National Express Group has announced that Tim Wertner will succeed Gary Waits as CEO of Student Transportation for the company's North America division.

Waits decided to step down after 13 years to seek new opportunities outside the company, according to a news release.

Wertner joins National Express with extensive experience in transportation and logisitics, having worked at FedEx for 30 years, most recently as senior vice president of the FedEx North America Western Division. In this role, he was responsible for a team of 44,000 people and the delivery of 3-million packages and 89 flights daily.

Besides day-to-day operations, Wertner was instrumental in implementing a transformative efficiency program across the division during his tenure. His experience in leading field operations teams and driving operational improvements through organizations may be instrumental in ensuring the National Express school bus division not only meets but also exceeds financial and strategic targets, according to a news release.

“I am excited to join National Express LLC," Wertner said. "With a strong team coupled with U.S. and Canadian resources available to us, I believe there is unlocked potential that can be realized within the company’s school bus division. I look forward to working with the team to continue providing our customers with best-in-class student transportation services.”

Ignacia Garat, group CEO of National Express Group, said: “We believe that Tim has the right combination of deep sector expertise coupled with transformation experience to successfully lead our School Bus division. I look forward to working with Tim as we continue to drive operational efficiency. I would like to thank Gary for his significant contribution to National Express over the past two decades, and we wish him every success in the future.”