Ducker, head of FedEx Freight, to retire Aug. 15

Michael L. Ducker, president and chief executive officer of FedEx Freight, FedEx Corp's less-than-truckload (LTL) unit, will retire on Aug. 15 after 43 years with the Memphis-based company.

A successor will be named in the next few weeks, Ducker said on a LinkedIn post yesterday announcing his impending retirement.

During his career at FedEx, the Chattanooga-born Ducker was chief operating officer of FedEx Express, the company's air and international unit, as well as president of its international business. Ducker also served as president of FedEx Express Asia-Pacific in Hong Kong for four years and led the Southeast Asia and Middle East regions from Singapore, and Southern Europe from Milan.

Ducker previously served on the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations for the Obama administration, as well as chairman of the international policy committee for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He is currently chairman of the U.S. Chamber's executive committee.

Ducker's strong international bias and deep exposure to international trade came to the fore in Memphis on Nov. 9, 2016, the night after Donald J. Trump's stunning presidential victory. Speaking at 8 a.m. in front of shocked and exhausted attendees, Ducker delivered an impassioned plea for the President-elect to keep the U.S. in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-nation partnership that Trump, on the campaign trail, pledged to pull the U.S. out of because it would disadvantage U.S. workers. Ducker argued that TPP would open up foreign markets to small to mid-size U.S. companies, which in turn would lead to more hiring of American workers.

Despite pleas by Ducker and others, Trump withdrew the U.S. from TPP almost immediately after taking office.