Daseke Adds Schilli, Big Freight to its Portfolio of Trucking Companies
Flatbed carrier Daseke Inc. said May 1 that it has added two more companies to its portfolio of trucking companies: the Schilli Cos. and Big Freight Systems.
Big Freight, which is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, is Daseke’s first Canadian addition.
Neither purchase price was released, but Daseke did say the combined annual revenue of Schilli and Big Freight was $119 million in 2016. The additions of Schilli and Big Freight brings Daseke’s roster of open-deck and specialized carriers to 11.
“Both companies are industry elites in the open-deck, specialized market and will bring new dimensions to Daseke’s depth of services and geographic footprint,” Chairman and CEO Don Daseke said.
“With the contribution of asset-light revenue, a first-class industrial warehousing operation, a new Midwestern presence as well as an even stronger presence in the Canadian market, all of Daseke’s family of companies are able to benefit from our synergies and growing scale of operations,” he added.
Daseke Inc. has been publicly traded on Nasdaq since Feb. 28. Company management has said previously that an important reason for going public was to fund continued acquisitions of compatible trucking companies. Daseke ranks No. 44 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of for-hire carriers and is the second-largest flatbed/specialized carrier on the list behind Landstar System, which ranks No. 9 on the TT100.
Based in Remington, Ind., Schilli has four components: Schilli Transportation Services, Schilli Specialized, Schilli Distribution Services and Schilli NationaLease. Tom Schilli is CEO and the company was founded by his father Ben in 1961.
Big Freight was founded in 1948 by Seaton “Red” Coleman, and is a hauler of industrial commodities on open-deck trailers and a provider of warehousing services to serve all 10 Canadian provinces and 19 U.S. states. His son, Gary, is the current CEO.
Daseke prefers to call its acquisitions “mergers,” because the company’s stated business model is to add, solid, well-managed carriers and keep the selling management in place. Don Daseke has said he can then increase profitability by economies of scale in back office functions, and sharing best practices for operational techniques.
