TransForce Inc. Acquires Hire Edge Logistics Personnel
TransForce Inc., a recruiting and employment provider specializing in finding commercial truck drivers, has acquired Hire Edge Logistics Personnel, a regional staffing agency for trucking industries in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, according to a TransForce news release.
The HELP deal was the 11th purchase of such a firm by TransForce since 2013, as the Alexandria, Va.-based company seeks to expand its footprint in staffing and logistics.
Terms of the sale were not disclosed. But David Broome, president and CEO of TransForce, said he expects more to come in 2019.
“Our business strategy is to find strong, regional players,” Broome told Transport Topics. “HELP fits right into our strategy.”
TransForce specializes in locating commercial truck drivers for trucking companies, third-party logistics companies and private fleets. According to the firm’s website, TransForce also offers online driving courses, online recruiting assistance, U.S. Department of Transportation compliance services and federal motor carrier regulation education.
Broome said the TransForce sends 4,000 truck drivers out on the road per day. The firm has 70 offices in the United States and Canada.
TransForce was founded in 1991 and has operations across North America. It is not affiliated with a trucking company with the same name located in Canada.
HELP is a staffing agency for the transportation and trucking industries based in Cherry Hill, N.J. It also has offices in Edison, N.J., and Columbia, Md. Founded in 2002, HELP provides qualified and certified drivers for assignments requiring Class A or Class B commercial driver licenses. HELP also finds drivers for assignments not requiring a CDL, according to HELP’s website.
TransForce’s last major purchase was in May, when it acquired SafetyServe, a Michigan company that offers online recruiting and driving courses, in addition to U.S. DOT-compliance services that include audit preparedness, file qualification and training and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulation education. SafetyServe has worked with the National Safety Council since 1998.
The TransForce acquisition comes at a time of a trucker shortage in the United States, when recruitment and training issues are the forefront of industry concerns. American Trucking Associations reported in 2018 that the industry was short about 50,000 drivers. The driver shortage also ranked No. 1 on the American Transportation Research Institute’s critical issues report, which was released Oct. 29.
With such a shortage, TransForce is getting competition. CPC Logistics acquired Quality Driver Solutions Inc., according to a news release on Dec. 26.
CPC, which is based in Chesterfield, Mo., offers truck driver and warehouse personnel services. Quality Driver Solutions, based in St. Louis, provides temporary and long-term driver needs in California, Texas, Colorado, Tennessee, Arizona, North Carolina and Georgia.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. CPC's Consolidated Logistics Solutions will combine under the brand of Quality Driver Solutions in the future.
“We expect QDS to allow us to grow and be more flexible in serving the needs of our private fleet customers,” Doug Crowell, president and CEO of CPC Logistics, said in a news release.
