UPS names Abney as new CEO, effective in September

Transportation and logistics bellwether UPS announced a change at the top today, with Chief Operating Officer David Abney named as the company’s new CEO and member of the company’s Board of Directors.

The Atlanta-based company said that current Chairman of the Board and CEO Scott Davis will retire from UPS and assume the role of non-executive Chairman, with both moves taking effect on September 1. 

When he officially becomes CEO, Abney will be the 11th CEO in the company’s history. He started out at UPS in 1974 as a part-time package loader and various operational positions, according to company officials.

In his position as chief operating officer, he oversaw UPS logistics, sustainability, and engineering, leading the company’s significant investment in alternative fuel fleets, and implementing programs to expand the company’s total freight volume, where directed the UPS transportation network serving more than 200 countries and territories.

“David possesses tremendous depth of understanding of the rapidly evolving transportation and logistics markets,” said Davis in a statement.  “His capability to anticipate global trends, identify risks and guide the company and our clients to capitalize on opportunities has proven invaluable.  We have navigated through challenging economic recovery periods during my tenure as CEO. I have appreciated his dedication to UPS and support to me and I am confident that David will provide the decisive leadership needed to move UPS to greater accomplishments in the future.”

Davis joined UPS in 1986, when UPS acquired the technology company II Morrow, where he was served as CEO. During his nearly 30-year tenure at UPS, he served in positions of increasing responsibility in finance and accounting before assuming the role of CFO and joining the UPS Management Committee in 2001. And in 2006, he was named vice chairman and was elected to the UPS Board of Directors that same year. He became CEO and Chairman of the Board on January 1, 2008.

Some of the notable achievements for UPS under Davis’s watch include:
-significant improvements in its logistics network as the company has expanded its reach and capabilities through Europe, Asia, and the Americas;
-rapid growth in international operations and supply chain and freight;
-leading strategic initiatives to expand the company’s U.S. and European air hubs, the opening of the Intra-Asian air hub in Shenzhen, and transformation of the company’s U.S. small package organization, the largest operating unit of the company; and
-serving on the President’s Export Council