DHL sold 91-year-old Midwest LTL carrier Standard Forwarding to Sakaem Holdings and a newly formed subsidiary, according to an announcement Tuesday.
The new owner rebranded the carrier to Standard Forwarding Freight and filled its leadership with Jack Cooper and Yellow Corp. alumni.
The deal was signed Dec. 26 and effective as of Jan. 1, Standard Forwarding Freight Chief Commercial Officer Tim Haitz told Trucking Dive in an email. He declined to disclose the terms of the acquisition.
The asset-based, regional carrier offers next-day and second-day shipping with a network of 14 terminals across Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Standard Forwarding Freight also took ownership of a cross-dock facility in Chicago and merged with Sakaem-owned truckload and LTL brokerage Sakaem Logistics in the deal, according to the release.
“Speed and reliability are table stakes in the Midwest regional footprint,” said Tim McKinstry, Standard Forwarding Freight president, in the announcement. “Our goal is to make shipping easy for our customers – through every step of the customer experience.”
DHL’s sale of the nearly century-old carrier is the latest in a string of logistics giants divesting their LTL operations as investors increasingly spurn conglomerates in favor of pure-play companies in trucking and other industries.
UPS sold its LTL division, UPS Freight, to TFI International for $800 million in 2021. TFI rebranded the former Overnite Transportation Co. to TForce Freight following the acquisition.
FedEx similarly announced plans in December to spin off FedEx Freight, the country’s largest LTL carrier, as a separate company within 18 months.
Jack Cooper, an auto hauler that reportedly sought to buy Yellow before its bankruptcy, announced its own closure last week after losing contracts with General Motors and Ford Motor Co.
Jack Cooper CEO Sarah Riggs Amico is also listed as the CEO of Sakaem Holdings in Georgia business records. Her father, Michael Riggs, majority stockholder and former CEO of Jack Cooper until October, owns and has a seat on the board of Sakaem Holdings, according to his LinkedIn.
Amico has no role at Standard Forwarding Freight, Haitz said in his email to Trucking Dive.
“Standard Forwarding Freight and Jack Cooper are totally independent of each other,” Haitz wrote.
The new company’s leadership team consists almost entirely of former Jack Cooper executives, however — all of whom also previously worked at Yellow before its bankruptcy, per their LinkedIn profiles:
- McKinstry, a former Yellow SVP, served as Jack Cooper COO.
- Haitz, another former Yellow SVP, was Jack Cooper’s chief commercial officer of LTL.
- James Gibson, a former Yellow director of technology and digital solutions and Jack Cooper CIO of LTL solutions, is Standard Forwarding Freight’s CIO.
- Michael Conley, a former Yellow VP and Jack Cooper VP of LTL performance and strategy, is Standard Forwarding Freight’s VP of operations and strategy.
- Jeffrey Wright, a former Yellow director of information technology infrastructure and Jack Cooper VP of LTL technology, is Standard Forwarding Freight’s VP of technology.
- Steve Selvig, a former Yellow VP of customer care and Jack Cooper consultant, is Standard Forwarding Freight’s VP of local sales and customer service.
- Rich Antonietti, a former Yellow VP of corporate accounts, west and Jack Cooper VP of 3PL and corporate sales, is Standard Forwarding Freight’s VP of 3PL and direct corporate sales.
Of the eight corporate contacts listed on the new company’s website, only one did not previously work for Jack Cooper in some capacity, according to his LinkedIn:
- VP of Pricing and Revenue Management Mathew Willis joined from R+L Carriers, where he served as revenue analytics director. But Willis, too, previously worked at Yellow, as director of pricing and yield management.
