Major Transport, a Minnesota-based dry van carrier, announced that it sold some of its assets May 2 to a newly formed company, Major Transport of Indiana. The new company was established by the Oren family, which also owns Dart Transit Co. The transaction — terms of which were not disclosed — makes Major’s freight and customer base available to Dart.
Major Transport of Indiana is based in Sellersburg as a driver fleet and contracts its truck and driver capacity to Dart. The two companies will operate as separate but cooperating companies. The old Major operated primarily in the 11 Mountain States with 250 company drivers. Dart operates with 2,500 owner-operators, primarily east of the Rockies.
“The Dart and Major operating areas are very different, so the two companies complement each other very nicely,” says David Oren, president of Eagan, Minn.-based Dart. “Major’s customer base gives Dart access to new freight and great potential in a vibrant market.”
“Gaining access to Major’s freight in the West is a great opportunity for Dart,” says Darin Heinemeyer, recruiting director at Dart’s Minnesota operating center. “While Major drivers will continue to haul that freight, this opens up the West to Dart marketing efforts, and we expect that in the long run, it will provide growth opportunities for Dart’s owner-operators. We’re very excited about what this will mean for us in the future.”
Dart also recently announced that it had been recognized by Owens Corning as its 2006 Enterprise Carrier of the Year Award for outstanding service. Dart received Owens Corning Carrier of the Year awards from the following facilities: Carrier of the Year at Waxahachie, Texas; Carrier of the Year Long Haul at New Braunfels, Texas; Carrier of the Year Long Haul at Kansas City, Kan.; and Carrier of the Year Long Haul at Fort Smith, Ark.
