Just a couple of weeks after former Yellow Corp. CEO Darren Hawkins was being questioned about the final days of his former company, the North American Chassis Pool Cooperative (NACPC) named him its new president and CEO in waiting.
A news release from NACPC said Hawkins will succeed Dave Manning, who will become the organization’s chairman. The Friday release said Hawkins is currently NACPC’s president and will become its CEO effective Jan.1.
“I’ve known Darren for many years and am excited to have him guiding NACPC into the future,” Manning said. “He is the perfect person to lead NACPC to achieve the ambitious growth goals established by our Board.”
The release also pointed to Hawkins’ 35 years of experience in transportation, which most recently included the past decade in leadership roles at Yellow. Prior to Yellow, Hawkins ran operations at less-than-truckload carrier Con-way after 18 years in his first stint leading field sales at Yellow.
Hawkins’ Aug. 13 testimony centered on Yellow’s battle with the Teamsters union, and its leader Sean O’Brien, over the union’s denial of proposed operational changes, a filing with a Delaware bankruptcy court showed.
The court is trying to determine when Yellow knew it would have to shut down and if it was required to provide 60 days’ advance notice to employees ahead of mass layoffs last summer. Conversations between Yellow’s leadership and union brass may determine the fate of up to $244 million in WARN Act claims, among other claims.
“I’m honored to work with the NACPC team to continue providing a modern fleet of chassis to the U.S. intermodal container network with first class service, expansion in our domestic services, and continued heavy investment in our international services to benefit US motor carriers with chassis choice and competitive pricing,” Hawkins said.