Chutta Ratnathicam Named CEO of Emery Worldwide.

Business Editors

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 7, 2000

Chutta Ratnathicam has been named chief executive officer of Emery Worldwide, the global heavyweight air cargo company. Emery Worldwide is a wholly owned subsidiary of CNF Inc. (NYSE:CNF), a $6-billion management company of global supply chain services.

The announcement was made by Gregory L. Quesnel, president and chief executive officer of CNF. Ratnathicam, 52, has had a long and distinguished career at CNF and Emery and most recently served as CNF's senior vice president and chief financial officer. He succeeds Roger Piazza, 61, who has retired.

Prior to assuming the post of CFO in 1997, Ratnathicam spent six years as Emery's vice president for international. He joined CNF in 1977 and has held several other positions at the company including director of financial accounting and vice president of internal control. He previously served as interim CEO of Emery for a brief period in 1998 prior to Piazza's appointment.

"Chutta's operational and financial experience will serve Emery well as its global growth in air freight, distribution services and logistics continues," Quesnel said.

As Emery CEO, Ratnathicam will have management responsibility for Emery Worldwide, Emery Worldwide Airlines, Emery Global Logistics, Emery Customs Brokerage, Emery Ocean Services and Emery Expedite!

Quesnel said, "Roger generously agreed to delay his retirement two years ago when we called upon him to take up the reins of Emery for us in 1998. We commend and thank him for his willingness to tackle that assignment, devoting two more years of his life to this company, which he served long and well."

Piazza was also a senior vice president of CNF. He joined CF AirFreight in 1976 and was instrumental in helping that company's transition from a small forwarder into a major heavyweight air freight carrier. Following the merger of CF AirFreight and Emery Worldwide in 1989, Piazza was named vice president - North America, the position he held when he was tapped in 1998 to become Emery's president.

Piazza said, "I'm pleased that I was able to cap my career in the air freight industry as head of Emery Worldwide. I'm proud that during that time we were able to grow Emery's international business to equal its U.S. business for the first time in the company's 54-year history. I am sure that all of Emery's 12,000 employees will join me in wishing Chutta success and welcoming him back to Emery."

Ratnathicam graduated from the Royal College in Sri Lanka in 1967 and earned his MBA from the University of Portland in 1973. He has also completed the Columbia University Executive Program in Business Administration, and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Management Accountants, the Sri Lanka Institute of Chartered Accountants, the Conference Board's "Council of Financial Executives" and the San Francisco Financial Executives Institute. He lives with his wife and three children in San Mateo, California.

Emery Worldwide is a $2.4-billion company specializing in time-definite transportation services for business-to-business shippers of heavyweight cargo by providing global air and ocean freight transportation, logistics management, customs brokerage and expedited services to manufacturing, industrial, retail and government customers. Based in Redwood City, California, it operates in 229 countries through a worldwide network of more than 500 service centres and agent locations. CNF Inc. is a $5.6-billion management company of global supply chain services with businesses in regional trucking, air freight, ocean freight, customs brokerage, global logistics management and trailer manufacturing based in Palo Alto, California.

Additional information and news about CNF and its family of companies is available on the CNF web site at http://www.cnf.com.