Top Open-Deck/Specialty Carrier Grows with Merger

ADDISON, TX —  One of the largest open-deck/specialty transportation companies in North America said it is merging with Bulldog Hiway Express.

The move by Daseke Inc. will give it more than 2,800 tractors and more than 5,800 open-deck trailers, serving 49 states, Canada and Mexico, according to the company.

Based in Charleston, S.C., Bulldog Hiway Express, was founded in 1959 and has grown to several hundred power units along with more than 400 trailers.

“Bulldog is a great match with our family of companies,” said Don Daseke, president and CEO of Daseke Inc. “They have an extremely enviable position in the markets they serve, and are dedicated to customer service, as well as their own employees. What’s more, their safety scores are impeccable something that is carried across the line with all Daseke companies.”

Bulldog handles dedicated and for-hire, open-deck operations, intermodal port deliveries and heavy hauls with loads reaching 180,000 pounds, according to a news release. The company operates throughout the U.S. and Canada, supporting the automotive and energy sectors, including wind, solar and nuclear power.

“This is the right decision at the right time for Bulldog. The synergies and collaboration that exist within the Daseke family of companies, that we are now a part of, will bring added capacity, capabilities and value to our people and customers,” said Phil Byrd, Bulldog’s president and CEO and the immediate past chairman of The American Trucking Associations.

According to the Texas-base Daeske it is the second largest open-deck/specialty carrier in North America.

Transport Topics newspaper’s 2014 listing of the largest flatbed/specialty carriers in North America, published last August, listed Daeske Inc. as the fourth largest based on revenue, behind number one ranked Landstar System, followed by Contrans Group and Mercer Transportation.

Bulldog joins Smokey Point Distributing, E.W. Wylie; J. Grady Randolph; Central Oregon Truck Co.; Lone Star Transportation, including Davenport Transport; and the Boyd Cos., including Boyd Bros. Transportation, WTI Transport and Mid Seven Transportation that are owned by Daseke Inc.


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