From the June issue of Heavy Duty Trucking
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen the number and size of trucking mergers and acquisitions like we have lately. There’s the merger of Knight Transportation and Swift Transportation, plus numerous acquisitions in the flatbed market by Daseke. Before that, XPO Logistics purchased Con-way, later selling off its truckload component to a Canadian company while keeping the less-than-truckload.
To get some perspective, I contacted Lana Batts. She’s currently partner emeritus of Transport Capital Partners, a consulting firm specializing in transportation mergers and acquisitions. However, she is known for much more than that. Her 40-plus years in trucking includes being president of the Truckload Carriers Association and senior vice president of government affairs for the American Trucking Associations.
Here are the highlights from our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity.
