FirstFleet is based in Murfreesboro, near Nashville, and was founded in 1986. In the 12 months that ended Sept. 30 of last year, the company—which last year was No. 46 on the FleetOwner 500—booked $615 million in revenues, ranking it 11th among dedicated carriers.
Werner’s total revenues are now on pace to be about $3.6 billion annually. The company has separately agreed to buy FirstFleet’s real estate assets for about $38 million and expects to realize about $18 million in cost savings from integrating FirstFleet, while retaining most of its management team and headquarters.
“We are joining a leader in our industry with a proud history of caring deeply about their associates and customers,” Paul Wilson, one of FirstFleet’s former owners, said in a statement. “Our team has long admired Werner’s leadership, and we strongly believe this transaction is an excellent opportunity to leverage best-in-class technology and deliver significant value to all our stakeholders.”
The Werner team will report its fourth-quarter results on Feb. 5. Shares of the company (Ticker: WERN) were down slightly to $32.81 in pre-market trading Jan. 28. They have, however, risen about 12% over the past six months, a move that has grown the company’s market capitalization to nearly $2 billion.
