Con-Way Transportation Services Inc. has formed a new operating company, Con-Way Truckload (CTL), scheduled to begin operations next year. The new company will provide linehaul service on full transcontinental loads for Con-Way’s three regional less-than-truckload carriers – Central Express, Southern Express and Western Express.
Knight Transportation has established a new subsidiary, Knight Refrigerated, which plans to begin offering temperature-controlled truckload service in the third quarter of this year. The Phoenix-based operation initially will consist of about 50 tractors.
Roadway Express has introduced Time-Advantage, a service for expedited or emergency shipments. The transporter says its new service provides shippers with more flexibility and options to meet any time-definite need as fast as next day throughout North America, by ground or air.
XRG Inc. has purchased Fletcher, N.C.-based truckload carrier Carolina Truck Connection (CTC) through the issuance of 1.2 million shares of common stock and the assumption of $470,000 in long-term debt. CTC will operate as a division of XRG Logistics and will retain its identity with the public.
U.S. Xpress has started a two-phase project that could add 1,000 jobs, mostly in office support. The company is buying 40 acres across from its headquarters in Chattanooga, Tenn., adjacent to Interstate 75, and plans to build a 50,000-square-foot office facility that would house 500 employees.
Last month, I addressed six simple steps for improving driver retention. They weren’t difficult or expensive to implement, but I’ll wager that the vast majority of fleet executives who read that column – even those with company-threatening turnover problems – haven’t implemented a single idea.
Tackling a tough problem like driver retention simply is too daunting for many carriers. Managers immediately recognize that addressing the challenge will require significant resources and may not produce results quickly or at all. Sometimes carriers implement changes expecting great rewards only to see the problem get worse. Most carrier managers are too busy putting out fires to implement change. And frankly, that’s the way they like it. They spend their days resolving problems that pop up and go home satisfied that they accomplished something.
