DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. — Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc. has closed three transactions, completing the company’s divestiture of all truckload segment businesses, according to a statement released Aug. 17. The transactions include the sale of Rich Logistics and Integrated Services Inc. (ISI) to an undisclosed strategic buyer, as well as the sale of Roadrunner Temperature Controlled (RRTC Holdings Inc.) to Laurel Oak Capital Partners.
“With (these) actions, we have completed our evolution from a troubled roll up to a focused, national LTL carrier,” said Chris Jamroz, executive chairman of Roadrunner. “We are eternally grateful to our team for the long hours and hard work through the prolonged period of transition.”
The divestitures complete a reorganization that involved the sale of Roadrunner’s intermodal services in November 2019, flatbed in December 2019, prime distribution in March, and stagecoach in April. With the previously announced completion of the spin-off of Ascent Global Logistics Inc., Roadrunner now consists solely of its less-than-truckload operations.
Other changes to Roadrunner associated with the transactions noted above include the following:
- Svindland joins board of directors
At the time of the Ascent spin-off, Paul Svindland, CEO of STG Logistics, joined Roadrunner’s board of directors. Svindland most recently served as CEO of Celadon Group; before Celadon, Paul was chairman and CEO of Farren International, a private equity backed flatbed trucking company.
Donald C. Brown and Scott Dobak remain as independent directors on Roadrunner’s board of directors, and Christopher Doerr has moved over to the Ascent Global Logistics Board.
“With deep experience in the logistics and transportation sector, Paul will no doubt lend invaluable advice and perspective to our board and executive leadership team as we enter Roadrunner’s next chapter,” Jamroz said.
- New credit facility
With the completion of the Ascent spin-off, Roadrunner’s existing senior secured credit facility with BMO Bank Harris N.A. has been terminated and Roadrunner has entered into a new $45 million senior secured asset-based credit facility with Crystal Financial. Roadrunner’s divestitures and the spin-off of Ascent have reduced the company’s balance sheet liabilities by approximately $400 million, leaving the company with a net cash position.
“We enter this new stage of Roadrunner with the healthiest balance sheet in the company’s history,” said Frank Hurst, president of Roadrunner Transportation Systems.
Roadrunner freight update
Hurst and the Roadrunner management team have provided an update on the company’s business performance and strategy to date:
“In Q4 2019, we made a deliberate shift in our LTL strategy to focus on customers and drivers instead of short-term profitability. This change in approach led every team member to commit to a new mantra, ‘Ship it like you own it,’” Hurst said.
“It also required operational investments in Q4 2019 and Q1 2020, generating average losses of approximately $4 million per month. However, we dramatically improved transit times and launched a quality campaign that resulted in drastic reductions of delivery exceptions,” he continued.
“With clearly improved service levels, our sales have continued to grow and enabled our team to onboard business with several new national accounts. Despite highly depressed volumes in March and April from COVID-19, we were able to return to growth in May and posted our first positive EBITDA month in three years, albeit a very modest level,” he concluded.
Year to date, the company has increased its independent contractor count by more than 100 drivers and has achieved the lowest 12-month turnover in recent history. The company has also launched a new analytical tool of driver performance metrics, called RoadPRO, to promote safety, service and operational results within the fleet.
“We plan to continue prioritizing service levels over profitability for the foreseeable future and will take advantage of our strong balance sheet to continuously redeploy profits generated into new technology, continuous lane enhancement and an improved driver and team member experience,” Hurst said. “Our ‘Ship it like you own it’ mantra embodies how we treat customers’ freight, and it is gratifying to see that our customers are noticing.”
Roadrunner Freight opened new facilities in Riverside, California, on July 22 and in Philadelphia on August 3. The two facilities offer significant enhancements to the company’s nationwide LTL network. A new Chicago service center, with double the capacity of the current Chicago facility, will open in late August.
“We have seen COVID-driven disruptions in pockets of our network in June and July, despite our focus on quality service. This is partially due to large growth in e-commerce volume, which created facility and staffing constraints in a few markets,” Hurst said.
“Our new facilities are already making a positive impact, and any service issues experienced will be rectified in the near future. I appreciate our customers’ patience as we make the necessary changes to support these increased volumes of freight,” he said.
“We are thrilled to be a standalone business and are grateful to our customers, business partners and team members who have stuck with us through our transformation,” he continued. “I am proud to say we have never been as strongly positioned for the future as we are today.”
The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
