LTL carrier

The large sums of money in the transport industry last month came from FedEx. Douglas G. Duncan, president and CEO of FedEx Freight services from the beginning, retires in February next year. The announcement has surprised the industry.

FedEx Freight was founded in 2001 through acquisition and merger of American Freight Ways, and Viking Freight. Duncan had been a manager at Viking, has previously worked at several other carriers, including carriageway.

Under the leadership of Duncan, FedEx Freight is one of the nation's leading non-union less) than-truckload (LTL carriers. It is the second largest LTL operators in the country, according to YRC Worldwide.

Many in the trucking industry to see creation as the beginning of a fundamental change in LT. The large union carriers at the time - Yellow, Road and Consolidated Freight Ways - began to lose some ground, non-union lines.

The global FedEx brand is already established, together with management, unrivaled (for now) spending on technology and improved service, forced to reconsider the second LTL carrier her new company. (Consolidated Freight Ways weight in 2002, and the Yellow Sign Corp. acquired in 2003, creating what is now YRC Worldwide.)

The landscape of U.S. freight service has changed quite dramatically over Duncan's leadership at FedEx Freight. Much of it is the direct effect of the Internet and web-based freight-related transportation management services, but probably not significant credit should also go to work at FedEx Duncan. His tactical decisions and investments in technology quickly made a big player in the FedEx SEC game.

We are convinced that the successor FedEx Douglas Duncan continues to be a leading innovator and supplier of high quality, reliable service.