Dive Brief:

• U.S. freight transportation services provider XPO announced Wednesday that it promoted Kyle Wismans, its senior vice president of revenue management and finance, to the role of CFO.

• Effective August 11, Wismans will succeed Carl Anderson, XPO’s sitting CFO, who is stepping down, the Greenwich, Connecticut-based company said in a press release. “We expect this transition to be a seamless hand-off between two senior executives in our organization,” XPO CEO Mario Harik said in the release.

• Axalta Coating Systems, a global coatings company, announced the same day that Anderson is taking over as its finance chief, replacing Sean Lannon, who is leaving “to pursue other opportunities.”

Dive Insight:

Wismans, 39, will receive an annual base salary of $550,000 and the opportunity to earn a performance-based bonus each year, targeted at 100% of his base salary, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

XPO offers services such as “less-than-truckload,” or LTL, freight shipping, which is used to transport freight that doesn't require a full trailer. It also supplies technology designed to provide real-time visibility into shipment status.

The company reported in May that its first quarter revenues reached $1.91 billion, up from $1.89 billion during the same period in 2022. At the same time, it announced that it was reducing its workforce as part of a cost-cutting plan.

“LTL salaries, wages and employee benefits were 6.7% higher than a year ago, due primarily to wage increases granted to employees last year,” Anderson said during an earnings call at the time. “We are taking action to reduce labor costs and drive productivity as we move through the year.”

The company is planning more than $50 million in annual headcount reduction savings beginning in the third quarter, Chief Strategy Officer Ali Faghri said during the call.

Anderson is exiting XPO after less than a year. He was appointed to the role of CFO in October 2022. Prior to that, he spent more than 16 years at Meritor, a global supplier for commercial vehicle manufacturers, where he served as finance chief for more than three years in addition to holding other financial leadership positions. 

Wismans has served as in his current role since February 2023. He joined XPO in September 2019 as a senior vice president of financial planning and analysis.

He previously served as an executive with General Electric for more than a decade, including most recently as head of global financial planning and analysis for Baker Hughes Oilfield Services, a GE company, from August 2017 to August 2019.