Con-Way to Build New Freight Handling Facility in Bessemer, Alabama
7 February 2000
Con-Way Southern Express to Build New Freight Handling Facility in Bessemer, Alabama; Ground Breaking Set for February 9
ANN ARBOR, Mich.--Feb. 7, 2000--Con-Way Southern Express (CSE), announced today it will hold a groundbreaking on February 9 at 10 a.m. for its new $6.8 million service center facility in Bessemer, Alabama.CSE provides regional less-than-truckload freight services for commercial and industrial shippers. The new facility will replace CSE's current Birmingham facility at 601 Republic Circle and double its freight handling capacity. Employment will increase from 53 to 75 employees. Construction of the state-of-the art facility is scheduled for completion in November of this year.
"Birmingham is not only a growing local market for us, it's also a pivotal relay location for moving freight between markets to the east and west. We're able to provide the Carolinas, Georgia and eastern Tennessee with next-day and second-day delivery service to Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas because of our freight handling operations in Birmingham," said John T. Hickerson, president and chief executive officer of CSE. "Three major Interstate highways intersect here providing an excellent east-west and north-south flow between major markets. Shippers want quick, consistent delivery times from their supply chain. CON-WAY concentrates on this market segment and is committed to investing in our network infrastructure to ensure that we have the capacity to meet customer's needs and improve service levels," Hickerson added.
The 62,000 square foot facility will be located on 26 acres at 4930 Perimeter Way in Perimeter Industrial Park off Interstate 459 and McCalla Road in Bessemer. Freight handling capacity will double from 6 million to 12 million pounds per week at the new facility. Dock capacity will increase from 24 doors to 100 doors with the ability to add 50 additional doors as business growth dictates. The facility will have 8,000 square feet of offices, 38,000 square feet of dock space, and two and a half bays dedicated to maintenance and fueling.
Bessemer facility customers will receive next-day service to all of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and parts of Louisiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, South Carolina, North Carolina, Indiana and Virginia.
Attending the ceremony will be the following local Bessemer officials: Quitman Mitchell, mayor: Jim Byram, Director of Economic and Community Development; Lanett Davis, Chairman of the Bessemer Industrial Development Board; Ken Grimes from the Bessemer Chamber of Commerce and several representatives from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department.
Transportation veteran Jim Poe, manager of the current Birmingham facility, will head up the new service center. Poe has held a number of positions of increasing responsibility with CSE during his eight years with the company.
Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, CSE has 5,100 employees, operates 101 service centers and has a fleet of more than 7,800 tractors and trailers. The CSE network covers 12 states in the southern and southeast United States, Mexico and Puerto Rico. In partnership with Con-Way Central Express and Con-Way Western Express, CSE provides full regional, inter-regional and transcontinental coast-to-coast service throughout North America. The company was recently cited in an industry survey of traffic managers as one of the top carriers in the South.
CSE is an operating component of Con-Way Transportation Services (CON-WAY), a $1.9 billion company that provides time-definite and day-definite freight delivery and logistics services for commercial and industrial businesses. Within the Con-Way family are regional less-than-truckload carriers Con-Way Central Express, Con-Way Southern Express and Con-Way Western Express; Con-Way Truckload Services, providing multi-modal, full truckload shipping; Con-Way NOW, an expedited carrier specializing in emergency shipment service; and Con-Way Integrated Services, a contract supply chain execution service provider.
CON-WAY is a subsidiary of Palo Alto, California based CNF Transportation, Inc., a $5.6 billion management company of global supply chain services with businesses in regional trucking, air freight, ocean freight, customs brokerage, global logistics management and trailer manufacturing.
Further information about CON-WAY and additional press releases are available via the Internet at www.con-way.com