Less-than-truckload carrier Lakeville Motor Express has been sold by the Wren family that founded the Minnesota company in 1921 to Roger Wilsey Sr., an LME vice president, and his wife, Shari.
The deal closed Dec. 18, but terms were not disclosed.
“I’m optimistic about the future of this company and the industry. Although we’re in a slow growth mode now, we don’t need a dramatic rebound in the economy to be profitable and successful,” Roger Wilsey, 57, said in an interview.
Wilsey said he arranged for private financing through a non-bank lender.
Lakeville is the nation’s 32nd-largest LTL carrier with revenue topping $80 million last year.
It runs through 10 states in the upper Midwest and is part of the Reliance Network Alliance, an LTL interline agreement the collectively covers North America through LME and six other trucking companies.
John Wren, Lakeville’s CEO until the closing, was chairman of American Trucking Associations in 1998-1999.