Chattanooga, Tennessee-based U.S. Xpress announced it is cutting another 5% of its corporate workforce in the trucking company’s second round of layoffs in three months.
Since May, the trucking giant has cut about 10% of its corporate workforce, around 140 office jobs. No drivers were impacted in either round of layoffs.
Brad Carmony, vice president of brand communications for U.S. Xpress, said the decision to lay off about 66 of its 1,330 office employees was the result of the company’s “multiphased restructuring to improve our financial results.”
“Through this process, U.S. Xpress is evolving into a leaner, more disciplined company,” Carmony said in a statement to FreightWaves. “As we continue these efforts, we’re evaluating a wide range of systems, programs, projects and teams across the enterprise.”
The move comes less than a week after the company parted ways with Jake Lawson, its chief commercial officer, after 17 months on the job and three weeks after U.S. Xpress released its latest earnings report that showed that the initiatives put in place to drive up revenue at the company’s subsidiary, Variant, were not achieving that goal.
Variant, the company’s technology-driven truckload carrier venture, reported a 150% turnover rate in the second quarter of 2022, up from 74% in Q2 of 2021.
Since December, U.S. Xpress (NYSE: USX) has terminated two other key executives: Cameron Ramsdell, who headed Variant, and Joel Gard, the company’s chief technology officer.
Carmony said U.S. Xpress didn’t file a WARN Act notice of a mass layoff since fewer than 100 employees were let go. Federal law required companies that are laying off more than 100 workers to provide employees with 60 days’ notice of a possible plant closure or mass layoff.
The company’s restructuring efforts include “analyses of company-wide investments on everything from our headcount, real estate, vendors and benefits,” Carmony said.
“Through the end [of] August, we’ll be making additional changes throughout the company to help improve our financial results,” he said.
FreightWaves’ John Kingston, who listened to the call about the truckload carrier’s Q2 earnings in early August, reported that U.S. Xpress CEO Eric Fuller said Variant’s fleet needs to grow in order to “have its fixed cost structure spread out among more trucks and its utilization also needs to improve.”
“Continuing to increase our overall tractor count … will help lower our fixed costs as a percentage of revenue and realize better tractor economics over a larger fleet,” Fuller said.
This is a developing story.
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Disclosure: FreightWaves founder and CEO Craig Fuller retains ownership of U.S. Xpress shares through his family trust.
Ralph Coggin
Is one of the 2 buildings on Jenkins Road in Chattanooga now vacated and for sale?
Daniel Casey
I have invested a lot of money into this company’s stock. In the last 5 years I’ve watched it’s value drop. I’ve looked back to see what changed 5 years ago. A change of hands from father to son. Higher visions from a blind man who thinks Variant is a perfect 10. It’s sad to watch a great ship sink. I pulled all of my investments from USX.
Steve Randell
USX has had a few rounds of laying off office workers. I worked for them as both a driver and fleet manager. Toxic corporate culture. As a driver they lie to you and attempt to make you feel valued. As a commodity I suppose drivers are valued but certainly not as human beings. As an office worker there’s no illusion as to how much you’re valued. They let you know that you can be tossed out like garbage at any moment.
Jason
Truth is, the CEO is flailing in his role. Trying to convince anyone that will listen that Variant is the way of the future, all the while laying off people that support Variant. The model is not working because the CEO has no clue how to improve operations efficiency, he’s struggled to grasp and drive any real improvements in the past year. Its back to looking at USX as one poor performing fleet, even though Variant was winning some great new business that ops could not support.
Firebird guy
And once again, another trucking company that is publicly traded, trying to stay afloat because they’re trying to keep shareholders happy. The government needs to place restrictions on these major carriers to prevent them from getting the mega-carrier status. Keep trucking closer to a small business family style companies and all will be happy.
Jessica
Sad facts is the company still taking on students and experience drivers less than 3 months. What is happening behind the scene is US xpress is keeping these people on hold. There are not one training program that is getting these people through to working as advertised. Laying off people and not getting others on the road will keep this company from making money at some point organization should kick in.
Ralph Macias
There Done just close doors Insurance and fuel are drowning them and labor ???