, here are tips to help avoid damage:

Outer packaging

• Match your outer packaging to the nature of the contents. Wood crates provide the best protection for breakable items or very heavy, dense items. Sturdy corrugated cardboard is appropriate for most other shipments. Thin cardboard and repurposed old boxes rarely provide the necessary protection.
• Match your outer packaging to the size of the contents. Too big, and contents can move around and break. Too small and your shipment will not be properly protected.
• Securely seal the outer packaging with reinforced tape to help keep contents intact.

Packing materials

• Use sufficient packing materials around and between items to keep them from shifting inside the outer packaging.
• Consider using an inner box, surrounded by cushioning materials–a good rule of thumb is three inches on each side–for added protection.
• Reinforce corners and edges to keep them from bending or tearing.
• Select packing materials based on the contents–corrugated fiberboard, molded plastic, shredded paper, bubble wrap and packing peanuts are good options.

Palletizing shipments

• Build a cube: align the vertical edges of multiple cartons and maintain a flat, level top surface.
• Ensure the pallet is in good condition and larger than the cargo sitting on it.
• Use shrink or stretch wrap to keep multiple items together. Depending on the thickness of the wrap multiple layers may be necessary.
• Secure shipments to pallets with bands, tie downs, ratchet straps or rope.

YRC Worldwide Inc., a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest transportation service providers in the world, is the holding company for a portfolio of successful brands including YRC, YRC Reimer, YRC Logistics, New Penn, Holland, Reddaway and YRC Glen Moore. Building on the strength of its heritage brands, Yellow Transportation and Roadway, the enterprise provides global transportation services, transportation management solutions and logistics management. The portfolio of brands represents a comprehensive array of services for the shipment of industrial, commercial and retail goods domestically and internationally.

YRC Worldwide Inc., parent of Yellow Transportation and Roadway Express, will seek $1 billion in federal bailout money to help relieve pension obligations, the chief executive said Thursday.

The move comes as the trucking giant struggles to shore up its finances. The company’s ability to weather the recession will have significant implications for the trucking industry and large customers across the country.

Chief Executive William Zollars said the company will seek the money to help cover the cost of its estimated $2 billion pension obligation over the next four years. Under a complicated system that Mr. Zollars labeled unfair, roughly half of YRC’s contributions to a multi-employer union pension fund cover the costs of retirees who never worked for the Overland Park, Kan., company.

YRC faces a $2 billion pension obligation over the next four years, and will seek Troubled Asset Relief Program money. By applying to the U.S. Treasury for money under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, Mr. Zollars said he hopes to “get the conversation started” with federal authorities about reducing the company’s pension obligations. He said YRC will submit an application to the Treasury Department as early as Friday.

Experts say the company’s odds of actually getting TARP money appear to be slim. A Treasury spokesman didn’t return a call seeking comment.

The holiday is almost over, our Canadian friends will celebrate their long weekend on May 18 with Victoria and on May 25 we will remember our fallen service men and women on Memorial Day. With these upcoming holidays we all lose one work day schedules get thrown off, customer time lines change, last minute orders come in, shipments have to arrive by……… you get the picture.

Relax, with YRC, you have the choice of service features you need to get your shipments handled. With our Guaranteed Time-Critical, or Guaranteed AM/PM service you can choose the service that best fits your needs to get your shipment delivered on time. YRC Expedited/Guaranteed Precision Services are built upon:
Certain reliability
Accelerated transit
Customized Precision Delivery
Heightened shipment visibility
Attentive customer support
Proactive notification by a dedicated team
Ease of use
Flexible air and ground options
100% customer satisfaction guaranteed
Friday to Monday delivery (substitute for more costly air service)

YRC is the combined power of Yellow Transportation and Roadway Express

YRC Worldwide Inc. on Friday hauled in about $101 million following the closing of the first part of its sale-leaseback for a pool of the company’s facilities.

The Overland Park-based trucking company (The old Yellow Transportation and Roadway Express) said in a Friday release that it expects to get about $50 million more from NATMI Truck Terminals LLC in a second closing, expected by mid-February.

“This is one of many significant steps in the initiatives to improve our liquidity,” CFO Tim Wicks said in the release. “These transactions are a key component of the discussions with our banks, which remain very productive.”

Wicks added that the first step wrapped up quickly and that YRC is encouraged by progress on additional phases.

YRC plans to use the funds for operating purposes, the release said.

In December , YRC said the purchase price for the facilities was about $150.4 million, with initial annual lease payments of $21.1 million. The initial lease term for each facility was to be 10 years, with renewal options to extend the leases by as much as 30 more years. YRC previously has done sale-leasebacks with NATMI.

On Jan. 16 , YRC said its lenders had given it a waiver until mid-February to modify its credit lines without delaying the reporting of its fourth-quarter financial results. It reported about $300 million in cash as of Dec. 31 and planned to boost its cash through sale-leaseback deals and proceeds from the sale of excess facilities.

Shares of trucking company YRC Worldwide slumped 12% Monday despite the rest of the market’s euphoria, and Tuesday, shares were down an additional 18% after Fitch Investors Service downgraded the company’s credit. Shares were down 65% in 2008 headed into the day’s action.

The company is dealing with the integration of Yellow Transportation and Roadway related to previous acquisitions and it said last week that it may have to take additional write-downs as a result of this activity.

Fitch, meanwhile, dropped its rating on YRCW further into “junk” territory, to B from double-B, which will increase the cost of funding for the transportation firm. Economic woes are at the forefront of Fitch’s action — the firm says its “less-than-truckload” business, where small shipments are grouped onto a single truck — will remain weak, which will hurt the company’s earnings power.

“The economy has softened further impacting both volume levels and pricing across our operating companies,” said chairman Bill Zollars. “After a solid second quarter, the third quarter started slowly and has progressively weakened.”

YRC said its earnings have also been impacted by investments in combining its national companies, Yellow Transportation and Roadway. In 2003, Yellow acquired Roadway Express to become Yellow Roadway. Then in 2005, Yellow roadway purchased USF and in 2006 became YRC Worldwide.

“We do not see signs of the economy improving in the near term, but as we merge Yellow and Roadway, we expect operating results to show meaningful improvement,” said Zollars.

Some reasons why Yellow Freight and Roadway are losing money

“I have worked for Yellow Transportation for ten years now”, says Shawn. I worked my way up from the dock to management. Since being a part of the YRC management team, I am shocked to see how poorly our company operates. We also have another account at the terminal I work for, in which the pricing is so bad, we are losing six figures a month. That is more than a million dollars a year loss just from this one account. When the issue of how much money was being lost on the account is brought to anyone’s attention in corporate, the response is ‘We don’t care about the money, we need to service this client.’”

Like many companies these days, YRC Worldwide, Yellow Transportation and Roadway Freight, is finding that the debt that helped it grow in good times is now a potentially fatal albatross around its neck as the freight industry navigates tumultuous times.

Earlier in this decade, the former Yellow Freight acquired competitors such as Roadway Express and US Freightways to become the giant of the less-than-truckload industry.

Now, however, it struggles to survive, with its ability to service its debt and meet so called “covenants” attached to that debt is in real doubt.

The company recently bought some time when it renegotiated the terms of its debt agreements that extended some credit lines that were to have expired in April. But the leash isn’t long.
According to Ed Wolfe of Wolfe Research, an analyst firm that covers the transportation industry, with the new agreement “YRCW won a lifeline from its banks but seemingly only for another few quarters, as the new terms require a major operating turnaround by 2Q:09 with even further improvement in 2H:09 despite few signs of such improvement in the market place.”

YRC, however, is making lots of moves. It finished its operational integration of the former Yellow Freight and Roadway networks in December of 2009, which should allow it to slash costs. That will be, in part, by reducing redundant capacity and getting higher utilization on the routes that remain for the integrated network.

Yellow Transportation has said that, independently, each of the networks was lately running at only 75% utilization.
The integration will also allow YRC to eliminate more jobs to save money. It let go 12% of its workforce in 2008, and more layoffs are to come in 2009.

Earlier this year, the company also achieved an unprecedented wage reduction of 10% with the Teamsters union, which will save it as much as $250 million annually.

YRC Worldwide Inc. (Nasdaq: YRCW) announced today that its Yellow Transportation, Roadway Freight, Holland and New Penn business units have reached a tentative agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to modify the current labor agreement for employees covered by the National Master Freight Agreement.

“Extraordinary times call for extraordinary action,” said Mike Smid, President and CEO of YRC North American Transportation. “In that regard, our employees should be proud of the professionalism and seriousness that the Teamsters took on all fronts in their approach in reaching this tentative agreement. We look forward to continuing to work with them to protect the future of our employees and our company. At the end of the day, we have the interests of our employees and our customers in common, and together we are working hard to make our business more competitive and improve our position going forward.”