Greatwide Signs National Contract to Operate
Tyson Foods’ Owner-Operator Fleet
Five-year Agreement Accentuates the Increasing Role of Owner-Operators
Within the $10 Billion Dedicated Contract Carriage Market
DALLAS (Dec. 14, 2006) - Greatwide Logistics Services, a Dallas-based provider of non-asset-based transportation and third party logistics, has entered into a five-year agreement to manage the owner-operator based transportation services of Tyson Foods, the world's largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork.
In this new relationship, Greatwide will provide transportation services to Tyson by engaging an estimated 300 owner-operators and their equipment to operate between Tyson production facilities, distribution centers and customer locations across the country.
The agreement does not affect Tyson's private fleet of 1,000 company trucks or its relationship with third party trucking companies.
The agreement with Greatwide is the result Tyson's efforts to build upon its successful owner-operator strategy, which the company developed to meet increasing needs for transportation during what has become an extended period of driver shortages. According to the American Trucking Association and Global Insight, the nation's trucking industry needs to recruit in excess of 448,000 new professional drivers over the next 10 years in order to meet current transportation demands.
"As a major national shipper, we have been looking to team up with an outside company to enhance the effectiveness of our established owner-operator program," said Larry Keene, director of Transportation at Tyson Foods. "We believe Greatwide's experience in dedicated transport, logistics and the food industry, as well as its strong reputation for owner-operator recruiting, retention and relationships will help us address our company's increasing transportation needs."
According to supply chain consultant Richard D. Armstrong of Armstrong and Associates, "Shippers are waking up to the reality they need to find ways to create new sources of reliable truck load capacity given the large driver shortage that is forecasted to get much larger over time. This will pose challenges to private fleet operators and one-way truckload shippers alike. The Greatwide-Tyson deal is a fresh, new and different way to address this undeniable reality."
"The outsourced dedicated contract carriage market hit $10 billion this year and for the first time has seen two years of double-digit growth, but that is still only about 3% of the total private fleet market," Armstrong added.
Greatwide expects the vast majority of owner-operators who currently lease to Tyson, as well as the workers who support them, to make the transition to Greatwide. This transition is expected to be completed by the end of January 2007.
"We look forward to having many of the owner-operators and agents who have been serving Tyson become part of the Greatwide family," said Ray Greer, president and CEO of Greatwide Logistics Services. "This new relationship with Tyson demonstrates something we at Greatwide have always believed: The owner-operator solution is often a superior solution to traditional dedicated contract carriage solutions.
"Tyson has understood for some time that owner-operators play a key role in their logistics network, due to both the variable expense structure and added operating flexibility," he said. "We are finding that to be true as other shippers come to understand there is an alternative to a fixed cost dedicated contract solution. The dedicated industry is at an inflection point, overall, due to the increasingly large driver shortage in this country. I think we will look back and see that the increasing role of owner-operators and this agreement will have been a watershed event in that regard."
About Greatwide Logistics Services
Founded in Dallas, Texas in 2000, Greatwide Logistics Services is a privately held $1 billion third-party logistics services company. Greatwide is ranked No. 11 on the Transport Topics Top 50 and is one of the fastest growing companies in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The company has four primary lines of business: dedicated transport, truckload management, truckload brokerage and distribution logistics. Greatwide Dedicated is the #4 on the Transport Topics Dedicated Carrier rankings and is the largest refrigerated dedicated carrier in the nation. With clients that include Wal-Mart, Target, IBM, Sysco, UPS, Dow, Ford Motor, GM and General Tire, Greatwide Logistics Services is one of the nation's leading non-asset-based providers of transportation, third-party logistics, warehouse/distribution and truckload brokerage solutions. For more information, visit www.greatwide.com.
About Tyson Foods
Tyson Foods, Inc. [NYSE: TSN], founded in 1935 with headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas, is the world's largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork, the second-largest food production company in the Fortune 500 and a member of the S&P 500. The company produces a wide variety of protein-based and prepared food products, which are marketed under the "Powered by Tyson(tm)" strategy. Tyson is the recognized market leader in the retail and foodservice markets it serves, providing products and service to customers throughout the United States and more than 80 countries. The company has approximately 107,000 Team Members employed at more than 300 facilities and offices in the United States and around the world. Through its Core Values, Code of Conduct and Team Member Bill of Rights, Tyson strives to operate with integrity and trust and is committed to creating value for its shareholders, customers and Team Members. The company also strives to be faith-friendly, provide a safe work environment and serve as stewards of the animals, land and environment entrusted to it.
