Logistics Review

YRCW announced that joint committees representing Teamsters and YRC Worldwide management are being formed to address the company’s competitiveness and reentry into union pension plans. In addition, Teresa Ghilarducci has been nominated by the IBT to join the YRC Worldwide board of directors. Ghilarducci’s nomination is in conjunction with the most recent Memorandum of Understanding between the union and the company.

“The self-help recovery that the company and union accomplished together has stabilized the business and put us back on the path to success,” said Bill Zollars, chairman, president and CEO of YRC Worldwide. “As customers continue to increase their business with YRC Worldwide, and the company returns to profitability, these efforts will provide further momentum as we focus on additional improvements to solidify the company’s industry leading position.”

Ghilarducci is a professor of economics and the Bernard L. and Irene Schwartz Professor of Economic Policy Analysis in the Department of Economics at the New School for Social Research, New York. “We look forward to Teresa’s election and participation on the board,” said Zollars.

Upon Ghilarducci’s election, Carl W. Vogt will resign from the board as previously announced.

The company’s expectations regarding the timing and degree of market share growth are only its expectations regarding these matters. Actual timing and degree of market share growth could differ based on a number of factors including (among others) the company’s ability to persuade existing customers to increase shipments with the company and to attract new customers, and the factors that affect revenue results (including the risk factors that are from time to time included in the company’s reports filed with the SEC. Freight quote

About YRC Worldwide

YRC Worldwide Inc., a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Overland Park, Kan., is one of the largest transportation and logistics service providers in the world and the holding company for a portfolio of brands including Yellow Transportation, YRC Reimer, YRC Glen Moore, YRC Logistics, New Penn, Holland and eddaway. YRC Worldwide has the largest, most comprehensive network in North America with local, regional, national and international capabilities.

Crude oil prices fell below $70 last week on market fundamentals–rather than a volatile U.S. dollar as had been the case over the past 6 months, effecting your freight quote.

Oil markets are beginning to return to a semblance of normalcy in that they are being driven by supply and demand–rather than fluctuations in the U.S. dollar or speculatory trading. Refined gasoline supplies rose in the latest week, a sign that the consumer is still reducing travel. Further, warm weather conditions through November helped keep heating oil demand down early in the winter season. These conditions, plus a moderate drop in the U.S. dollar, helped to drop oil prices from near $80 to the $70 mark.

Looking forward, several things will dictate where oil prices go. First, the value of the dollar does have a material impact on oil prices. When the U.S. dollar is low, it takes more to purchase the same barrel of imported oil and the price per barrel rises. Second, oil prices are also being affected by the rise in consumption from emerging consumer markets like those in China and India. China will sell an additional 12 million new vehicles by the end of 2009, and that figure is expected to rise in 2010.

As a heavy winter blast set in over a majority of the country last week, it will have a draw-down effect on oil inventories–likely helping to return oil prices into the $80 range according to analysts. In fact, few expect it to remain below $70 for any extended period of time because of potential actions by OPEC and a return of increased economic activity across the globe in early 2010.

As the winter season approaches, Yellow Transportation professional driver and Road Team Captain Ron VanBibber, would like to share some safe winter driving tips. During Ron’s 22+ years of professional driving, he’s driven through all types of bad weather and on the way learned a lot about staying safe.

Tip #7 Watch for black ice

Black ice is a dangerous road condition. It is a thin layer of transparent ice that forms when the temperature is close to freezing and sometimes makes the road look slightly wet.

It is difficult to spot, so when the temperature gets close to freezing, I look for clues:

• ice build-up on my mirror arms, antenna, or the top corners of my windshield
• the spray from tires on vehicles in front of me stops

Visit past Winter safe driving tips from YRC Road Team Captain Ron VanBibber:
Tip #6: Brake and accelerate lightly
Tip #5: Hold your steering wheel firmly
Tip #4: Give yourself extra space
Tip #3: Slow down
Tip #2: Complete a Pre-Trip Inspection
Tip #1: Be Prepared

YRC Worldwide Inc. announced today that New Penn, one of its regional operating companies, will introduce a new and improved suite of guaranteed service offerings featuring superior reliability and value. All guaranteed service shipments are backed by the New Penn no-hassle guarantee to be complete and on-time or the invoice will automatically be reduced to zero dollars with no need for the customer to file a claim.

One of the primary enhancements is a new guaranteed by 9 a.m. service that provides customers with a level of morning precision that is typically found only with air freight or dedicated delivery carriers.

The other key enhancement is a new day-definite service offering that is guaranteed to deliver by 3:30 p.m., rather than end of day like most competitive offerings. By offering earlier guaranteed delivery times, customers are able to get goods into production or for sale to clients the same day the shipment arrives rather than traditional guaranteed delivery by 5 p.m. in which shipments often cannot be incorporated into the supply chain until the following day.

With the enhancements, the New Penn Guaranteed Precision^™ suite of award-winning service offerings now includes:

    --  Guaranteed Delivery By 9 a.m.
    --  Guaranteed Delivery By Noon
    --  Guaranteed Delivery By 3:30 p.m. (Day-Definite)
    --  Guaranteed Delivery Within a Single-Hour Window
    --  Guaranteed Delivery Within a Multi-Hour Window

“We are constantly reviewing our services in order to provide highly customizable solutions that meet the demands of our customers and their tightened supply chains,” said Steve Gast, president of New Penn. “We have aligned the needs of our customers with the highly reliable capabilities of the New Penn network to provide our customers with an expanded set of guaranteed service options - all backed with the no-hassle, New Penn delivery assurance guarantee.”

YRC Worldwide Inc., a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest transportation service providers in the world, is the holding company for a portfolio of successful brands including YRC, YRC Reimer, YRC Logistics, New Penn, Holland, Reddaway and YRC Glen Moore. Building on the strength of its heritage brands, Yellow Transportation and Roadway , the enterprise provides global transportation services, transportation management solutions and logistics management. The portfolio of brands represents a comprehensive array of services for the shipment of industrial, commercial and retail goods domestically and internationally. Headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, YRC Worldwide employs approximately 49,000 people.

YRC Worldwide announced that 58 of its professional drivers will compete at the 2009 National Truck Driving Championships to be held August 18-22 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.

To qualify for the national championships, each driver placed first in his respective class at state competition. The drivers will compete against nearly 400 others for national titles in eight different classes of vehicles and for the overall title of National Grand Champion.

Both the state and national contests include challenging driving skills and maneuvering tests, a pre-trip inspection and a written examination covering vehicle operation and federal safety regulations. To participate in state competitions, drivers must be accident-free for one year.

YRC Worldwide Inc., a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest transportation service providers in the world, is the holding company for a portfolio of successful brands including YRC, YRC Reimer, YRC Logistics, New Penn, Holland, Reddaway and YRC Glen Moore. Building on the strength of its heritage brands, Yellow Transportation and Roadway Express, the enterprise provides global transportation services, transportation management solutions and logistics management. The portfolio of brands represents a comprehensive array of services for the shipment of industrial, commercial and retail goods domestically and internationally. Headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, YRC Worldwide employs approximately 49,000 people.

YRC Inc announced the continuation of its successful “Confidence Delivered” service program. The program is designed for new customers and existing customers expanding their business with YRC. Introduced as a demonstration of the company’s confidence in the performance of its integrated delivery network, customers signing on to the Confidence Delivered program may send five shipments anywhere within the YRC network, and if any of the five shipments is not delivered on-time, the customer receives the sixth shipment free.

The YRC network was created on March 1, when the company integrated the people, systems, facilities and equipment of the former Yellow Transportation and Roadway networks. The streamlined network is now the largest single “big shipment” network in North America with approximately 400 service locations.

“Since the integration, the new YRC network is delivering service reliability that exceeds the performance of the legacy Yellow and Roadway Express networks,” said Mike Smid, President, YRC Inc. and Chief Operations Officer, YRC Worldwide. “We anticipate that our exceptional operations will not only attract new customers but previous customers will come back to experience the improved service.”

Prospective customers interested in the Confidence Delivered program can call 1-800-610-6500 or contact their local YRC representative.

About YRC Worldwide

YRC Worldwide Inc., a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest transportation service providers in the world, is the holding company for a portfolio of successful brands including YRC, YRC Reimer, YRC Logistics, New Penn, Holland, Reddaway and YRC Glen Moore. Building on the strength of its heritage brands, Yellow Transportation and Roadway, the enterprise provides global transportation services, transportation management solutions and logistics management. The portfolio of brands represents a comprehensive array of services for the shipment of industrial, commercial and retail goods domestically and internationally. Headquartered in Overland Park, Kan., YRC Worldwide employs approximately 49,000 people.

YRC Worldwide Inc. announced today that it will begin discussions with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to seek to modify the terms of the current labor agreement for its employees covered by the National Master Freight Agreement. These discussions will address alternatives to help to reduce the company’s cost structure and preserve operating capital going forward.

YRC Worldwide recently announced an agreement with Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund (”Central States”), the largest of the company’s IBT multi-employer defined benefit pension funds, to provide certain of the company’s real estate as collateral in lieu of pension contribution payments during the second quarter. The company also announced an amendment to its bank agreement, which provides for the immediate release of escrow funds generated from the company’s prior real estate transactions to pay down the revolving credit facility without reducing the company’s borrowing availability under the facility.

YRC Worldwide Inc., a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest transportation service providers in the world, is the holding company for a portfolio of successful brands including YRC, YRC Reimer, YRC Logistics, New Penn, Holland, Reddaway and YRC Glen Moore. Building on the strength of its heritage brands, Yellow Transportation and Roadway Express, the enterprise provides global transportation services, transportation management solutions and logistics management. The portfolio of brands represents a comprehensive array of services for the shipment of industrial, commercial and retail goods domestically and internationally. Headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, YRC Worldwide employs approximately 49,000 people.

The Oregon Statewide Model has it roots in an integrated land use and transportation model that can be applied at an urban or regional scale. There are two purposes: 1) to simulate the probable effects of applying particular land use and transport policies and projects; and 2) to evaluate these effects from social, economic, financial, and energy points of view. There are two main components: land use and transportation.  Since land use and transportation influence one another, a change in the transportation system, such as a new road, a mass transit system, or change in freight shipping rates, will have a direct effect on land use patterns, which will in turn impact the magnitude and distribution of freight demand in a region.

The dynamic interactions between land use and transportation over time that are modeled in the framework. The model simulates the interactions between land use and lower shipping rates for transportation for each time period, by predicting the impacts of transportation on new land use, as well as modeling the associated transportation demand impacts of changing land use patterns. Under each temporal iteration process, the new land use is dependent on the land use in the previous iteration as well as transportation system and demand characteristics at the end of the previous iteration step.

Freight truck rates is an essential component of economic activity. Economic activity, which is typically measured in terms of the production of goods and services in a region, generates demand for freight transportation. For example, economic relationships between industries engaged in production and consumption of goods translate into spatial freight movements. These economic interrelationships between industries are described by economic input-output models in terms of the value of different commodities consumed by industries to produce industrial outputs. These economic input-output relationships, coupled with industrial land use patterns, are essential inputs for the spatial analysis of freight movements associated with economic activities in a region.

Freight shipment demand associated with personal consumption is another important component of the impact of economic activity on freight transportation. Increased economic activity in a region fuels personal consumption, which leads to increased freight transportation activity associated with retail trade. Economic input-output models also describe commodity and service consumption activity of households, in terms of the value of goods and services used for final household consumption, which can serve as essential inputs to predict total freight demand associated with personal consumption in a region.

The discounted freight shipping table was used to supplement the truck trip table developed from the data. It is typical for truck trip tables developed from commodity flow data to underestimate total truck activity because of an under estimation of local truck trips. Therefore, secondary truck trip tables are generated to improve the match between truck volumes generated by truck models and truck count data. These secondary truck trip tables are typically generated from socioeconomic data.

The trip production rates for the secondary truck companies truck trip tables were developed primarily from the DOT. The data provides trip rates based on national averages for medium and heavy trucks. These rates were scaled back during model calibration. Truck trip consumption rates were developed to estimate the relative number of trucks that are attracted to each zone in the Valley. These consumption rates were developed by evaluating the industries that are present in the Valley and estimating the inputs required for these industries based on input-output data. The input-output data were available at the national level and scaled to represent the input-output characteristics of the State of California. The tables for the State of California were then disaggregated to represent truck rates for medium and heavy truck trips.