Transportation provider YRC Worldwide Inc. has announced that its board of directors has approved a tentative agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and the Teamsters approved submitting the tentative agreement to the company's Teamster represented employees for ratification. The agreement is designed to improve the company's competitive position in the marketplace.
Additionally, the agreement provides for re-entry of the YRCW operating companies into the multi-employer pension plans to which they contribute in a manner that provides member benefits while maintaining an improved competitive market position for the company. The ratification of the agreement by company's employees represented by the Teamsters is targeted for completion by late October 2010.
The company plans to amend its certificate of incorporation on September 30, 2010, to implement a reverse stock split with a ratio of 1:25. The reverse stock split will be effective on the NASDAQ exchange on October 1, 2010. The reverse stock split will reduce the number of authorized common shares to 80 million from the current 2 billion and reduce the number of outstanding common shares to approximately 48 million from the current approximately 1.2 billion.
In separate news, William D. “Bill” Zollars, chairman, president and CEO, has informed the company's board of directors of his decision to retire from the company upon the successful completion of YRC Worldwide's comprehensive recovery plan. Zollars and the board have agreed that he will retain his current positions through the finalization of the process and until a new CEO is named.
"Upon the successful resolution of many of our recent business challenges, the time would be right for me to hand over the reins to new leadership," says Zollars. "I am particularly proud of all we, as an organization, have accomplished over the past two years. We have faced unprecedented challenges and had to deal with the most difficult economic environment our industry has ever experienced. I am especially grateful to my team and the many stakeholders who partnered with us to put the company on an operationally and financially stable path to recovery. By informing the board now of my decision, we will have sufficient time to identify my successor and ensure a seamless transition to new leadership."
The company will seek candidates from both inside and outside the organization.
Zollars, 62, was named to his current position in November 1999. Prior to that, he was president of Yellow Transportation Inc., a predecessor company of YRCW. He serves on the boards of CIGNA Corp., Cerner Corp., The Business Roundtable, National Association of Manufacturers, United Way of Greater Kansas City, American Trucking Associations and The Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.