Ascend announced Monday its fourth acquisition of the year, the acquisition of Fuchs Trucking LLC, a regional truckload carrier based in Sauk City, Wisconsin.
Fuchs Trucking, founded in 1955, serves customers in the building materials and furniture industries. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Midwestern dry van carrier has 96 trucks and 90 drivers.
The transaction’s financial terms were not disclosed.
Ascend CEO Michael McLary said, “Fuchs’ geographic footprint and customer focus make them a perfect complement to the Ascend network.” “We will continue to acquire regional truckload companies complementary to Ascend, layering in our technology and driver-friendly routes and policies while increasing network density.”
As a result of the acquisition, Ascend now has over 1,100 tractors and over 3,200 trailers. Ascend, based in Jackson, Tennessee, debuted in January as a dry van, full truckload carrier focused on middle-mile freight markets. The firm is backed by the New York-based private equity firm Wellspring Capital Management Group.
In January, Ascend was formed through the merger of Jackson-based Milan Supply Chain Solutions and Potonoc, Mississippi-based J&B Services. The same month, the company acquired Dedicated Transportation Solutions. Ascend also has a truckload brokerage in addition to its trucking division.
Jay Doescher, President of Fuchs Trucking, will remain with the company following the acquisition.
“By combining with Ascend, we will benefit by expanding our capabilities and improving our purchasing power, boosting our competitiveness in the regional truckload market,” Doescher said in a statement.
Ascend’s announcement follows a recent wave of mergers and acquisitions in the trucking industry. Werner Enterprises also announced Monday that it had paid $112.4 million for freight broker ReedTMS Logistics. The deal also included the purchase of a small dedicated carrier. Ryder System acquired Baton, a logistics technology startup based in San Francisco, in September.
