Journal of Commerce Online

February 10, 2003, Monday

BY WILLIAM ARMBRUSTER

One of the most famous names in the airfreight industry will disappear come Jan. 1, 2004. That's when Emery Forwarding will complete the process of changing its name to Menlo Worldwide Forwarding.

Emery, which used to be known as Emery Worldwide, has been doing business under the Menlo Worldwide brand since December 2001 when its parent company, CNF Inc., formed Menlo Worldwide. At that time, Emery joined CNF sister companies Menlo Worldwide Logistics, Vector SCM and Menlo Worldwide Technologies under the new Menlo Worldwide brand umbrella. Emery Worldwide used to operate a large fleet of freighter aircraft to serve the heavyfreight market in North America. But in August 2001 Emery voluntarily suspended its domestic air operation under pressure from the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA was investigating Emery’s safety procedures and record-keeping. Emery still maintains a domestic charter operation at its hub in Dayton, Ohio, using contract carriers offering an average of 30 flights nightly.

The Emery name will be phased out gradually because the company does business in more than 200 countries. As a result, it will take time to complete the name change in all of those countries.

" Emery is a company with a long and proud history," said John H. Williford, president and chief executive of Menlo Worldwide. "One of the primary reasons for the formation of Menlo Worldwide was to make it easy for our customers to identify and use the full range of supply chain services we provide. By uniting all of our services under a single brand identity, it will be easier for customers to benefit from the global solutions offered collectively and innovatively by Menlo Worldwide."

Doug Brittin, Emery’s vice president of marketing, said he did not expect the name change to affects its customer relationships. "We've done a lot of preliminary work in the past year, exposing customers to the Menlo name," he said. "It should come as no great surprise to Emery’s customer base."

Menlo has already started the legal process of dropping the Emery name. The legal name for Emery Forwarding is Emery Air Freight Corp. Inc., which was also used by Emery Worldwide.

Brittin acknowledged that there will be a long transition period for the name change. For example, the Emery name may remain on trucks beyond Jan. 1.

Since the formation of Menlo Worldwide, Emery Expedite has changed its name to Menlo Worldwide Expedite and Emery Customs Brokers has changed its name to Menlo Worldwide Trade Services. The Emery Forwarding name change will complete the final phase of the transition of all of these companies to the Menlo Worldwide brand.

Copyright 2003 Commonwealth Business Media