Heyl Truck Lines buys regional carrier Holiday Express

Acquisition combines two Iowa-based reefer carriers

Heyl Truck Lines acquires Holiday Express (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Akron, Iowa-based carrier Heyl Truck Lines announced that it has acquired fellow family-owned carrier Holiday Express Corp.

Based in Estherville, Iowa, Holiday Express operates a fleet of more than 50 tractors and 80 refrigerated trailers. The more than 50-year-old company provides local, regional and over-the-road transportation.

The deal closed Monday. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“The acquisition of Holiday Express is a positive move for Heyl Truck Lines, Holiday Express, and for all of our employees and customers,” said Bruce Koele, president of Heyl Cos. “There will be many additional opportunities for qualified drivers and support staff.”

Primarily a temperature-controlled carrier, Heyl’s fleet includes more than 400 tractors and 900 reefers. The more than 70-year-old company operates a hub-and-spoke network out of its terminals in Iowa, South Dakota, Texas, Florida and Okotoks, Alberta.

The company’s offering also includes a full lineup of freight and logistics services, including dry van freight and dedicated transportation as well as brokerage services, in the U.S. and Canada.

“We are excited about the additional resources, capacity and services that we will be able to offer to our customers as a result,” said Koele.

Click for more FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden.

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Todd Maiden

Based in Richmond, VA, Todd is the finance editor at FreightWaves. Prior to joining FreightWaves, he covered the TLs, LTLs, railroads and brokers for RBC Capital Markets and BB&T Capital Markets. Todd began his career in banking and finance before moving over to transportation equity research where he provided stock recommendations for publicly traded transportation companies.