Boyd Moves West With Acquisition

Flatbed carrier Boyd Bros. Transportation is going west.

The Clayton, Ala., company, which operates in the eastern two-thirds of the U.S., plans to acquire Houston-based Ruel Smith Transportation Services and a freight brokerage affiliate for $4.5 million in cash and stock.

Miller Welborn, acting chief executive officer of Boyd Bros., said the acquisition is a "strategic step" in the company's growth.

"We believe Ruel Smith will serve as a platform for further expansion as we push our marketing region westward to include important traffic lanes in Texas as well as in the middle regions of the country," he said in a statement.

Ruel Smith operates 150 tractors --half company-owned and half leased from owner-operators -- and 164 trailers. It provides long-haul and short-haul flatbed truckload service throughout the continental U.S. and Canada.

The carrier and its brokerage unit, RSTS Logistics, are expected to generate revenue of $23 million in 1998, according to Boyd Bros.

Ruel Smith is profitable and will add immediately to Boyd Bros.' earnings, the statement said.

The deal is subject to a definitive agreement and other conditions and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

It will be the second acquisition within the past year for Boyd Bros., which purchased Welborn Transport Co. of Tuscaloosa, Ala., in December 1997.

Mr. Welborn was named acting president and chief executive officer earlier this year following the retirement of Don Johnston.