New Penn was a well-oiled machine,no better regional carrier,not even close...They'd still be in business today IF....Well,the rest is history...
Yellow | Hypothetical Question ??
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Personally I have no idea what Roadway was even doing and that has nothing to do with Roadway Express. When you see a FedEx Ground truck don't forget that was Roadway.
They started RPS and then that brilliant corporation sold it to FedEx because they didn't know what they had or what to do with it. To this day FedEx has kept RPS's contractor model and look what they turned RPS into.
If Roadway truly was a well run company we wouldn't be asking would they still be in business. We'd be asking who is bigger, UPS or Roadway?
They started RPS and then that brilliant corporation sold it to FedEx because they didn't know what they had or what to do with it. To this day FedEx has kept RPS's contractor model and look what they turned RPS into.
If Roadway truly was a well run company we wouldn't be asking would they still be in business. We'd be asking who is bigger, UPS or Roadway?
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Rounding3rd
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We used to pickup loads of tv's (think Sony) in Sidney, Ohio with APA too, always thought it would be so easy to hijack us after we left there
Real Teamster
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Thank you! Very few on TB will admit that Roadway wasn't particularly well run. Some of us worked there, and we have a much better grasp on reality.
Well only my opinion , but I think that IF they would have not bought Roadway or Holland , all three would still be open , as Holland made Money and Roadway made money and Yellow could have kept doors open by not spending money they didn't have and won't have had to hire Jamie for Big Bucks !! Buyouts & mergers never end well !! 
Interesting. Industrial Freight Systems (my employer during the 80's early 90's) had an interline agreement with APA to deliver all of their CA freight. We had two different truck drivers hi-jacked out of Sony in Carson around the same time. Back when a truckload of camcorders was a small fortune, neither driver was seriously hurt. Inside job?
It's all relative. Compared to Yellow, Roadway was well-run. The mantra "nothing changes but the color of the trucks" isn't as true as many would like to believe. They all have their problems but having dozens of large LTL carriers as clients over the years, I can tell you that there are certainly some that are/were much better and much worse than average.
Real Teamster
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So true. When I first started at (then) Yellow, they wouldn't haul intrastate freight in my state. Never mind that we had eight terminals in the state, and lots of volume that traveled (on other carriers) between them. Yet we had people laid off when I was catching shifts as a casual, and we had people laid off during each of the next three years at times. Silly!! Gotta truck? Got available capacity? Got the people to do it? Then do it!!
Real Teamster
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I disagree until the time Zollars took the helm. After that, I would be more inclined to agree.
Circa 1989 or so, Preston, New Penn, and Viking were listed in the Top Ten Companies to work for.
Our Local 135 President at that time, always said all three were headed for collapse, because of the Central States Pension shortage….Well only my opinion , but I think that IF they would have not bought Roadway or Holland , all three would still be open , as Holland made Money and Roadway made money and Yellow could have kept doors open by not spending money they didn't have and won't have had to hire Jamie for Big Bucks !! Buyouts & mergers never end well !!
You are aware that INTRASTATE rates are, generally less than INTERSTATE, aren't you? If the revenue does not exceed costs, why would ANYONE haul it. It seems to me you fully accepted the Yellow BS. "If the trailer is full, it's all good".
If Yellow was so financially superior to Roadway, EXPLAIN THIS.
From the NYT 7/9/2003 Article
No. 2 in Trucking, Yellow, Will Buy No. 1, Roadway
"Yellow agreed to pay $966 million, or about $48 a share, for Roadway, whose stock closed on Monday at just $30.02. Moreover, William D. Zollars, the chairman of Yellow who will head the new company, insisted the two would continue to operate separately. Roadway will keep its offices in Akron, Ohio, even though the combined company will be based at Yellow's headquarters in Overland Park, Kan. Each will keep its network of more than 300 terminals where trucks are loaded."
No. 2 in Trucking, Yellow, Will Buy No. 1, Roadway (Published 2003)
Yellow Corp, nation's second-largest trucking company, will acquire industry leader Roadway Corp for $966 million; Yellow's chairman William D Zollars, who will head new company, insists two will continue to operate separately; Roadway's chief executive James D Staley and Zollars comment; photo (M)
Real Teamster
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Al, I never said that Yellow was financially superior to Roadway. As you and this article have laid bare, that purchase in 2003 is what started this whole sorry chain of events, in most peoples' opinion including mine.You are aware that INTRASTATE rates are, generally less than INTERSTATE, aren't you? If the revenue does not exceed costs, why would ANYONE haul it. It seems to me you fully accepted the Yellow BS. "If the trailer is full, it's all good".
If Yellow was so financially superior to Roadway, EXPLAIN THIS.
From the NYT 7/9/2003 Article
No. 2 in Trucking, Yellow, Will Buy No. 1, Roadway
"Yellow agreed to pay $966 million, or about $48 a share, for Roadway, whose stock closed on Monday at just $30.02. Moreover, William D. Zollars, the chairman of Yellow who will head the new company, insisted the two would continue to operate separately. Roadway will keep its offices in Akron, Ohio, even though the combined company will be based at Yellow's headquarters in Overland Park, Kan. Each will keep its network of more than 300 terminals where trucks are loaded."
No. 2 in Trucking, Yellow, Will Buy No. 1, Roadway (Published 2003)
Yellow Corp, nation's second-largest trucking company, will acquire industry leader Roadway Corp for $966 million; Yellow's chairman William D Zollars, who will head new company, insists two will continue to operate separately; Roadway's chief executive James D Staley and Zollars comment; photo (M)www.nytimes.com
The most troubling aspect was the lenders did not INSIST on an immediate merger of operations. $bill borrowed every penny used to acquire Roadway Corporation. That was possible because of the asset rich condition of Roadway. Roadway was worth more than what $bill borrowed.
I suspect, but we will never know the truth. IMO Zollars wanted to shutter Big R and continue as Yellow. Just like they did to Preston. But the lenders balked. If we had quickly consolidated operations, then I think survival was possible. Continuing to have the sales teams compete head to head against each other was insane.
Real Teamster
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Agreed, we will never know the truth but the opinion is widespread that having Big R and Ol' Yeller compete head-to-head was insane. However the same can be said about having five companies competing in parts of the west, but that's what we had.
Cab Lizzard
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And just who would be those five company's in the West be ??
It actually appeared to have been working prior to the economy taking an almost unprecedented dump in the Fall of 2008. The National economy couldn’t sustain either company alone at that time. Let alone an overextended YRC….
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Once RPS got off the ground there was a division in the company between the hard core Roadway Express faction and the RPS faction. It was resolved by Roadway Services kicking Roadway Express out the door after bleeding them dry. Roadway Express still managed to remain profitable.
Roadway Express - Wikipedia
Roadway Express grew quickly after it had been spun off and reported profits of US$21.8 million on US$2.2 billion revenue in its first year of independence.[2] It became a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ in 1996[3] and acquired Reimer Express, a Canadian LTL carrier, in 1997 for an initial payment of US$15 million.
By 2003, Roadway Express was the largest LTL carrier in the US when it and its parent company, Roadway Corp., was acquired by the second largest, Yellow Corp.
And Zollars waited until the walls were caving in, bill counts and revenue down, then scratching his head because he didn’t know how to stop the bleeding.