Central Freight to Go Public

Central Freight Lines, a storied Texas-based regional less-than-truckload carrier, is planning the first initial public offering by a trucking company in more than a year.

The company will offer 5 million shares of common stock, according to a registration statement filed May 6 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Trucking stocks have fared relatively poorly in recent months as investors have focused on high-tech and blue-chip stocks, so the Central stock offering will be a good test of investors' appetite for trucking.

The most recent trucking IPO was Dispatch Management Services Group in February 1998, and the last LTL carrier to go public was Motor Cargo Industries of Salt Lake City in November 1997.

Central's stock offering does not come as too much of a surprise. For months, Wall Street investment firms had anticipated the company would take such an action.

If successful, analysts say it could open the door for other companies, including Overnite Transportation, to go public. Overnite was forced to postpone a stock offering last year because of market conditions and Teamsters union protests.

Central Freight, based in Waco, Texas, said it plans to sell 4 million shares to investors, with the remaining 1 million shares being sold by the company's chairman and major stockholder Jerry Moyes. Up to 400,000 shares may also be sold to participants in the company's 401(k) savings plan.

For the full story, see the May 17 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.