A recent corporate announcement by FedEx Corp confirmed the completion of the acquisition of Watkins Motor Lines and its related affiliates for an outright purchase of $780 million. Watkins Motor Lines is a private company, which is based in Lakeland, Fla. – and is one of the top providers of long haul LTL services, with annual revenue figures at over $1 billion.
The operations of the company include service centers numbering 140, and over 14,000 trailers and tractors – all of which will now be rebranded as FedEx National LTL and FedEx Freight Canada. The rebranding of both these operations is already underway.
Commenting on the recent acquisition, Frederick W. Smith, FedEx’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer said that the FedEx group could now offer its customers even greater flexibility and value, especially in the ‘less than truckload’ sector. The purchase of Watkins Motor Lines, he said, would now enable FedEx to offer customers the highly requested long haul LTL services for sometime now. Customers will also have on offer bundled transportation solutions.
FedEx Freight Canada and FedEx National LTL both operate their own separate networks under the FedEx Freight sector. This sector also includes FedEx Custom Critical, FedEx Freight and Caribbean Transportation Services – with a grand total of 500 centers. Regional and long haul customer needs are met by around 54,000 tractors and trailers.
Douglas G. Duncan, FedEx Freight’s President and Chief Executive Officer said that the company was also working towards growing their LTL market share within North America.