Riverside Transport Inc., a company based out of the Kansas City, Mo. area, has acquired Cox Trucking, a Murphysboro, Ill.-based company owned by Len Cox and his father since 1973. Terms of the transaction were not announced.
“They’re wanting to expand and bring in new equipment,” Cox told the Southern. “They’re wanting a local base as a part of a bigger organization and (will) get our people home on weekends.”
Mitch Page, executive vice president of RTI, told the Southern the company was looking for a base that would service more of its routes to the southeastern United States. RTI’s biggest customer is a garage door manufacturer, followed by suppliers of interior doors and drinking water, Page said.
Cox, which hauls beer and other supplies produced in the southern Illinois area, travels across the 48 continental states with 32 drivers. Page said RTI doesn’t necessarily travel west, but it won’t mean a loss in routes for Cox drivers. “What we do is add capacity to their (existing) lanes,” he told the Southern. This will be possible, Page said, if he can hire additional drivers — potentially up to 50 of them.
Page said Riverside hires company drivers, owner-operators and those interested in a lease-purchase. “Our ability to grow in the industry is dictated by the drivers,” Page told the Southern.
