Heartland Express completes Great Coastal purchase

Heartland Express Inc. said today that it has completed the acquisition of the business and certain trucking assets of mid-Atlantic regional truckload carrier Great Coastal Express Inc. Great Coastal, which began operating Saturday as a division of Heartland Express, had gross revenues of approximately $70 million in 2001 and currently operates some 500 company tractors, 125 owner-operators, and 1,650

Tim Parry

June 3, 2002

Heartland Express Inc. said today that it has completed the acquisition of the business and certain trucking assets of mid-Atlantic regional truckload carrier Great Coastal Express Inc.

Great Coastal, which began operating Saturday as a division of Heartland Express, had gross revenues of approximately $70 million in 2001 and currently operates some 500 company tractors, 125 owner-operators, and 1,650 trailers. The Great Coastal division will continue to operate out of its current Chester, VA headquarters with additional terminal locations in Roanoke, VA, Charlotte, NC and Baltimore.

"Their operating region will increase our presence in the eastern half of the United States," Heartland chairman & CEO Russell Gerdin said. "We will use our financial resources to begin updating their tractor and trailer fleet immediately."