U.S. Xpress executives Patrick Quinn and Max Fuller announced Oct. 12 the successful completion of the tender offer for all outstanding shares of the company’s Class A common stock. At that time, New Mountain Lake Acquisition Co. – the entity former by Quinn and Fuller to pursue the purchase – owned about 14.5 million shares, representing about 93.3 percent of the total issued and outstanding. Quinn and Fuller founded Chattanooga, Tenn.-based U.S. Xpress in 1985 and serve as co-chairmen of the board; Fuller is the company’s CEO, and Quinn is its president.
YRC Worldwide, following a third quarter that saw lower revenues and profit, named Mike Smid president of North American Transportation, responsible for the asset-based operating companies of YRC Worldwide. Smid had served as president of YRC National Transportation since its formation in January 2007 and was previously president of Roadway. Jim Staley, president of YRC Regional Transportation, announced his retirement effective Dec. 31 after
37 years in the industry; his replacement is Keith Lovetro, who will report to Smid.
IRP Inc., the repository of the International Registration Plan, now has automated registration fee estimating software on its website for carriers and others to estimate registration fees for interstate fleets with various travel, weight or other haracteristics. The free estimator can be found at www.irponline.org under Information Exchange.
The American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 1.5 percent in September, after falling 0.8 percent in August. The not-seasonally adjusted index fell 10.6 percent from August to 107.4. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the tonnage index rose to 111.6 in September. Despite September’s sequential increase, tonnage was down 2.3 percent from a year earlier. Year-to-date, the tonnage index was 2.2 percent lower than during the same period in 2006.
ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said the September tonnage reading points to continued softness in the trucking industry, despite the month-to-month increase. Although the 1.5-percent gain was the biggest monthly increase since February of this year, Costello expects tonnage to remain choppy in the foreseeable future, a trend that started a couple of months ago.
“Nearly all economic indicators suggest continued sluggishness for the trucking industry in the near term,” Costello said, adding that September’s reading points to a lackluster 2007 fall freight season, which traditionally starts in mid- to late August and peaks in October. “We are sticking with our economic forecasts that point to below-trend growth for the overall economy and truck tonnage,” Costello said.
ATA calculates the tonnage index based on surveys from its membership. The baseline year is 2000.
