Roadrunner President Michael Gettle Steps Down
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Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc. President and Chief Operating Officer Michael Gettle is leaving the company, the less-than-truckload and truckload carrier announced Dec. 11.
Gettle will continue to assist the company throughout the transition of his responsibilities through the next few months, Roadrunner officials said.
Gettle joined Roadrunner in 2016 and worked on integrating operations, establishing improved metrics and accountability, and guiding the company during some challenging times, CEO Curt Stoelting said. He said that, with Gettle, the company also completed its recapitalization and restructuring activities.
Gettle
Gettle also was instrumental in setting the course for the strategy to simplify the Roadrunner portfolio by focusing on logistics and asset-light LTL segments, Stoelting said in a news release.
It was the second major announcement from the Downers Grove, Ill.-based carrier in the past three days.
On Dec. 9, Roadrunner announced the sale of its flatbed business unit for $30 million in cash, subject to customary purchase price and working capital adjustments.
Roadrunner did not immediately disclose the buyer.
The flatbed unit operates as D&E Transport based in Clearwater, Minn. It provides flatbed service to customers in the industrial, agriculture and general freight markets. The business had revenue of more than $50 million for the 12 months ended Sept. 30 and was part of the company’s truckload segment.
Gettle’s departure wasn’t the only high-profile move in 2019. On June 27, Terence Rogers, executive vice president and chief financial officer, resigned from Roadrunner effective at the end of August. Rogers said he, too, would assist the company as he prepared to leave.
Roadrunner has been attempting to adjust its business model after a 2017 accounting scandal and a softer freight market in 2019. In April, the Securities and Exchange Commission formally charged former Chief Financial Officer Peter Armbruster and two of his associates with accounting fraud and misleading investors about the company’s financial results.
Armbruster was accused of hiding expenses by improperly deferring and spreading them across multiple quarters to minimize the impact on net earnings.
On Sept. 30, Roadrunner announced that it would lay off 450 employees and downsize its dry van business, a truckload segment the company said had become unprofitable. Roadrunner officials told investors and analysts Nov. 6 that the downsizing will eliminate 350 power units and five terminals.
Roadrunner officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Transport Topics.
Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc. ranks No. 17 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America.
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