Family-owned Christenson Transportation expanded its capacity by upwards of 180 trucks and 120 drivers by acquiring Sharp Transport.
Before purchasing Sharp, another family-owned carrier located in Springfield, Missouri, Christenson operated two out of facilities in Missouri and Tennessee. Both outfits run similar freight lanes, service the lower 48 states, and the combined resource position Christenson as an upwardly mobile freight hauler.
“What really drew us to Sharp Transport, which is a family-owned company that’s been around as long as ours — 42 years — was its similar culture built around the drivers that matched ours,” Christenson Transportation president and CEO Don Christenson reportedly said. “I tell people that it’s easy to quit a job, but it’s hard to quit on your friends and family. Our goal is to make our drivers feel like they are part of our family, and Sharp Transport shares that same goal.”
Established in 1979 primarily as a brokerage firm by Don Christenson, it incorporated a truck line in 1995. Specializing in “high-value, high-risk, and time-sensitive freight,” the organization reportedly earned the Truckload Carriers Association Safety Award three times, as well as the Platinum Fleet Award for Outstanding Achievement in Highway Traffic Safety.
“We found Sharp Transport late in the year, but from our initial meeting with the Sharp family, we knew that their driver culture was similar to ours, and that was really important to us,” Christenson reportedly said. “We’ve added some strong new management with this acquisition, and we’ve acquired property in Missouri to build a shop there as well. I tell people that it’s easy to quit a job, but it’s hard to quit on your friends and family. Our goal is to make our drivers feel like they are part of our family, and Sharp Transport shares that same goal.”
A member of the Truckload Carriers Association and the Missouri Motor Carriers Association, Christenson plans to maintain the moniker of Sharp Transport as a division of the growing corporation. Sharp CEO Allie Sharp-Schwalb will reportedly continue to oversee its day-to-day freight hauling operations through the next three years as a vice president. Sharp-Schwalb’s nephew and grandson of the founders, Chase Atkins, will reportedly take the post of COO going forward. John and Becky Sharp, her parents, founded Sharp Transport in 1979.
“Transportation has been really good to our family for a lot of years, and we just decided it was time to join forces with another family-owned trucking company that shares similar values. Rising costs, used equipment prices and driver recruiting issues definitely played a factor in our decision,” Sharp-Schwalb reportedly said. “Over the years, I’ve had to answer fewer and fewer calls as others have come to understand the importance of addressing our drivers’ concerns. I believe this culture will continue under Christenson Transportation.”
Sources: ccjdigital.com, freightwaves.com
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