The Carriers
National Freight
Vineland, N.J.
National Freight runs 2,000 power units and 5,500 trailers. Most of the tractors are Freightliners; trailers are mainly dry vans — a significant number of which are specialized, according to Jeff Brown.
"What I mean by specialized is — for some of our major accounts — we have lightweight trailers. We've been able to lighten the trailer as well as the tractor, so instead of a 45,000-pound load we can haul a 52,000-pound load. That's been a big sell for us. It's how we've grown our business with companies such as Nestles and Anheuser-Busch," Brown explained.
National Freight provides roller-bed trailers for certain customers. "We deliver cans on roller-beds that go from our trailer right onto the manufacturer's equipment," Brown said.
"Ninety percent of what we do is truckload. We're very big in retail delivery, store deliveries, vendor inbound to the DCs (distribution centers) and outbound from the DCs. That eliminates a lot of empty miles."
According to Brown, 85% of National Freight's drivers are employees; 15% are owner-operators.
National Freight belongs to the holding company NFI, which also provides warehousing and logistics services.
Celadon Trucking
Indianapolis, Ind.
Celadon is a 19-year old truckload carrier specializing in international shipments — fully half of its business. Approximately 35% of Celadon's business moves between Mexico on one hand and the U.S. and Canada on the other. Another 15% moves between Canada and the U.S.
According to Steve Russell, president and CEO, the company launched in 1985 with one customer — Chrysler Corp., now part of Daimler-Chrysler. Celadon has evolved, to say the least. Daimler-Chrysler is only 10% of Celadon's business today.
"Total automotive is 15% and that includes Chrysler," said Russell.
The Celadon fleet consists of about 2,800 tractors — 200 based in Mexico, 400 in Canada and 2,200 in the U.S. Most are Freightliners or Volvos; approximately 50 are Peterbilts.
The company's 7,500 trailers are all dry-vans and its hauls tend to be in the 1,000-mile range. Celadon handles only truckload, no LTL.
In 2000, Celadon launched TruckersB2B, a buying consortium for trucking companies and individual owner operators that is headed up by Jon Russell, son of Celadon founder Steve Russell. From April 2000 to April 2001, TruckersB2B was run by Bob Helms who went on to become chairman and then president of Pegasus-Transtech.
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