CON-WAY EXPANDS NEXT-DAY AND SECOND-DAY LTL SERVICE LANES

CON-WAY EXPANDS NEXT-DAY AND SECOND-DAY LTL SERVICE LANES    Con-Way Transportation Services Inc. on Friday said it would add next-day and second-day delivery service to more than 6,000 communities within the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based company's U.S. less-than-truckload freight network.
   The program, Extended Service Lanes, will mean faster transit times in Con Way's operating components of Con-Way Central Express, Con-Way Southern Express and Con-Way Western Express.
   Feasibility tests were performed in May on delivery lanes nationwide, and since June each Con-Way regional carrier has started special sleeper team operations that achieved a reduced transit performance. This involved the placement of special tractors with sleeper cabs, organization of driver teams and adjustment of computerized shipment routing systems.
   “These new operating procedures will replace two-day service with next-day service in a large number of markets,” said Doug Stotlar, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Con-Way.
   'We estimate that roughly two-thirds of the markets and about three-quarters of the country's population in the continental U.S. will be affected by this improvement,' said Bryan Millican, executive vice president, sales and marketing.
   Con-Way Transportation Services Inc., a $2 billion transportation and services company that provides time-definite and day-definite freight delivery services and logistics, is a subsidiary of Palo Alto, Calif.-based CNF Inc.