Dive Brief:
- Ace Doran made a deal with Indiana-based NHH Services, helping the Ohio-based flatbed, heavy haul and specialized trucking firm to create a new division with 50 trucks, drivers and office personnel, according to a news release.
- Ace Doran, a subsidiary of the Bennett Family of Companies, purchased equipment from NHH Services and added staff from the owner-operator trucking company, per the Tuesday announcement.
- The addition will help expand its heavy haul market position and support national transportation operations, President Jim Collins said in a statement.
Dive Insight:
The industry is still reeling from the effects of a multiyear freight recession that’s prompted bankruptcies, mergers and downsizing.
While flatbed spot rates are booming, flatbed contract rates have more closely reflected the prolonged, sluggish manufacturing climate, DAT iQ Principal Analyst Dean Croke told Trucking Dive.
Ace Doran also provides dry van services across a variety of goods, including manufacturing, building materials and industrial components. That overlaps well with manufacturing uptick. The Institute for Supply Management’s purchasing managers’ index for manufacturing has remained above 52% in January and February in expansion territory.
