PS Logistics (CCJ Top 250, No. 37), via its Loudon, Tennessee-based subsidiary Purdy Brothers Trucking, has acquired Phoenix Leasing of Tennessee, while also reaching an agreement with Phoenix sister company Colonial Freight Systems to contract with its drivers to continue to service to its southeastern cold-chain customers. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Acquired by PS Logistics in 2014, Purdy Brothers Trucking operates 144 trucks from terminals in Loudon; Princeton, Illinois; Zellwood, Florida; and White Post, Virginia. Colonial Freight Systems operates 250 trucks from terminals in Knoxville and Nashville.
Thursday's move is the second acquisition for Birmingham, Alabama-based PS Logistics this month, having already picked up flatbed operation Noble LLC, which includes Noble Trucking and Noble Logistics, through its DMT Trucking subsidiary. This latest transaction deepens PS Logistics' refrigerated operations across the Southeast and adds 55 lease-purchase drivers to Purdy Brothers' fleet, including more than 50 late-model tractors.
Since 2014, PS Logistics has acquired and integrated 27 trucking and logistics operations.
This year has been a hot one for mergers and acquisitions among trucking fleets, particularly among CCJ's Top 250 for-hire carriers. There have been 14 mergers and acquisitions since the beginning of June among the Top 250. To date, 23 Top 250 fleets have struck 22 deals this year.
