Several major trucking companies have split their president and CEO jobs, handing the responsibilities to separate executives, rather than to one top official, as many businesses in trucking and other industries do.
Werner Enterprises, Prime Inc. and Estes Express Lines are among a number of carriers that have separated the roles by promoting presidents from within — while keeping their CEOs in the top job.
The reasoning behind such a move usually varies by the company. But two trucking executives who have held both job titles shared their insights with Trucking Dive on the demands of each role.
Many trucking companies view the job of president as closer to a COO’s than a CEO’s: more closely running and monitoring daily operations than devising strategy and serving as the public face of the company.
Keeping a CEO in place while promoting someone else to president can help maintain stability while choreographing a future leadership transition — or simply allow a company to reward high-performing talent with an executive job.
Immediately after announcing Darryl Hopkins’ elevation to president, Prime Inc. Founder Robert Low assured employees: “That doesn’t mean I’m going anywhere. I’m still the CEO.”
But how and why each company divvies up the job titles and responsibilities? “It depends on the company and the situation,” ArcBest Chairman, President and CEO Judy McReynolds told Trucking Dive in an interview.
"A CEO, in my opinion, is really ... somebody who has ultimate responsibility."
Judy McReynolds
ArcBest chairman, president and CEO
While McReynolds holds all three titles at the parent company, she noted Seth Runser’s job as president of ABF Freight, its 100-year-old flagship LTL carrier. Larger companies with subsidiaries will often organize their leadership structure that way, she pointed out.
“There are times whenever that makes sense,” McReynolds said. “But a CEO, in my opinion, is really a role designed for somebody who has ultimate responsibility for what they're doing.”
XPO’s Mario Harik offered a similar take on the two roles within a trucking business.
“Where the CEO would be obviously overseeing the whole company, the strategy and all those different stakeholders,” Harik said, “the president of the company or the COO would be focused on day-to-day operations and making sure that execution to the plan is going flawlessly.”
Before taking over as CEO from XPO founder Brad Jacobs, Harik was president of LTL.
Now nearly a pure-play LTL instead of a conglomerate, the carrier uses the title of president for the top officials in its east and west divisions. Dave Bates, whom XPO hired as COO from Old Dominion Freight Line last April, is the company’s overall operational lead.
“He's fully embedded in our operation, and we're very grateful to have him on the team,” Harik said.
