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C.H. Robinson tapping Ford executive as new CEO

Sources said the hiring of David Bozeman as C.H. Robinson’s next CEO could be announced as early as Monday

CH Robinson rolls out appointments scheduling software (Photo: C.H. Robinson)

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: CHRW) has chosen David Bozeman, an executive of the Ford Motor Co., as its next CEO, according to people familiar with the matter.

David Bozeman (Photo: Ford)

The announcement, which is expected to be made as early as Monday, catapults Bozeman to the top job of the nation’s largest freight broker. 

Bozeman is currently vice president of the customer services division and enthusiast brands at Ford (NYSE: F). Before joining the automaker last August, Bozeman spent five-plus years as vice president of Amazon Transportation Services. Before that, he spent more than eight years in top positions at Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) and more than 16 years at Harley-Davidson Motor Co. (NYSE: HOG).

The choice of Bozeman may come as a surprise to many who thought that Jim Barber, a former COO at UPS Inc. (NYSE: UPS), to be the odds-on choice for the job. The position has been open since Bob Biesterfeld was let go at the beginning of the year.

During its most recent analyst call, Robinson said a decision would be made and announced by the end of June. Company executives were not immediately available for comment.

Like virtually all brokers, Robinson has struggled with a sharp downturn in demand. Robinson had also struggled in recent months amid concerns about increased competition from the likes of new broker RXO Inc. (NYSE: RXO). However, it had lost market share in general in what had before been a historically strong environment for contract brokerage, from which Robinson generates most of its revenue.


Robinson also overspent significantly on personnel to support load-matching technology that executives thought would disrupt traditional brokerage but had failed to generate the expected returns on investment. One of the sources in January criticized Robinson for investing $1 billion in IT projects, including the much publicized Navisphere load-matching platform that never lived up to expectations.

One Comment

  1. ThaGearJammer

    We need a CEO who’s done the work. Most of these guys have skipped too many steps. Tech isn’t always the best solution? Aint no school like old school.

    No company employee should make more than 10% the lowest paid person. Pay top tier to carriers. With a single point of contact. Give partner carriers the freedom to succeed.

    Love hate with CHR. Got me through some tough times but man they are CHEAP and HEAVY

Comments are closed.

Mark Solomon

Formerly the Executive Editor at DC Velocity, Mark Solomon joined FreightWaves as Managing Editor of Freight Markets. Solomon began his journalistic career in 1982 at Traffic World magazine, ran his own public relations firm (Media Based Solutions) from 1994 to 2008, and has been at DC Velocity since then. Over the course of his career, Solomon has covered nearly the whole gamut of the transportation and logistics industry, including trucking, railroads, maritime, 3PLs, and regulatory issues. Solomon witnessed and narrated the rise of Amazon and XPO Logistics and the shift of the U.S. Postal Service from a mail-focused service to parcel, as well as the exponential, e-commerce-driven growth of warehouse square footage and omnichannel fulfillment.