Dive Brief:
- Roadrunner Transportation Systems sold Stagecoach Cartage and Distribution, a dry van segment, to J.H. Rose Logistics of Santa Teresa, New Mexico, Roadrunner said in a news release. Terms were not disclosed.
- Stagecoach, based in El Paso, Texas, provides over-the-road, local cartage and warehousing services to customers in the bulk resin and general freight markets. The business was part of the company’s truckload segment, Roadrunner said.
- Roadrunner has sold more than $300 million of assets since late 2019. The news comes after Roadrunner reported a net loss of $341 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2019, and said it would delist from the New York Stock Exchange.
Dive Insight:
The Stagecoach sale is the latest in Roadrunner's strategy to downsize and focus on its core logistics and asset-light LTL segments during a time of challenge for the company. Roadrunner, one of the largest carriers in the U.S., has been working to improve its asset-light LTL focus since early 2019.
The carrier identified its sell-off strategy as a way to simplify its portfolio and become a leaner LTL company, a trend visible at other firms too. Before the COVID-19 crisis, XPO CEO Bradley Jacobs expressed a desire for the largest logistics company in the United States to sell off parts of itself, becoming a "pure play" LTL company that could focus better on improving value for shareholders. XPO ended its strategic review on March 20, because of the coronavirus situation.
Other recent Roadrunner sales include:
- In late January, Roadrunner sold C.H. Robinson Worldwide its Prime Distribution Services business for $225 million. Prime Distribution Services is a warehouse company for food retailers, with five food-grade warehouse facilities across the nation. The company has a team of retail supply chain officials to assist with compliance with U.S. retailer delivery and in-stock requirements. The former Roadrunner business had revenue of $108.7 million for 2019.
- In December 2019, Roadrunner sold its flatbed business for $30 million in cash. The flatbed business was called D&E Transport and worked with the industrial, agricultural and general freight markets. It had $50 million in revenue for the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2019, according to Roadrunner.
- In November 2019, Roadrunner sold its Intermodal Services business to Universal Logistics Holdings for $51.25 million in cash.
Roadrunner's sales follow a series of financial woes at the company. They date back to a 2017 accounting scandal, when then-CFO Peter Armbruster was allegedly engaged in fraud that led the company to restate several years of financial reports, according to The Wall Street Journal. Armbruster was charged in 2019. Mark Wogsland and Bret Naggs, former controllers for Roadrunner's TL segment, were charged by the Department of Justice the previous year.
In the third quarter of 2019, Roadrunner's revenue took a nearly $50 million hit, because of the six-week strike at General Motors, according to Commercial Carrier Journal. The strike, carried out by nearly 50,000 GM workers, cost GM some $2.9 billion in profit, CNBC reported. Roadrunner also reported a malware attack cost at least $7 million the same quarter.
Roadrunner delisted from the NYSE on March 26 and said it plans to voluntarily deregister from the reporting requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission.