Con-way Multimodal rolls out new Chicago-area office

Con-way Multimodal, a subsidiary of Con-way’s third-party logistics subsidiary Menlo Worldwide Logistics, said this week it has opened up a new office in Aurora, Illinois.

This unit of Con-way focuses on arranging third-party services for over-the-road intermodal, flatbed, heavy-haul, and specialized transport for freight shipments, according to company officials. Working out of this new location are Con-way Multimodal President Tommy Barnes and six other employees.

“This is a necessary part of our strategic roadmap,” Barnes told LM. “Expansion in certain geographic markets is a key segment of our aggressive growth strategy. We want to add to our current infrastructure and establish a presence in markets and regions filled with existing and prospective customers. This allows for our team to further expand the non-asset capabilities of Con-way.”

Major benefits of this new office, according to Barnes, are access to a talent rich area to fulfill growth plans, which will, in turn, provide shippers with improved efficiencies; Con-way Multimodal also said it plans to hire more brokers by the end of 2010.

And he also explained that the expansion the company’s footprint and talent base will enable it to pass these efficiencies onto affiliates and external customers. Additionally, this proximity to key hub locations will also play a large role in the future expansion of some of its core products, Barnes noted.

While Barnes would not directly comment on how many shippers this new location will serve, he did say that “the existing center point of the expansion will be for growth with
certain existing affiliate and non-affiliate customers though our expansion plans and will allow for unlimited growth capacity with future customers.”

Con-way officials said that this new office compliments company operations in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Portland, Oregon.