PS Logistics Buys Roane Transportation, Adding 189 Flatbed Trucks
PS Logistics bought Tennessee flatbed carrier Roane Transportation and its 189 power units. Roane keeps its name, leader and drivers for now.
PS Logistics has acquired Roane Transportation Services, a flatbed carrier based in Rockwood, Tennessee, along with its logistics and leasing businesses, FreightWaves reported. The deal adds 189 power units to the Birmingham, Alabama, company’s flatbed network. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The buyer on paper is Loudon County Trucking, a PS Logistics subsidiary. Roane will keep operating under its own name as a division of Loudon County Trucking, and co-founder Steve Kennedy stays on to run daily operations, so drivers and customers should not see an immediate change in who they deal with.
What Roane brings
Roane hauls building materials and electrical products across the Southeast and Midwest. It works with more than 170 drivers, a mix of company drivers and third-party capacity. Besides the Rockwood headquarters, it runs terminals in Memphis, Tennessee, and El Paso, Texas. A sister business, Roane Logistics, handles warehousing and freight brokerage.
Houston Vaughn, president of PS Logistics’ trucking division, said the purchase strengthens the company in East Tennessee, a region he called critical to aluminum manufacturing. Kennedy told his team and customers the company would keep “the local leadership, culture, and service you know” while gaining resources to invest in its people and operations.
A long string of flatbed deals
PS Logistics runs more than 5,000 trucks and 9,800 trailers from 65 locations in the Eastern U.S. Besides its own fleet, it sells brokerage, third-party logistics and managed transportation.
Much of that size came through purchases. Since 2016 the company has bought family-owned flatbed carriers and logistics firms one after another: 32 trucking companies and five non-asset logistics businesses so far. Two years ago it bought Buddy Moore Trucking, another Birmingham carrier, with more than 500 power units. Soon after, it picked up the flatbed fleet of ELS of Kenly, North Carolina, which included 90 tractors and more than 240 over-length trailers.
What it means for flatbed drivers and small carriers
For Roane’s drivers, the stated plan is continuity: same banner, same local boss, now backed by a much larger parent. No changes to pay, equipment or dispatch were announced with the deal.
For small flatbed fleets, the deal is another sign that big carriers are buying up regional operators instead of growing truck by truck.
The purchase also lands while some parts of the flatbed market are busy. Data center construction is one segment that has done well this year. Broker Landstar System reported strong heavy-haul demand in its third-quarter results last week: its flatbed business grew 34% from a year earlier, with loads up 4% and revenue per load up 29%.
Source: FreightWaves
