CENF Central Freight Lines

Teamsters Urge Shareholders to Withhold Vote from Central Freight Chairman Teamsters Issue Report on Chairman's Conflicts of Interest WASHINGTON, April 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters issued its report, Central Freight - On the Road to Destruction: Moyes' Truckload of Related Party Transactions. The report, directed at Central Freight (NASDAQ:CENF) shareholders, spotlights the company's poor performance under the leadership of Chairman Jerry Moyes since its initial public offering in 2003. The report encourages shareholders to examine the interrelationships between Central Freight and other businesses owned by Moyes and to scrutinize Central Freight's ineffective accounting procedures. Moyes has served as Chair, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President of Swift Transportation and owns Central Refrigerated Service, Inc., Swift Aviation, Interstate Equipment Lines, Inc. and Southwest Premier Properties LLC -- all companies that do business with one or more Moyes-owned or controlled entities, including Central Freight. A report issued in 2003 by the Teamsters delineated the web of Moyes' conflicts at Swift Transportation. The report was followed by an SEC investigation. Moyes later stepped down as president and announced he will resign as CEO of Swift by the end of 2005. "Central Freight stock has lost 80 percent of its value since December 2003," said C. Thomas Keegel, Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer. "Shareholders must ask if Moyes' decisions are in the best interest of Central Freight or simply in his own best interest." "We called on Central Freight's Board of Directors to find a more suitable nominee for Chairman," Keegel said. "Concerned shareholders now have no choice but to withhold their vote from Moyes." Teamsters are neither seeking nor intending to seek any proxies from shareholders. This current report uncovers the multiple, incestuous business relationships at Central Freight with Moyes-controlled entities. As Moyes chaired the board of directors at Central Freight: * Central Freight made a "stalking horse" bid for Simon Transportation, a bankrupted company owned by Moyes; * Central Freight gave the assets and assumed the debts of Simon (now known as Central Refrigerated) to Jerry Moyes; * Paid debts promised by Moyes to executives of Jaguar Fast Freight; * Engaged in multimillion dollar related party transactions with other Jerry Moyes-owned or -controlled companies; * Central Freight's accounting practices resulted in a "more than a remote likelihood that material misstatements of the annual or interim consolidated statements would not be prevented or detected." To download this report or our 2003 report, visit our website at http://www.teamster.org/. Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States and Canada. DATASOURCE: International Brotherhood of Teamsters CONTACT: Carin Zelenko of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, +1-202-624-8100 Web site: http://www.teamster.org/

Copyright