FedEx Corp has completed the purchase of the LTL operations of Watkins Motor Lines and other affiliates, costing them $780 million. WML is a leading provider of long-haul LTL services based in Lakeland, Fla., boasting an annual revenue of more than $1 billion.
Watkins Motor Lines and Watkins Canada Express operations include more than 140 service centres and over 14,000 tractors and trailers, and will be rebranded FedEx National LTL and FedEx Freight Canada respectively. Both entities will operate as separate networks within the FedEx Freight segment. This includes FedEx Freight, FedEx Custom Critical and Caribbean Transportation Services. FedEx Freight, FedEx National LTL and FedEx Freight Canada networks comprise of more than 470 service centres, meaning it will operate nearly 54,000 tractors and trailers to meet customers’ regional and long-haul LTL needs.
Douglas G. Duncan, President and Chief Executive Officer, FedEx Freight said that FedEx National LTL and FedEx Freight Canada would provide the certainty and reliability of service that customers have come to expect from FedEx Freight. He also said that as integration moves forward, FedEx National LTL would strengthen its focus on providing core long-haul services, while FedEx Freight Canada would begin identifying service enhancement opportunities.
FedEx National LTL’s workforce of close to 9,000 is said to benefit from Watkins’ experience in the transportation industry, also possessing a similar workplace culture to that of FedEx.
FedEx Corporation was originally known as FDX Corporation and is a logistics services company based in the United States. ‘FedEx’, a syllabic abbreviation for Federal Express, the name of the company’s original air division was used from 1978 until 2000.
