Memphis-based global freight transportation and logistics services provider FedEx recently announced that Lance Moll, president of the company’s less-than-truckload (LTL) subsidiary, FedEx Freight, will retire from his position, effective January 31, at which point shift to an executive advisor role.
A 33-year FedEx veteran, Moll first joined the company as a dock worker in 1992 and subsequently held various roles in field operations leadership positions. He was named senior vice president of Operations in 2018, in a role in which he oversaw FedEx Freight’s North American operations and linehaul network teams to successfully navigate through the pandemic and challenging economic times, while ensuring employee safety and customer service remained as the highest priorities, according to the company. Moll was named president of FedEx Freight in 2021, with the company stating that during his tenure FedEx Freight achieved record safety results, profitability, and operating margin.
“Lance has been a key member of the FedEx Freight leadership team during his more than three-decade tenure,” said John Smith, chief operating officer of U.S. & Canada surface operations. “He is a clear expert on the industry and a true champion of the things that have brought FedEx Freight so much success in recent years: safety above all, communication drives progress, and innovation is key to differentiation. I am deeply grateful for his service and leadership and wish him the best in his well-deserved retirement.”
Going forward, FedEx said that theFedEx Freight team will continue to report through Smith, whom served as FedEx Freight for three years, until a new CEO is named. And it added that Smith will work with the company’s Separation Management Office in overseeing the separation of FedEx and FedEx Freight into two industry-leading public companies.
FedEx officials said this separation is expected to be completed within the next 18 months and achieved in what the company called a tax-efficient manner for FedEx stockholders.
This development was not entirely surprising, considering that in its fiscal fourth quarter earnings announcement in June, FedEx said it was “conducting an assessment of the role of FedEx Freight in the company’s portfolio structure and potential steps to further unlock sustainable shareholder value.”
FedEx Freight was created in in 2001, when FedEx Corp. acquired and merged the assets of American Freightways, Viking Freight and Watkins Motor Lines.
It has since become the largest carrier in the LTL space. In 2022, it posted $10.18 billion in revenue, an 18.5% percent boost in revenue from the previous year, according to figures compiled by SJ Consulting. But in 2023 FedEx Freight slipped. Its revenue dropped 10.6% to $9.01 billion, according to SJ Consulting. It still ranked as the largest LTL carrier in the country.
FedEx President and CEO Raj Subramaniam said FedEx believes pursuing a full separation of this business will result in two industry-leading public companies, adding that it will unlock significant value for stockholders while allowing for continued commercial operational and technological cooperation between both businesses.
“The separation will also enable both companies to benefit from enhanced focus and competitiveness for FedEx,” he said. “This will ensure strong execution of our near- and longer-term strategic priorities, while preserving the benefits Freight and FedEx enjoy from their longstanding connectivity. Each independent company will be well capitalized, with flexibility to invest in profitable growth while continuing to return capital to shareholders.”
Explaining the value proposition of this separation for FedEx and FedEx Freight, Subramaniam explained that FedEx will be creating what he called a leading LTL pure play, as well as the largest carrier by revenue, with the broadest network.
