USFREIGHTWAYS POSTS SECOND-BEST YEAR, DESPITE 4TH-QUARTER DECLINE

USFREIGHTWAYS POSTS SECOND-BEST YEAR, DESPITE 4TH-QUARTER DECLINE    USFreightways Corp., based in Chicago, reported fourth-quarter net income of $22.6 million, down from $30.7 million for the year-earlier period.
   The Chicago-based company's fourth-quarter income included a one-time pre-tax charge of $1.7 million, relating to benefits arising from the retirement of former chairman, J.C. “Cam” Carruth. Revenue improved 8.6 percent to $643.7 million.
   For the year, Sam Skinner, USFreightways’s chairman, president, and chief executive officer, said that 2000 was the company’s second-best year in its history. Net income was $96.8 million, compared to $104.2 million in 1999. Revenue was $2.54 billion, up 14 percent.
   Operating income for USFreightways' less-than-truckload division declined 15.1 percent to $42.7 million, while revenue improved 4.6 percent to $473.6 million.
   “Despite the conditions of the fourth quarter, the regional LTL group as a whole continues to post some of the best operating ratios in the industry,” Skinner said. He added that the LTL group will roll out new products in the near future, including “expanded metro-to-metro, expedited, time-definite and guaranteed product offerings.”
   USF Worldwide Logistics group reported mixed results for the quarter, with operating income falling to $4.2 million, from $4.8 million.
   USF Worldwide, the company's global freight forwarding group, saw revenue grow 12.3 percent to $71.3 million, but reported a loss of $3.3 million, compared to a profit of $2.9 million for the year-earlier quarter.
   Skinner called the forwarding unit's results “unacceptable, and we have taken aggressive measures to remedy the situation.” On Dec. 15, USFreightways hired John Gallahan, a 20-year veteran of the freight forwarding industry, to serve as president and CEO of USF Worldwide.