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Dive Brief:
- Lew Thompson & Son Trucking will more than double its fleet size to more than 500 trucks by the end of 2024 following its acquisition last year by Covenant Logistics Group, Covenant President and COO Paul Bunn said a Q4 earnings call Last week.
- The projected growth is “based on contracts already signed,” Bunn said, noting that the expansion could include another 250 trucks beyond that, more than tripling the size of the Huntsville, Arkansas-based 225-truck fleet.
- “If you can triple the volume on something in three, four years, that’s a win,” Bunn said. “That’s a win in our book – especially things that work well, have good contracts, [a] good driver base and a really good customer base. So we couldn’t be more excited about the prospects for the poultry business.”
Dive Insight:
Covenant is bullish in the poultry hauling business — even though it has faced some of the challenges of hauling chicken in its first winter, owning Lew Thompson.
“Everybody’s not getting into it because it’s difficult, it’s difficult, and it’s something that’s not commercialized,” Covenant founder and CEO David Parker said on the earnings call. “These birds have to get to the farms, even if it was last week and we had ice and snow all over the United States, and how do you react to that? How can you deliver these birds to the plants in time?’
The first 100 new trucks are expected to increase the size of Lew Thompson’s operation in the 1st quarter, Parker said.
Lew Thompson founded the carrier, now headed by his son Josh Thompson, in 1983. It originally transported turkeys for Butterball, according to the company’s website.
“He’s grown his business almost organically in his area, and we offer the capital and people to help grow outside of that area,” Parker said. “It’s one of the biggest initiatives we have this year is to make sure these things are successful.”
The poultry carrier is one of two major acquisitions by Covenant last year. The company spent $108 million on the “immediately accretive acquisitions” of Lew Thompson and Sims Transport Services, according to the 4th quarter earnings report.