Related: Roadrunner Freight Debuts Spot Quote Tool for Shippers
Roadrunner to Cut Equipment, Terminals and Jobs in Downsizing Effort
Roadrunner Transportation Systems says it will downsize its unprofitable dry van business, part of the company’s truckload segment.

Roadrunner Transportation Systems has announced a plan to downsize its unprofitable dry van business which is part of the company’s truckload segment.
Photo via Roadrunner
Roadrunner Transportation Systems says it will downsize its unprofitable dry van business, part of the company’s truckload segment.
The downsizing effort will reduce the company’s dry van company tractor and trailer fleets by over 50% and will include the closing of five terminal locations and cutting 450 jobs, or about 10% of the company’s total workforce. Employees affected by the cuts will receive either severance or a 60-day notice.
Equipment sales and terminal closures are expected to be complete by the end of 2019 and workforce reductions will be effective in the next 60 to 90 days.
“We factored in the impact of this downsizing as part of the strategic review of our truckload segment,” said CEO Curt Stoelting. “We believe downsizing the dry van business will improve operating margins and cash flow, reduce lease obligations and debt, improve internal controls, and allow greater focus on the significant value-creation opportunities within our other businesses.”
When Roadrunner reported its second quarter financial results in August, the company showed higher operating losses compared to the same period in 2018, which it attributed to challenging market conditions, specifically in the dry van truckload segment.
While the company saw increased revenue from its less-than-truckload segments and improvement in the temperature controlled and flatbed truckload segments, the gains were offset by declines in dry van. At the time, Stoelting said that the company planned to put “less focus on the truckload segment in favor of our logistics and asset-light LTL segments.”
In May, Roadrunner announced plans to buy 500 new trucks and acquire or refinance over 2,100 dry van and refrigerated trailers in an effort to reduce its overall fleet age, reduce breakdowns and improve efficiency. By August, the company reported investing over $50 million in the new equipment. It is not certain how the downsizing effort will affect the company’s investment going forward.
More Fleet Management

Deen Albert: Let Automation Do the Math, People Make the Decisions
HDT Truck Fleet Innovator Deen Albert makes sure people are still at the heart of operations at Grand Island Express, even while adopting artificial intelligence tools. AI-assisted dispatch helped boost revenue 25% with the same number of trucks.
Read More →Trimble’s New AI Agent Takes Aim at Fleet Back-Office Busywork
Arc Agent works across Trimble TMS products to automate repetitive tasks such as freight orders, maintenance, invoices, fuel costs and more.
Read More →
How HDT’s 2026 Truck Fleet Innovators Are Rethinking Fleet Operations
Meet five trucking leaders who are challenging assumptions, solving operational problems, and putting innovative ideas to work.
Read More →
Tight Trucking Capacity Pushes Rates Higher Even as Freight Volumes Fall
“Spot rates moving ahead of contract rates have historically signaled a tightening market, but we haven’t seen a capacity-driven market quite like this one,” said DAT's Dean Croke.
Read More →
Import Cargo’s Early Peak Season is Winding Down
There was an early start to peak season this year at the nation's gateway ports, as retailers brought in merchandise ahead of tariff changes in late July and responded to other supply chain uncertainties,
Read More →
Fewer Cargo Thefts, Bigger Losses: Criminals Target Higher-Value Loads
CargoNet says organized theft rings are stealing fewer shipments but choosing more valuable freight, including metals and technology, resulting in record losses.
Read More →
How Innovative Trucking Leaders Turn Change Into an Advantage
As the pace of change accelerates in trucking, the fleets that adapt best have more than the latest technology. They have cultures that embrace improvement.
Read More →
Freight Broker Bonds Just Got Harder to Get. Here's What That Means for Your Fleet.
When it gets harder for a freight broker to prove they are financially sound, the ones who cannot clear that bar get pushed out of the market. And those are exactly the brokers who used to leave motor carriers holding the bag.
Read More →
Long-Awaited Canadian Border Bridge to Open in Detroit
For trucking, the bridge opening should offer immediate improvements in efficiency and reliability, with new customs facilities, expanded inspection capacity, and direct freeway-to-freeway connections.
Read More →
Aurora Rolls Out Next Generation of Driverless Trucks for Commercial Freight
Aurora's latest autonomous trucks it's rolling out with International feature lower-cost hardware designed for a million miles as the company expands commercial driverless freight operations across the U.S. Sun Belt.
Read More →
