Roadrunner Unloads Another Unit, Sells Stagecoach Cartage

Advancing the transformation to an asset-light business model, Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc. RRTS announced that it has sold dry van business segment Stagecoach Cartage and Distribution LLC.

Founded in 1986 and based in El Paso, Texas, Stagecoach provides over-the-road, local cartage and warehouse services to the "bulk resin and general freight markets." Stagecoach has 149 power units and 191 drivers, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's SAFER system.

Stagecoach Cartage was the first motor carrier permitted access into Mexico under the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2006. The company was acquired by Roadrunner in 2015, reporting financial results through Roadrunner's truckload (TL) segment.

Santa Teresa, New Mexico-based third-party logistics (3PL) provider J.H. Rose Logistics LLC purchased Stagecoach.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

In 2019, Roadrunner narrowed its focus, choosing to pursue asset-light offerings as a means of lowering its capital needs and ending several quarters of significant financial losses. As the restructuring has progressed, the company continues to book losses from a generally weak operating environment, expenses incurred from asset and acquisition write-downs and the costs associated with reorganizing the company.

In less than a year, Roadrunner has divested several business units, raising more than $300 million in the process. The bulk of which has been used to lower debt and lease obligations.

In September, Roadrunner cut its dry van operations (Rich Logistics) by more than half, resulting in 450 layoffs and the closure of five terminals. In November, it sold its intermodal business (700 power units and 23 terminal locations) to Universal Logistics Holdings Inc. ULH for approximately $51 million in cash.

In December, the company divested its flatbed unit for $30 million in cash and in late January of this year, Roadrunner sold its Prime Distribution Services unit to C.H. Robinson Worldwide CHRW for $225 million in cash.

"The divestiture of our Stagecoach business unit is another step forward in our strategy to simplify our portfolio by focusing on our value-added logistics and asset-light LTL segments," said Roadrunner CEO Curt Stoelting.

On Thursday, the company announced that it plans to voluntarily delist from the New York Stock Exchange and deregister from reporting requirements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Since that announcement, shares of RRTS have fallen by more than 60%, closing at $2.51 per share Wednesday afternoon.

Shares of RRTS are expected to cease trading on the NYSE around April 17. Shares of Roadrunner's stock will continue to trade in the over-the-counter markets.