Con-Way Transportation Services, best known for its regional less-than-truckload operations, has jumped into the airfreight forwarding business.

The new operation, Con-Way Air Express, begins operations this month with 13 service centers in key locations and an agency network providing 50-state coverage. The company expects to have its own offices in all major commercial centers within 24 months. In a telephone press conference, Gerald Detter, president and CEO of Con-Way Transportation, said that the business was formed to meet customers' demands for services that would fill a gap between the company's trucking business and its expedited services.

The new operating company is headquartered in Forest Park, Ga., near Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport. Detter named Gary Baude, an airfreight veteran, as Con-Way Air's vice president and general manager. Baude has spent the past year putting the company together.

Like other forwarders, Con-Way Air will operate few assets of its own; instead it will contract with major airlines and with airfreight drayage specialists to move freight. Company officials said they believed Con-Way Air would have a competitive advantage because of its computer systems and new, proprietary software, called Sentry. The Web-enabled software will give both Con-Way Air and its customers the ability to monitor service performance.

Baude says the company will primarily handle heavy air shipments. It plans to target several markets, including the pharmaceutical, electronic, automotive, government, trade show and convention, and printing industries.

The launch of the new operating company has left some observers wondering about the new venture's relationship with sister company Emery Worldwide. Emery is also a heavyweight airfreight specialist, but it operates its own aircraft domestically. Asked about the matter, Detter said he expected there would be some overlap but that it would be minimal.