FORWARD AIR ACQUIRES EXPEDITED DELIVERY SERVICES

FORWARD AIR ACQUIRES EXPEDITED DELIVERY SERVICES

   Forward Air Corp., the contract time-definite service provider, said Thursday it has reached an agreement to acquire the assets of Expedited Delivery Services Inc., a provider of truckload and less-than-truckload surface transportation for the air cargo industry.

   Expedited, a subsidiary of WorldPoint Logistics Inc. of Bellevue, Wash., is focused primarily in the central and southeastern United States. Besides its operations center in Dallas, the company has terminals in Atlanta; Cedar Rapids and Des Moines, Iowa; Chicago; Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh, N.C.; Charleston, Columbia and Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.; Dallas and Houston, Texas; Huntsville, Ala.; Miami; Kansas City and St. Louis, Mo.; Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Ok.; and Omaha, Neb.

   “Expedited's operations and customer base will be a strategic fit with our Forward Air operations allowing us to provide a more comprehensive level of service to our existing customers,” said Bruce A. Campbell, Forward Air's president. “We expect to leverage our existing operations in the central and southeastern markets.”

   Don Berger, president of Expedited, said his customers will “benefit from a broader network of services provided by the Forward Air system.”