Con-way Freight dedicates new North Carolina-based service center

Con-way Freight, the less-than-truckload (LTL) subsidiary of Con-way Inc., this week officially dedicated its new 65-door service center in Lumberton, N.C., which opened for business on March 31.

Company officials said the new facility is comprised of a 25,000 square-foot dock with 65 loading doors, adding it will have the capacity to process higher shipment volumes and serve and expanded regional footprint that meshes smaller Con-way Freight operations into a larger and more efficient single facility.

“We previously served the area through three smaller, older facilities in Florence, S.C., and Fayetteville and Wilmington, N.C.,” said Gary Frantz, Con-way director of corporate communications. “As we looked at our current and future freight flows, we ran models and scenarios to optimize our network. That uncovered opportunities to improve service, build lane density and drive efficiencies. The analysis revealed it made sense to build a new, larger and more modern facility located in Lumberton, and combine the operations of the previous three locations into once more centrally-located facility. It gives us better operational flexibility and capacity to grow and expand.  With this one facility serving a larger footprint, we actually had net job growth of about 25 positions. It’s been very well received by our customers.”

Con-way said that this facility employs 95 staffers in various positions, including driver sales representative, customer service, sales, and freight operations and management, and serves more than 2,500 local businesses. The company added that this facility is one of seven the company has in North Carolina and said it is strategically located halfway between New York City and Miami, and close to Interstate Highway 95, enabling service in two days or less to cities as far north as Bangor, Maine; south to Miami; and west to Fargo, N.D., Dallas; and Kansas City, Kan.

Con-way Freight will also soon open up a driver school out of the Lumberton facility, which it said will help it to company fulfill its needs for qualified, skilled driver sales representatives, as it does at roughly 90 other Con-way Freight locations in the U.S.

Frantz said that Classes can range in size from four to 10 students, depending on site-specific hiring needs.

“We draw the students from employees who start with us as dockworkers,” he said. “That gives them a chance to experience Con-way’s culture and work environment, and for both of us, decide if it’s a good fit. Then after 6 months as a dock worker, they can apply to the school.  Students are not charged tuition (which at a for-profit truck driver training school can run up to $6,000).  Once they successfully complete the program and pass their CDL, we require them to give us a one-year employment commitment.   In the three years we have run these schools, our retention rate remains in the high 90 percent range.”