Chris Lofgren will retire as president and CEO of Schneider National Inc. following the company’s annual shareholder meeting in April 2019. Mark Rourke, executive vice president and chief operating officer, will succeed Lofgren and become the company’s fourth president and CEO in its 84-year history.

“Mark is the absolute right person to lead Schneider moving forward,” said Lofgren. “He is an exceptional leader, with experience across our entire broad portfolio of services and a track record of proven success. Among many other strengths, Mark is very intelligent, displays sound judgement, understands our business and is an excellent team builder. He is highly respected by the Schneider team and is passionate about the success of our business, our customers, our associates and our shareholders.”

Rourke, 54, began his career with Schneider in 1987, at the company’s Seville, Ohio, operating center. Over his 30+ year tenure with Schneider, he has held a variety of leadership roles, including director of driver training, vice president of customer service, general manager of Schneider Transportation Management, and president of truckload services. He has served in his current role, a key to the company’s succession plan, where he has been accountable for all of Schneider’s service offerings since 2015. During that time, the company has grown revenues by 20%, adjusted operating earnings by over 30%, and adjusted earnings per share by over 45%.

“In this time of significant innovation in the transportation and logistics industry, and the need for a relentless focus on operational excellence, there is no question that Mark is the ideal executive to assume the CEO position at Schneider,” said Dan Sullivan, non-executive chairman of Schneider’s board of directors.