Con-way Opens New Service Center

Jan. 14, 2009
Less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier Con-way Freight announced it has opened a new service center in Rockford offering next-day delivery throughout Illinois and within a surrounding 600-mile radius

Less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier Con-way Freight announced it has opened a new service center in Rockford offering next-day delivery throughout Illinois and within a surrounding 600-mile radius.

The facility is the first to move into the Rock 39 Industrial Park, located in Rockford's I-39 Logistics Corridor approximately one hour west of Chicago. The new service center more than doubles the size of Con-way Freight's previous operation at 401 Harrison Avenue.

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"From the new Rockford service center, our trucks can drive just half a mile and connect with I-39, I-90/94, I-88 and I-80 — interstates heading in every direction,” said M. Gregory Lehmkuhl, executive vice president of operations for Con-way Freight. "That kind of quick access is absolutely vital to our mission of providing the best LTL performance, including fast transit times, on-time service and exception-free delivery.”

Staff at the facility will process approximately 1,000,000 pounds of freight and 900 shipments per day, servicing roughly 700 business accounts in the area, according to Con-way.
The opening is part of Con-way Freight's major network re-engineering project aimed at creating a more efficient operation to improve service and reduce costs. While some of the company's service centers in the area were closed as part of the initiative, newly opened facilities in Rockford and LaSalle have gained freight service as well as employees displaced from the closing locations. The Rockford service center alone added about 85% of the business and more than 30 employees from the closure of the Janesville, WI, location, with additional freight and personnel relocating from the closed Rock Falls facility.

"Con-way is the first project in the Rock 39 Industrial Park, and we appreciate them expanding their freight transportation company within Winnebago County,” said Scott Christiansen, chairman, Winnebago County Board. "We are looking forward to continued growth in this part of the county and to the long-term economic benefits this expansion will generate."

Under Con-way Freight's network re-engineering initiative, the company will reduce the total miles traveled per day by 124,000, or 5.2% of the 2.4 million miles its drivers typically run each day. That decrease in mileage will conserve 4.9 million gallons of diesel fuel per year for an annual cost savings of roughly $14 million, said Con-way.

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