Ryder Launches Military Veteran Buddy Program

Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE: R), a leader in commercial fleet management, dedicated transportation, and supply chain solutions, today announced the launch of its Veteran Buddy Program, pairing current Ryder employees who are military veterans with new veteran employees. The program is designed to help ease the transition from military to civilian life, which can be a major challenge for recently separated veterans returning to the workforce.

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“Military veterans come from a very organized, structured life, with clear direction, career paths, and job descriptions, as well as high levels of unit collaboration,” said Patrick Pendergast, Group Director of Recruiting Services, Ryder. “They leave the military with a desire to become a part of an organization that has a clear mission and purpose. Ryder is an organization that matches well with these attributes, which is why we have formalized our efforts around veteran hiring in order to encompass all of these aspects. We want every transitioning veteran to feel welcome and to know that they are part of a team.”

Ryder has dedicated exclusive recruiting resources toward hiring veterans and has customized its online recruiting site to enable veterans to enter their military job classification and have their qualifications automatically matched with Ryder job openings.

This new program takes these efforts a step further once the recruiting process is completed. Veteran new hires are assigned a Ryder military veteran “buddy” who will be available to help them assimilate to their new work environment. Ryder has found that simple gestures such as showing a new veteran around the office or shop and being available to answer questions can help the new veteran employee settle into his/her new environment with ease. When the onboarding process is successful, the Company has found an improvement in turnover among veteran employees.

Ryder currently has more than 2,700 veteran employees in the U.S. Among those, 400 have been selected to participate in the program at Ryder locations in the following states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia. The program is expected to continue to grow as the Company gains more transitioning veterans.

Ryder is a member of the Veterans Employment Advisory Council and is a corporate partner with Hiring Our Heroes, FASTPORT, and Hire Heroes USA. Since joining Hiring Our Heroes in November 2011, Ryder has increased the percentage of veterans among its U.S. workforce of more than 26,700 employees from 8 percent to more than 10 percent. Veterans interested in a career in transportation can visit www.ryder.com/military, where they can match their skills with open positions at Ryder.

About Ryder

Ryder is a FORTUNE 500® commercial fleet management, dedicated transportation, and supply chain solutions company. Ryder’s stock (NYSE:R) is a component of the Dow Jones Transportation Average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. Ryder has been named among FORTUNE’s World’s Most Admired Companies, and has been recognized for its industry-leading practices in third-party logistics, environmentally-friendly fleet and supply chain solutions, and world-class safety and security programs. The Company is a proud member of the American Red Cross Disaster Responder Program, supporting national and local disaster preparedness and response efforts. For more information, visit www.ryder.com, and follow us on our Online Newsroom, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Certain statements and information included in this news release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Federal Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on our current plans and expectations and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Accordingly, these forward-looking statements should be evaluated with consideration given to the many risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements including those risks set forth in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for management to predict all such risk factors or to assess the impact of such risks on our business. Accordingly, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise

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