M. Anthony Burns (born November 1, 1942) is an American businessman and chairman emeritus of the board of directors of Ryder, a United States-based provider of transportation and supply chain management products.
When Burns joined Ryder in 1974, the company primarily focused on truck leasing and rental, owning a fleet of about 50,000 vehicles and employing 13,000 workers in three countries.
At Burns's retirement in 2002, Ryder had a fleet of more than 170,000 vehicles for commercial truck leasing and rental, had 30,000 employees in more than a dozen countries on four continents and had expanded into logistics.
He formerly served on the board of directors of J. P. Morgan Chase & Co., Stanley Black & Decker and J.C. Penney Company, Inc. and was chairman of the audit committee for all three.
Burns has led many humanitarian, cultural, civic and industry endeavors throughout his career, especially in the Miami-Dade area of South Florida.
With extensive destruction surrounding him, Burns went out to the front lines and joined the work crews in repairing roofs.
Making many donations such as food and clothing to charitable agencies, Burns also provided Ryder's trucks to people who needed to transport themselves and possessions to safer, drier places.