Con-way Freight Opens New Service Center in Rockford, Ill., Industrial Park
Large, Company-owned Facility Offers Quick Access to Interstate System for
Faster and More Efficient Service to Customers
ANN ARBOR, Mich., and ROCKFORD, Ill. - Jan. 14, 2009 - Con-way Freight, a
less-than-truckload carrier and subsidiary of Con-way Inc. (NYSE: CNW),
today announced that it has opened a new service center in Rockford offering
next-day delivery throughout Illinois and within a surrounding 600-mile
radius. The facility is the first to move into the Rock 39 Industrial Park
strategically located in Rockford's I-39 Logistics Corridor approximately
one hour west of Chicago. The new service center more than doubles the size
of Con-way Freight's previous operation at 401 Harrison Avenue. The company
broke ground on the facility in November 2007.
"From the new Rockford service center, our trucks can drive just half a mile
and connect with I-39, I-90/94, I-88 and I-80 - interstates heading in every
direction," said M. Gregory Lehmkuhl, executive vice president of operations
for Con-way Freight. "That kind of quick access is absolutely vital to our
mission of providing the best LTL performance, including fast transit times,
on-time service and exception-free delivery."
The new Con-way Freight service center employs more than 100 area residents,
83 of them driver sales representatives. It features nearly 50,000 square
feet of dock space and 110 dock doors for loading and unloading trailers -
expanded from 42 dock doors at the previous facility. Staff there will
process approximately 1,000,000 pounds of freight and 900 shipments per day,
servicing roughly 700 business accounts in the area.
The Rockford facility opening takes place as part of Con-way Freight's major
network re-engineering project aimed at creating a more efficient operation
to improve service and reduce costs. While some of the company's service
centers in the area were closed as part of the initiative, newly-opened
facilities in Rockford and LaSalle have gained freight service and employees
displaced from the closing locations. The Rockford service center alone
added about 85 percent of the business and more than 30 employees from the
closure of the Janesville, Wis., location, with additional freight and
personnel relocating from the closed Rock Falls facility.
"Con-way is the first project in the Rock 39 Industrial Park, and we
appreciate them expanding their freight transportation company within
Winnebago County," said Scott Christiansen, chairman, Winnebago County
Board. "We are looking forward to continued growth in this part of the
county and to the long-term economic benefits this expansion will generate."
Under Con-way Freight's network re-engineering initiative, the company will
reduce the total miles traveled per day by 124,000, or 5.2 percent of the
2.4 million miles its drivers typically run each day. That decrease in
mileage will conserve 4.9 million gallons of diesel fuel per year for an
annual cost savings of roughly $14 million.
About Con-way Freight
Con-way Freight is the industry's leading less-than-truckload (LTL) freight
transportation company, providing guaranteed, day-definite regional and
transcontinental service through a single, unified network of more than 300
service centers in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Based
in Ann Arbor, Mich., Con-way Freight offers LTL freight delivery across
North America, as well as delivery in the United States for international
less-than-container (LCL) ocean shipments from Asia through its
OceanGuaranteedR service. Con-way Freight is a certified FAST highway
carrier and is ISO 9001- and 14001-, C-TPAT/PIP, ACE- and CSA-certified.
Con-way Freight is a subsidiary of Con-way Inc. (NYSE: CNW), a $4.7 billion
diversified freight transportation and logistics services company. For more
information, visit www.con-way.com/freight.
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