WHAT GOES AROUND...COMES AROUND?!
Pulling Back YRC
John Gallagher
Traffic World Magazine
Feb 17, 2008
YRC Worldwide''s retreat from two major LTL markets later this week represents a formal surrender by the nation''s biggest motor carrier to regional competition and could mark a turning point in the battle for freight in the weak trucking economy.
In a radical about-face from its strategy of barely three years ago to be a competitor throughout the U.S. LTL truck market, YRC announced Feb. 7 it will be closing 27 terminals at its USF Holland and USF Reddaway divisions.
The restructuring plan, alluded to in its fourth quarter earnings report last month, includes closing six USF Holland facilities in Albany, Ga.; Jackson, Miss.; Lumberton, N.C.; Little Rock, Ark.; Mobile, Ala.; and Metter, Ga. USF Reddaway will close 21 service centers located in Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. The closings are effective Feb. 22.
The closings will result in a $10 million one-time charge, including $5 million for terminating leases, and $5 million to lay off an unspecified number of employees. YRC, which pulled in $9.6 billion in revenue in 2007, said the majority of the charges will be accounted for in the first quarter of 2008.
The terminal shutdown is part of a $50 million profit improvement plan in its struggling Regional Transportation subsidiary. The regional carrier group, which also includes LTL New Penn and truckload carrier USF Glen Moore, generated $2.37 billion in revenue in 2007, a 2.9 percent drop from $2.44 billion in 2006.
But it''s also an attempt to keep service levels and profit losses from spiraling out of control at a time when the strongest names in the LTL business are losing money.
"Over the years, USF Reddaway and USF Holland have built strong reputations for being leading providers of high-quality next-day and second-day regional service," said Keith Lovetro, president of YRC Regional Transportation.
"Protecting that level of service and quality is one of the most important things we must do - and at times it means making some difficult decisions. USF Holland and USF Reddaway remain strong companies. These changes will allow them to focus on their core areas and strengths, and continue providing solutions that meet the stringent requirements of our regional customers."
Industry experts say that the USF retreat was necessary not just for YRC but for the LTL market in general as way to jumpstart pricing. "These shutdowns should be good, in our view, for the LTL industry, as it removes a poor pricer from some Southern and Southwestern regional markets," said David G. Ross of Stifel Nicolaus.
It wasn''t supposed to happen this way. In February 2005, YRC - going by the name Yellow Roadway - bought USF for $1.47 billion. The strategy was to buy its way into the regional LTL market and immediately begin competing anywhere with anyone for regional and next-day service.
YRC Chairman, President and CEO William Zollars said at the time that buying a group of regional LTLs would allow the company to "really consolidate our portfolio and offer next-day service across the country." He expected the deal to yield $150 million in "cost synergies" within the first two years, $40 million in the first 12 months.
Expectations were high despite the fact that USF, which at the time also included USF Bestway and USF Dugan, had recently experienced labor relations troubles. It came to a head nine months before the YRC purchase when USF abruptly closed its unionized Northeast regional, USF Red Star.
Still, Holland and Reddaway were considered well-run regional carriers - Holland in the Midwest, and Reddaway in the West and Northwest. In the two years following the purchase, USF Dugan closed shop and USF Bestway folded into Reddaway. YRC attempted to gain the synergies promised with Holland and Reddaway covering almost the entire country, with Holland in the East and Reddaway in the West.
Stretched well outside the comfort zone of their original operating territories, pricing discipline eroded as USF attempted to cover the waterfront. In addition, the company dove into the market close to the peak of a tight capacity cycle. A year later LTL capacity began to slacken, freight demand dropped, and pricing within the regional group continued to take a beating.
While downplaying the direct effect the closings will have on the individual companies - Reddaway and Holland are is expected to cut 800 and 300 employees, respectively - Michael J. Smid, president and CEO of YRC''s North American Transportation division, called the restructuring a "significant step" for the regionals.
"From an economic standpoint, it''s a step in gaining the $50 million recovery in the regional company. But more important, it''s a big step toward returning Reddaway and Holland to their original network footprints and core capabilities. It allows us to move both businesses back to what they''re really good at, which is next and second-day transportation in a specific geographic area."
While considered a necessary move by most industry experts, YRC will be paring back into a perilously competitive LTL landscape. Over the last three years, strong regional LTL companies like Old Dominion Freight Lines, Saia and Estes Express have been fortifying their presence while expanding their reach. This was partly in response to companies like UPS Freight, FedEx Freight and, coincidentally, YRC pushing their service into regional markets.
And despite gaining strength, these smaller LTLs have not been immune to the competition for freight or the weak economy. Profits at Saia sank 62 percent in the fourth quarter compared with a year earlier as lower margins undercut higher revenue. Net income at Vitran, a Canadian-based LTL that has been slowly gaining strength in regional pockets throughout the United States, was down 66 percent in the quarter.
Some of these companies seem anxious to not only compete in YRC''s backyard but are looking forward to taking up the slack that YRC is leaving behind.
"USF is withdrawing from some of the markets that are not really their strength, but it does create some opportunity," said Rick O''Dell, president and CEO of Saia. "Any time you see some consolidation or withdrawal, it should be good for pricing."
"Obviously, it''s one less competitor," said Roy Slagle, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Fort Smith, Ark.-based ABF Freight System. "But I don''t see it being a seismic shift in the competitive landscape. There certainly are a significant number of regional carriers in the Southeast. The more competitors you have the greater the challenge."
The operational changes occurring at YRC and the effect they will have in the LTL market was echoed in the financial concerns of Wall Street.
"On the surface this announcement appears positive as it is a major step in turning around a division that has been woefully underperforming expectations since it was acquired," said Jason Seidl of investment bank Credit Suisse.
"However, we are concerned about the potential for the regional group to lose more than just the freight originating and terminating in the vacated areas. Indeed, YRC Regional''s competitors likely will use these closures as a selling point against using both Holland and Reddaway."
Seidl said New Penn, which operates in the Northeast, will not likely be affected by Holland''s withdrawal from the Southeast from an interline standpoint as regional LTL Wilson Trucking handled much of that business.
Smid said that of the 21 states in the Midwest that Holland will continue to serve, it will serve more than 95 percent of them directly. In the Reddaway region in the West, more than half of the excess expense and linehaul miles moved between the 21 terminals that are being closed. "The capacity and resources we had put into operating in the fringe areas, we believe, can be put back into business."
YRC stressed there are no further terminal closings are on the immediate horizon. The next step in the restructuring plan will be a "substantial redesign" of Holland''s linehaul system and how cities are connected within that region, Smid said. "We want to improve the transportation process from a time and efficiency standpoint and bring the best premium services to our regional networks."
Concurrently YRC is redesigning its long-haul network, which includes integrating the technology platforms of Yellow Transportation and Roadway. YRC is also combining the corporate sales channels of its long-haul and regional operations to provide customers with a single point of contact and access to all YRC carriers.
Helping that effort will be leverage gained from new provisions in the freshly minted labor agreement with the Teamsters, Smid said. "Most important is the (provision) that involves leveraging utility employees to work across work classifications and provide much faster throughput in facilities," which will give the company the flexibility of crossing operational jurisdictions so employees can shift between yard, dock, city and road work.
https://www.joc.com/pulling-back-yrc_20080217.html