USA Truck Inc. of Van Buren named Werner Hugo as its senior vice president in charge of trucking operations.
Hugo replaces Martin Tewari, who resigned from the company in March to take an executive position with Groendyke Transport of Enid, Oklahoma. Tewari joined USA Truck in September 2015 to fill the created position of president of Trucking, which led to the departure of Russell Overla, the executive vice president of trucking operations.
The company’s trucking division lost $14.8 million in fiscal 2016 and reported an income loss of $7.1 million in the first quarter of 2017. USA Truck has reported five consecutive losing quarters.
Hugo, 43, joins USA Truck from 7 Hills Transport Inc. of Cartersville, Georgia, where he was the chief operating officer. Hugo has also held executive positions at Star Transport Inc. of Morton, Illinois, and Rack-On Trucking Inc. of South Africa.
USA Truck said Hugo’s annual salary would be $250,000 with a cash bonus of $125,000, half of which was paid on his start date of May 1 and the other half due in October after he relocated to Arkansas.
“Werner is an outstanding operational executive with a proven track record of enhancing enterprise value at a variety of trucking companies over the past 17 years,” USA Truck CEO James Reed said. “He is known for his hands-on leadership style and willingness to work side-by-side in the field with his teams. Werner possesses a passion for teamwork, a focus on personnel development and a commitment to cross-functional collaboration. This makes him a perfect fit with our strategy of adding leaders who embrace the intensity and accountability needed to continue enhancing our financial performance.”
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