b'16American Journal of Transportation ajot.comI NtErmodal& l ogIStIcSN EWSYellows CEO sees LTL in growth mode in opening SMC3 Connections conference By Paul Scott Abbott, AJOTAs the overall U.S. economy and e-commerceAthree-decadeveteranoftheLTLindustry, demands in particular continue to grow, the less- Hawkins is in his fourth year as chief executive of the than-truckloadtransportationindustryshouldOverland Park, Kansas-headquartered Yellow holding flourishprovideditmeetssuchchallengesascompany, which counts LTL providers Holland, New having enough drivers and available equipment.Penn, Reddaway and YRC Freight, as well as HNRY ItsagreattimetobeinLogistics,initsportfolio,boast-trucking,DarrenD.Hawkins,ing a combined roster of more thanTheres a good reason chief executive officer of less-than- 200,000 active customers.truckloadindustryleaderYellowYellowiscurrentlyadvanc-Corp., said Monday [June 28] in aning a One Yellow super-regionalBiden singled out opening session of the three-after- carrier model, which Hawkins said noonJune28-30SMC3Connec- shouldbetterservecustomers,railroads for criticismtions 2021 virtual conference. includingwithcentralizedpric- Were going through a nationalingandenhanced,highlyvisible renewal right now, Hawkins said.velocitythroughmorethan300When President Joe Bidenintostrengtheningreciprocal We all underestimated at this timeterminals nationwide. onJan.9issuedanexecutiveswitching rules if it determines lastyearjusthowmuchrenewalHawkins said the LTL indus- ordertoincreasecompetitionthat doing so would be good for wed be seeing. try as a whole is doing a good jobintheU.S.economy,mostofcompetition. The president cant Whilethefullspectrumofofbeingascustomer-centricasthenewscoveragefocusedonordertheSurfaceTransporta-transportationandlogisticspro- possiblewhileseekingtoattractwhat he said about 21st centurytion Board to do so because the vidersworkstogetthesupplyand retain a sufficient number ofindustriessuchastheinternetagencythesuccessortothe chainsmoothlyinorderastheDarren D. Hawkins, CEO of Yellowtruckdriversandprovideneces- and pharmaceuticals. But BidenInterstateCommerceCommis-COVID-19pandemicslidesintoCorp., is optimistic about the less- sary equipment in the right placesalso had something to say aboutsionis independent.thefigurativerearviewmirror,than-truckload industrys future, asat the right times. railroads,whichhavedrawnMartin Oberman, the chair-LTLcompanieshavesignificantshared with virtual participants in We as an industry are deal- complaintsaboutmonopolisticmanoftheSurfaceTranspor-opportunities, but not without met- SMC3 Connections 2021. ing with a very fragile capacity sit- practices since their birth in thetationBoard,haswelcomed aphorical roadblocks, according to Hawkins. uation, Hawkins noted, adding that the crunch is19th century. Bidens order while reassertingIts a great time to be in LTL, and its also aexacerbated by e-commerce companies that are notBidensordertouchesontheboardsindependence.His challenging time to be in LTL, he said. As CEOmotivated to release trailers despite hefty detentionone of the most sensitive issuesJuly9statementsaid,inpart, of this company, I feel like my office chair is actu- charges. The quicker you can turn my equipment,infreightrailroading:recipro- It is apparent that while con-ally a rollercoaster seat, and Im buckling in everythe more endeared youre going to be to us. cal switching, which is akin tosolidationmaybebeneficial morning with a very interesting ride ahead of me. (MODEcontinued on page 19) netneutralityfortheinternetunder certain circumstances, it except that instead of electronshasalsocreatedthepotential it deals with rails, switches, andformonopolisticpricingand longtrainsladenwithevery- reductions in service to captive A.P. Moller - Maersk first block trainthingfromcoaltosoybeans.rail customers.Underreciprocalswitching,aLess pleased was the Asso-railroad can pay a competitor tociationof AmericanRailroads, from Southern West Europe to Asia deliver cars for it to a customerwhich said the executive order that it has no way of reachingthrows an unnecessary wrench ThisnewMaersksinter- Wewillcontinuetoworkfirm ground for further expansionotherwise.Reciprocalswitch- into freight rails critical role in modalservicehasmoveditswith rail partners to provide fastof transcontinental transit. We areing breaks the monopoly controltransportation. For decades, it first37x40containersin32and reliable service to our custom- currently working on arrangingthat a railroad has over its cap- said in a statement, large corpo-days.Thecargowassentbyers.Thisintercontinentalblockanother one to Shanghai, in thistive customers. rations dissatisfied with paying truck from Cartagena, Spain, totrain has been able to stand by itscasewith41x40containers,Inhisexecutiveorder,fair-market rates to ship products Madrid during May. From thereschedule, delivery times and swiftadds James Seale, Product Man- BidenencouragestheSurface(CRITICISMcontinued on left via block train to Duisburg,transit clearance on time, creatingager at Maersk. TransportationBoardtolookpage 19)Germany,andfromthereall the way to Hefei, China, using Maaszewicze, Poland as the EU exitpoint.Finaldestinationis Nansha,capitalofGuangdong Province, where the block train will arrive by the end of June.Thereisalimitedocean capacity right now on the east-bound services. 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