C.H. Robinson announces departure of CFO Andrew Clarke

Andrew Clarke—if he doesn’t have anything else lined up—is now the hottest free agent in transportation and logistics.

Late on Thursday afternoon, leading third-party logistics provider C. H. Robinson (NASDAQ: CHRW) announced that Andrew Clarke would leave his position as Chief Financial Officer, effective March 31, 2019. 

“I appreciate having had the opportunity to work at C.H. Robinson,” said Clarke in a statement. “I am proud to have been a member of the team that created significant value for customers, carriers, employees and shareholders, including the return of nearly $2 billion of capital over the last four years, and wish the Company and its employees continued success in the future.”

This personnel change comes ahead of Bob Biesterfeld’s ascent to the Chief Executive Officer role, a promotion that was announced in February but will become effective on May 9, 2019, the same day as CHRW’s annual shareholders’ meeting. 

Clarke has enjoyed a storied career in transportation, serving as the Chief Financial Officer of Forward Air (NASDAQ: FWRD) from 2000 to 2006, a publicly-traded expedited ground transportation carrier based in Greeneville, Tennessee. 

From Forward Air, Clarke was brought on to run Panther Expedited Services in 2006, shortly after it was acquired by private equity firm Fenway Partners. Clarke helped Panther build out its freight forwarding network and rapidly grow revenue, which led to Fenway’s successful exit in 2012 when it sold Panther to less-than-truckload carrier ArcBest (NASDAQ: ARCB).

Clarke is well respected across the industry and is likely to find his next spot at a major player in the logistics space, potentially as CEO. He will also be a keynote at the up-coming Transparency19 conference in Atlanta, hosted by FreightWaves.