Fort Smith Buyout
by January 24, 2000 12:00 am 74 views
Trans-States Lines Inc., bought out Dec. 17 by eight employees led by president and CEO Bill Clark, will see no real operational changes under its new leadership. Clark bought the truckload carrier from former chairman and founder H.L. Hembree for an undisclosed sum.
The Hembree family has owned the firm since 1988, but Trans-States was started in 1979 as a subsidiary of Arkansas Best Corp.
“We have been working on an improvement program for the last two years and now, I think, put together a company that can make a difference,” Clark says. “We don’t want to be a ho-hum trucking company.”
Trans-States had more than $50 million in gross revenue in 1999. Headquartered at 6815 Jenny Lind Road in Fort Smith, the company employs 400 people and operates 300 tractors and 450 trailers throughout the U.S.