Moran Transportation Acquires Assets of Mats Trucking
Great Lakes regional less-than-truckload carrier Moran Transportation Corp. announced its acquisition of Mats Trucking of Eagan, Minnesota, on June 15.
Financial terms were not released, but Moran President Mike Moran Jr. said his Elk Grove Village, Illinois-based firm bought the equipment, terminals, book of business and accounts receivable of Mats from owners John and Kathy Dawson. Moran said Mats had served as an agent for Moran Transportation in the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minnesota.
“When the owners decided to retire, it made a lot of sense to acquire the company and operate it directly,” Moran said. The company has made “three or four other acquisitions over the last 48 months,” he said, adding that Mats is the largest company purchased among the recent deals.
The transaction closed April 15, Moran said, but he did not want to unveil it until Mats was rebranded as Moran and Moran’s technology system was installed. Moran said he wants his company to grow organically and through acquisitions.
Moran Transportation operates more than 355 trucks, of which 22 are natural-gas straight trucks, and one electric tractor. The company has a network of seven terminals.
The company’s service area is Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Moran picked up 60 pieces of equipment, tractors and trailers, and terminals in Eagan and Bensenville, Illinois, in the acquisition.
Moran said his carrier’s specialty is non-loading dock, non-residential freight, usually picked up and delivered by trucks with liftgates. Loads to industrial sites, strip malls and even hospitals are delivered to storage areas within buildings, he said.
“We do a lot of next-day service and value-added shipments. That’s the area we fit into,” he said.
Moran, whose father, Mike Sr., still is active with the company as chairman, said airfreight is an important part of the deal as it was a major line for Mats. With Moran Transportation’s headquarters near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, Moran said airfreight is about 20% of his company’s business.
