American West Takes over Worldwide's Calif. Ops

January 10, 2012  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Delivery on January 11, 2012

Furniture transport specialist American West has assumed control of all Worldwide Logistics services, equipment and facilities in California.

According to the family owned concern, repurchased four months ago by its founder Josh Brown, the move makes American West, Los Osos, Calif., the largest furniture carrier in the state.

As part of the latest move, American West will exclusively service all of Worldwide Logistics' customers in the state of California for outbound shipping from California to all states across the country. American West also has entered into an agreement to service Worldwide Logistics' East Coast customers shipping into California. Under the terms of the agreement, Worldwide Logistics will continue to act as a pick-up agent for American West, while American West will provide line-haul and all distribution within California using its own trucks and terminals. Customers will be billed directly by American West.

American West also is now servicing all of Worldwide Logistics' pool distribution customers into the State of California, including major furniture and office furniture manufacturers. The company previously entered into a service agreement with Worldwide Logistics to service all pool distribution and 3PL customers in the state of Texas when Worldwide Logistics closed its Dallas facility last Fall.

American West has moved all of Worldwide Logistics' Riverside, Calif.-based operations to the 285,000-square-foot American West facility in Ontario, Calif.

"We are pleased to report that we have hired many of the employees from the Riverside facility, both as drivers and in key management positions," said American West Founder and CEO Josh Brown. "Additionally, we have purchased Worldwide Logistics equipment from the six companies that were merged into Worldwide Logistics four years ago, including tractors and trailers from Four Truckers, Rudisell Transportation and KKW among others.

"Unfortunately, we expect the current economic environment to continue adversely impacting the transportation industry as a whole, and we expect the contraction of the quality carrier base to continue. That said, we repurchased American West for cash, we carry no debt, and thanks to more than 20 years of experience in the business, we have grown the company into the largest furniture carrier in the State. We look forward to continuing to enhance and expand our services to the furniture industry as we move ahead, and to capitalizing on additional opportunities for growth as they arise."