Frozen Food Express Sets Non-Driving Staff Cuts to Reduce Costs

Frozen Food Express Industries said Tuesday it will reduce its non-driving employee payroll by about 12%, to cut costs, and that a planned equipment sale was ahead of schedule.

The refrigerated carrier said it would take a charge of about $400,000 in the fourth quarter and that the action would save it about $500,000 annually.

FFE on Friday reported a third-quarter loss of $13.7 million, and the company said last month that it plans to sell more than 400 dry vans and almost 300 tractors to truckload carrier Celadon Group.

It said it expects to receive about $21.9 million in cash in the fourth quarter and January from the equipment sale.

“The reduction, although regrettable, had to be made at this time as the sale of equipment was conducted much quicker than we expected,” CEO Russell Stubbs said in a statement.

Frozen Food Express is ranked No. 57 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers, and is the fifth largest refrigerated carrier.

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Frozen Food Express' 3Q Loss Grows

Frozen Food Express Industries on Friday said its third-quarter loss increased from a year ago.

The refrigerated carrier lost $13.7 million, or 77 cents a share, compared with a loss of $2.3 million, or 13 cents, a year ago.

Revenue rose to $103 million, from $94 million a year ago, while revenue excluding fuel surcharges increased 2.6% to $81.5 million, the company said in a statement.

Less-than-truckload revenue rose 4.5% to $30.7 million, while truckload revenue fell 5.5% to $44.5 million.

In a statement, CEO Russell Stubbs said the company has taken steps to streamline its operations by limiting dry-freight services to refrigerated equipment in limited lanes while placing greater focus on its refrigerated truckload and LTL services.

“Focus in these areas, and growth in our logistics offerings, will be a key to restoring our company to meaningful profitability,” Stubbs said in the statement.

Frozen Food Express is ranked No. 57 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.

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Frozen Food Express Selling Dry Vans, Tractors to Celadon

Frozen Food Express Industries said it will sell more than 400 dry vans and almost 300 tractors to truckload carrier Celadon Trucking Services.

The Dallas-based refrigerated carrier said earlier this month it would restructure its dry van operations and dispose of 435 trailers and reduce its fleet by 290 tractors.

“We will continue to provide dry freight services through use of our refrigerated fleet on lanes that make economic sense for both our customers and our company,” FFE president Russell Stubbs said in a joint statement with counterpart Paul Will, president of Celadon.

“We will continue to aggressively grow in our core business, which is temperature controlled [less-than-truckload] and truckload transportation” operations, Stubbs said.

Celadon Trucking Services is part of Celadon Group, ranked No. 42 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers. Frozen Food Express is ranked No. 57.

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