M&A
Knight and Swift to merge
Swift Transportation Co. and Knight Transportation Inc. announced on April 10 that they will merge via a stock swap to form a new company, Knight-Swift Transportation, according to published reports. The deal would combine two of the largest players in trucking in a business valued at over US $5 billion. The two Phoenix-based carriers will be operated as distinct brands, according to a news report posted by The Wall Street Journal.
IN PRINT — Top Trends: Issues that are reshaping Canada’s biggest carriers
Meyers Transport is gone. After 90 years in -business, and decades on Today's Trucking's Top 100 list of Canada's largest for-hire carriers, the -eastern Ontario fleet shut its doors in mid-January. High capacity and aggressive rate cutting in the Less-than-Truckload (LTL) sector were blamed along with a general downturn in the region's industrial activity. "It is sad to think there won't be any trucks and trailers going up and down the road with 'Meyers' on it anymore," observed chairwoman Natalie Meyers, part of the fourth generation in the family business. The family's Mortrans truckload and dedicated -specialty service continues, as does Mosaic Logistics, but 190 people lost their jobs.