April 14, 2010: The sudden departure of YRCW’s President and Chief Operating Officer Timothy Wicks has led to a flurry of speculation in the media, wild rumors fueled by competitors, and some anger among YRC Teamsters.

Wicks, who was with YRCW just 18 months, and who was elevated to COO (the number two position in the corporation) just last October, departed to return to his former employer, United Healthcare.

Speculation about why he left runs the course, including disagreements with CEO Bill Zollars. Whatever the inside story, a number of Teamsters are upset that he was paid “retention bonuses” of $400,000 in January and $200,000 on April 1 supposedly to stay the course with YRCW. It’s small potatoes for the corporation, but it’s an irritation to plenty of Teamsters and lower-level management people who have been hit with painful concessions and suspension of pension credits.

Hopefully the incident will not harm Teamsters’ efforts to help get YRC on the right track.

Click here for one report on Wicks’ departure

Click here to see Wicks’ compensation and retention bonus agreement.