Swift Transportation is an American truckload motor shipping carrier based in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

, part of Knight-Swift. With over 23,000 trucks, it is the largest common carrier in the United States. In 2017, Swift merged with Knight Transportation, also of Phoenix.

History

Carl Moyes was a

truck driver A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; an HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in ...

hauling produce for C.R. England in the 1940s out of northern

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

.Demoss, Jeff. - "Four major trucking firms have roots in Plain City". - '' Ogden Standard-Examiner''. - January 30, 2005. - Retrieved: 2008-07-30 In the late 1950s Betty and Carl Moyes started a small trucking company in Plain City, Utah, B & C Truck Leasing. After their son, Jerry, graduated from

Weber State University Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy and earned its current name in 1991. As of fall 2023, the student population reached 30,536 students, cons ...

in 1966, they moved the small company to

. Carl and his two sons, Ronald and Jerry (vice-president), formed the company Common Market in Arizona, that would become Swift. Operations began in 1966 transporting imported

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

from the ports of

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, and returning with

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

from

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

to be delivered to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

.About Swift: Company History
. - Swift Transportation The name Swift Transportation was purchased from a descendant of the Swift Meat Packing family, when the Moyes family bought the trucking assets of Swift & Company. The three Moyes family members and a fourth partner, Randy Knight, grew the business to $25 million in annual revenues by 1984. Jerry Moyes became president, chairman, and CEO that same year, and when Carl died in 1985, Jerry bought out the other two partners, his brother Ronald and Randy Knight. Ronald would continue to hold shares in Swift while Randy would become a co-founder of Knight Transportation.Harris, Craig. - "Knight's Profits On a Roll - Valley-Based Trucking Firm Again Makes 'Forbes' List". - '' Arizona Republic''. - October 30, 2004. - Retrieved: 2008-07-30 In April 1988 Swift purchased

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, sixth-most pop ...

-based Cooper Motor Lines from

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

-based ARA Services. By 1990, Swift Transportation had grown to a $125 million carrier with over 800 trucks. The company held an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

(IPO) in 1990 and became a publicly traded entity on the

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

market system under the symbol SWFT. In 1991, with money raised in the IPO, Swift bought Stephens City, Virginia-based Arthur H. Fulton Inc. for $9 million out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In a similar move, in 2001 Moyes purchased the assets of Dick Simon Trucking, which had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Those assets were rolled into Moyes's small Central Freight Lines out of Texas, and later spun off as the separate entity Central Refrigerated Service, which remained wholly owned by Moyes until its subsequent sale to and merger with Swift. That sale was announced in summer 2013, and the merger completed on February 1, 2014. Moyes received $180 million in cash for the sale. The company's growth continued since 1988 with the purchase of eleven motor carriers throughout the United States, including M.S. Carriers, of

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

in 2001. The shareholders of M.S. Carriers obtained a 22% stake in the combined company. Moyes was soon to retire when he was forced out as

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

(CEO) at Swift in October 2005 after a

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(SEC) investigation into insider trading. Without admitting or denying wrongdoing he paid a $1.26 million settlement. The Moyes family still controlled about 39% of the public stock."Swift Transportation shareholders approve buyout". - ''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is a multi-platform newspaper based in Salt Lake City, published by Deseret News Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS ...

''. - April 30, 2007. - Retrieved: 2008-07-30"Swift's Shareholders Vote Moyes - Longtime Transportation Firm Will Be Sold Back to Founder". - '' Arizona Republic''. - April 28, 2007. - Retrieved: 2008-07-30 In November 2006 Moyes offered to buy Swift for $29 a share. The offer was raised to $2.4 billion ($31.55 per share) for shares not controlled by the family and assumption of $332 million in outstanding debt. The transaction closed on May 10, 2007."Sale officially concludes for Swift Transportation". - '' Arizona Republic''. - May 11, 2007 To finance the acquisition, Moyes formed Saint Acquisition Corporation, and issued $2.1 billion of a senior secured credit facility and $835 million in second-lien senior secured notes. The company's drivers and eighty-three percent of outstanding shares (approximately half of those controlled by the family) supported the buyout. Swift’s terminal network grew to over forty full service facilities in the continental United States and Mexico before contracting during the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

. The total number of employees dropped from 21,900,Swift Transportation Co., Inc.
- Hoover's to approximately 17,700.
- Swift Transportation Company. - December 17, 2010. Swift owns 100% of Trans-Mex, a

Nuevo Laredo Nuevo Laredo () is a city in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Rio Grande, across from Laredo, Texas, Laredo, United States. The 2010 census popula ...

, Mexico-based carrier. Swift offers border crossing services at all major Mexican border crossings. Swift maintains a presence in every

Canadian Province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

. The company operated 16,200 units (12,300 tractors by company drivers and 3,900 owner-operator tractors), a fleet of 48,600 trailers, and 4,500 intermodal containers from 35 terminals in the United States and Mexico, generating just over $2.5 billion in revenue for the year ended December 31, 2009. Swift Transportation became public again on December 16, 2010, trading on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

(NYSE). The company offered 73,300,000 shares at $11.00 per share, raising almost $766 million, with the proceeds used for debt reduction. The offering represented 54.9% of the company, valuing the company at $1.86 billion. Due to the economic downturn, the IPO was below Moyes leveraged-buyout (LBO) price of $17.61. With the offering the name changed from Swift Holdings Corp. to Swift Transportation Company. In April 2017, Swift Transportation merged with Knight Transportation in a $6 billion deal. In July 2024, Knight-Swift acquired Dependable Highway Express, Inc., a LTL carrier out of Los Angeles.

Company trucks

Image:Truck_072.jpg , 2006 Volvo VNL670 with a 2002 Wabash National 53' DuraPlate Dry Van Trailer Image:Truck_181.jpg, 2005 Freightliner Columbia with a 1996 Wabash National 53' Sheet & Post Dry Van Trailer Image:Swift_flatbed_colorado.JPG, Freightliner Columbia with Flatbed Spread Axle trailer Image:Swift_stepdeck_at_inland_steel.JPG, Freightliner Columbia with single drop flatbed (also known as a stepdeck) trailer

References

{{Trucking industry in the United States Trucking companies of the United States Companies based in Phoenix, Arizona American companies established in 1966 Transport companies established in 1966 1966 establishments in Arizona Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange 2017 mergers and acquisitions Transportation in Phoenix, Arizona