Tag: industry news

Founder of R+L, Ralph L. “Larry” Roberts, Carriers Passes Away at Age 77

Posted on March 30, 2023 by - Truck Industry News, trucker news, trucking news

R+ L Carriers is a private family-owned freight shipping company that has been providing world-class customer service with every delivery for over 55 years. The company has been awarded the “Quest for Quality Award” in Logistics management and has grown from a one-truck fleet to a fleet of over 21,000 tractors and trailers. The company owes its success to its founder, Ralph L. Larry Roberts, who passed away on March 19th, 2023 at the age of 77. 

In the Mid-1960s, Roberts had the dream of owning his own business so he ended up purchasing a single truck that he used to haul furniture and a warehouse behind his family home in Wilmington, Ohio. His business started off providing service exclusively within Ohio but soon expanded to five other Midwestern and Southern states. 

The company continued to grow further with the purchase of Gator Freightways, Inc. and Greenwood Motorlines, Inc. With the deregulation of the trucking industry in the early 1980s, the company incorporated a system that moved freight at transit times that were unrivaled. In 2007 the company became a number one LTL carrier. The company has now expanded to serve all 50 states, as well as Canada, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and many other Caribbean islands. 

R+L Carriers strives to provide the best service with competitive pricing and save operations. Ralph L. “Larry” Roberts’ legacy will continue to live on in the company he founded and established over the years with the help of his family and numerous dedicated employees.

Knight-Swift Announces Major Merger with U.S. Xpress

Posted on March 21, 2023 by - Insutry news, merger, Truck Industry News, trucking news

Knight-Swift Transportation has officially announced an agreement to acquire U.S. Xpress Enterprises. This is not the first time the company has merged with another, however. In 2017, Knight Transportation and Swift Transportation merged to create Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. The difference between this merger is that U.S Xpress will keep its brand and continue to operate separately. 

U.S. Xpress was purchased by Knight-Swift for $6.15 a share, for a total of about $808 million. The acquisition is officially expected to close in the second or third quarter of the year and will pay around $291 million in cash at closing. This will be the biggest deal for Knight-Swift since it acquired AAA Cooper Transportation in 2021. 

In this acquisition, Knight-Swift will assume the acquired company’s debt of $484 million. The debt was caused by a multi-year decline in financial revenue. Ultimately U.S Xpress stockholders were pleased with the high closing stock price after the acquisition was complete.

 While the company will be acquiring U.S. Xpress’ accumulated debt, this acquisition is expected to add roughly $2.2 billion in operating revenue to Knight-Swift. This will also cause their truckload fleet to have a total of 25,00 tractors and 93,000 trailers. 

 This merger is expected to help U.S. Xpress significantly and reduce the turnover rate of employees, which had been happening during the company’s financial decline. This merger is also expected to increase the revenue of both companies to avoid any further financial decline from either company.