Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/835233
commercial carrier journal | june 2017 49 INNOVATORS DASEKE INC. Addison, Texas to Drive For program and numerous industry safety awards. Going public On Feb. 28, a er a merger with Hen- nessy Capital Acquisition Corp., Daseke went public and began trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market. "Our vision from the start was to become a public company so we could have access to the capital markets in order to continue our focused con- solidation strategy," said Daseke at the time. "We believe we have an acquisi- tion pipeline that could enable us to double Daseke's adjusted earnings … over the next three years. Daseke has less than a 1 percent share of this highly fragmented open-deck freight market, and we believe we have a tremendous opportunity for future growth and continued market penetration." Daseke continued its expansion ef- forts last May with the acquisitions of e Schilli Companies and Big Freight Systems and now has more than 3,500 trucks, 7,300 trailers and 2,800 com- pany drivers. Industry-fi rst public stock ownership program Each of the 11 carriers in Daseke's cur- rent portfolio operate autonomously and remain led by the leadership in place at the time of their acquisition, but their Daseke rolls out employee stock award program to improve business, retain drivers BY JEFF CRISSEY D uring the worst of the recession in January 2009, Dallas-based investor Don Daseke and trucking industry veteran Dan Wirkkala acquired the assets of Smokey Point Distributing for $34 million. e Arlington, Wash.-based specialty hauler became the rst open-deck carrier in Daseke's company. At the time, Daseke, chairman and chief executive o cer, recognized the growth potential of a highly fragmented $133 billion segment of the trucking market and began actively pursuing new acquisitions. By the end of 2013, Daseke had acquired atbed carriers E.W. Wylie, J. Grady Randolph, Central Oregon Truck Co. and e Boyd Companies (including Boyd Bros. Transportation, WTI Transport and Mid Seven Transportation) to become one of the ve largest at- bed carriers in North America. e acquisitions of Lone Star Transportation, Bulldog Hiway Express and Hor- nady Transportation in 2014 and 2015 earned Daseke the top spot in the atbed/ specialized/heavy haul segment and the 42nd spot overall in the 2016 CCJ Top 250 ranking of the industry's top for-hire carriers. While geography was important to the company's growth strategy, Daseke focused more on companies that represented the "best and brightest" leadership in the trucking industry. at goal is re ected in the many recognitions Daseke companies receive, including the Truckload Carriers Association's Best Fleets The publicly traded flatbed conglomerate empowers company drivers and employees as shareholders.