LTL carrier Con-way Freight has announced an $8 million service center in Fond du Lac, WI. Construction on the facility, which will be built on property the company is purchasing, is expected to begin in June with completion slated for March 2014.
The 47,000-sq.-ft. facility will have 96 doors and serve as the local hub for daily freight pickup and delivery services.
The company has selected a 21-acre property in Fond du Lac’s Fox Ridge Business Park for the new facility. According to Con-way Freight’s director of operations, John McCutcheon, the site is well suited for the company’s needs. A major factor is its convenient access to state Highways 41, 175 and 151, as well as proximity to commercial and industrial shippers in nearby business and industrial parks, the city’s revitalized downtown area and its growing retail sector, he said.
The expansion will replace an existing 25-door service center at 736 Morris Street where the company has been for 27 years. Once completed, the expanded facility is expected to provide additional capacity, operating efficiencies and flexibility as it will consolidate smaller service center operations in Fond du Lac, Sheboygan and Neenah into a larger, more cost-effective single facility.
The expanded operation in Fond du Lac is expected to employ 100 workers in jobs such as driver sales representatives, operations support, sales, customer service and administration. Con-way Freight currently employs 45 at its existing Fond du Lac location.
“We are very excited that Con-way has selected Fond du Lac for its new freight operations center,” stated Sam Meyer, president of the Fond du Lac City Council. “The Con-way facility will create some excellent jobs for our community while providing important transportation and logistics support services for the local and state economies.”
“The Con-way project is a wonderful addition to our business community and will be a leading-edge freight facility,” said Steve Jenkins, president of the Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corporation (FCEDC). “The project is also an example of strong collaborations between FCEDC and other entities. In this case, a key partner was the City of Fond du Lac, with special thanks to Wayne Rollin for his tireless work.”
Expansion of the facility is possible up to 120 doors, Con-way said. The company currently handles more than 575,000 lbs. of freight per day out of its existing facility. The new site provides the ability to expand those volumes to well over 1.6 million lbs. per day. The facility also will have a 6,500-sq.-ft. office and onsite fueling for its trucks.
Today, Con-way Freight operates a fleet of 18 commercial truck-tractors and 65 freight trailers from its current Fond du Lac facility. The expanded operation will increase those numbers to 50 trucks and 160 trailers.
