USF Glen Moore Acquires Underwood Truck Line

USFreightways Corp., a diversified transportation company in Rosemont, Ill., entered the truckload market a year ago with the purchase of Glen Moore Trucking of Carlisle, Pa. Now, USF Glen Moore has acquired Underwood Truck Line of Brazil, Ind.

The purchase “is the first step in a plan to grow our truckload business throughout the United Sates with acquisitions of profitable regional companies, John Campbell “Cam” Carruth, chairman of USFreightways, said in a statement.

USF Glen Moore President David McGowan said Underwood’s operations in the central states will complement the company’s Northeast truckload service and will be a valuable part of the company’s nationwide core carrier program.

A USFreightways spokesman declined to provide more specifics on the transaction or on Underwood’s operations.

In 1997, according to the latest report filed with the Department of Transportation, Underwood operated 53 tractors and 121 dry van trailers, employed 85 drivers and generated revenue of just over $6 million.

Truckload service represents a tiny portion of USFreightways’ business, but it is expected to grow rapidly as part of a package of transportation services offered to shippers (See related article, p. 15).

USFreightways operates a network of five regional less-than-truckload carriers and has expanded into warehousing and logistics services over the past decade. The company acquired freight forwarder Seko Worldwide in 1997 and added Golden Eagle Group in November 1998, merging all of the operations with two existing forwarders to create USF Worldwide.