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New USA Truck Hires Highlight Shift in Focus

3 min read

Randy Rogers got another chance to discuss why he joined USA Truck Inc. of Van Buren as CEO.

USA Truck announced its earnings for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2015 on Feb. 2. Rogers was hired to replace Tom Glaser as CEO on Jan. 14.

“First, I believe our trucking business is an important complement to our asset-light solution and will continue to be so,” Rogers said. “We’ve demonstrated clearly that we’re on the right track. I think the model that many of you’ve heard before of ‘even better’ is still a very relevant concept, and I am confident the team we have in place will deliver on the promise.”

USA Truck made two major hires recently and one more appointment to the board of directors, and the three additions have one significant trait in common. Rogers, Jim Craig, the new president of strategic capacity solutions, and new director Barbara Faulkenberry all have logistics-heavy backgrounds.

Rogers spoke during USA Truck’s conference call for its earnings report even though he had been in his office for only two weeks. Rogers spent the past 15 years at DHL Supply Chain and worked as a top executive in South America, China and Southern Europe.

“My principal emphasis has been on building successful asset-light models and growing strategic businesses, both organically and through acquisition,” Rogers said. “I joined USA Truck because I see a company poised for success with what is now a much stronger trucking operation and a platform in its asset-light business with strong growth potential.”

Shortly after this earnings report, USA Truck made another hire when it named Craig to the newly created position of president of SCS, which he will assume this week. He joins Trucking President Martin Tewari as division heads under Rogers.

Faulkenberry, the company’s new board member, is a retired Air Force major general who was responsible for logistics operations for the command’s global mission.

USA Truck, as with other transportation companies, is in the midst of efforts to pump up its logistics operations. USA Truck actually took a step back, with a 14 percent drop in revenue for the quarter and the fiscal year.

The trucking division and the company overall reported a profit for both the quarter and the year. Executives have said that turning around the trucking division was critical before SCS opportunities could be exploited.

PAM Transport Inc. of Tontitown and ArcBest Corp. of Fort Smith reported positive quarters and years with their asset-light divisions. PAM reported division revenue of $44.1 million for the year (up from $23.9 million) and $10.6 million for the quarter (up from $7 million).

A little more than a year ago, PAM hired Clint Elcan and gave him a spiffy new office and workspace to run the company’s logistics. Elcan co-founded CrossFleet and its mobile app Locate, which gave real-time tracking of truckload shipments to shippers.

PAM has not only pumped up its non-asset logistics but has gone to more owner-operators as its drivers, thus helping to alleviate some of the driver shortage issues transportation companies are continually struggling with.

“Ultimately, we’re just offering more solutions to customers through additional capacity and additional services,” Elcan said. “Long term, there is still a capacity issue for shippers. They’re looking to reduce their partner and vendor base to a fewer number of large suppliers. To be one of those large suppliers you have to offer more services.

“Non-asset really complements our asset business both operationally and financially.”

ArcBest has a deep bench of asset-light divisions and reported that revenue from that segment represented 30 percent of its total revenue. Its goal, CEO Judy McReynolds has announced, is to reach 50 percent within a few years.

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