XPO Logistics has appointed former Amazon executive Kenneth Wagers as its chief operating officer, succeeding Troy Cooper who has been promoted to the position of president.

Wagers was most recently with Amazon where he oversaw the company’s transportation and logistics business that includes last mile, middle mile, and air and ocean cargo. He also was involved in Amazon's China operations and its Prime Now and Amazon Fresh operations.

“Kenny has a strong record of leading organizations during periods of rapid growth. His more than 20 years in global transportation and logistics - including e-commerce - give him the ideal skill set to deliver even more value to customers through our service offerings,” said Bradley Jacobs, XPO chief executive officer and chairman. “He's a big talent with a long history of accomplishments in our industry."

Before working as an executive at Amazon, Wagers worked in the supply chain sector in senior positions with Dr Pepper Snapple Group and UPS. With Dr Pepper, he held supply chain leadership positions in consumer packaged goods, including functional oversight of the retail business, direct store delivery operations, warehouses, manufacturing plants, procurement programs and operational controls.

Earlier, over 17 years with UPS, he was instrumental in the expansion of 3PL services, including UPS Supply Chain Solutions, which provides supply chain design and management, freight forwarding, customs brokerage, mail services, multimodal transportation, consulting and finance services to customers.

"Troy has been a key member of my management teams for more than 20 years. He now has Kenny standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him as we continue to execute our strategy for high growth and high returns,” said Jacobs. “I'm fortunate to have both of them by my side to lead our operations and help with the integration and optimization of future acquisitions."