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TruckPR

Bulldog Hiway Express is merging with Daseke Inc., a group of flatbed, open-deck and specialty carriers, the companies announced.

Philip��Byrd Sr., Bulldog’s CEO and immediate past chairman of American Trucking Associations, will join Daseke’s board.

“This is the right decision at the right time for Bulldog,” Byrd said in the July 1 announcement. “The synergies and collaboration that exist within the Daseke family of companies, that we are now a part of, will bring added capacity, capabilities and value to our people and customers.”

Daseke, based in Addison, Texas, describes itself as the second-largest open-deck and specialty carrier in North America with more than 2,800 tractors and 5,800 open-deck trailers. The company ranks No. 59 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of for-hire carriers in the United States and Canada.

In addition to Bulldog, Daseke’s companies include Smokey Point Distributing, E.W. Wylie, J. Grady Randolph, Central Oregon Truck Co., Lone Star Transportation (including Davenport Transport), and the Boyd Cos. (including Boyd Bros. Transportation, WTI Transport and Mid Seven Transportation).

“Bulldog is a great match with our family of companies,” said Don Daseke, CEO of Daseke Inc. “They have an extremely enviable position in the markets they serve and are dedicated to customer service, as well as their own employees.”

Bulldog Hiway Express, based in Charleston, South Carolina, provides dedicated and for-hire, open-deck services, intermodal port deliveries and heavy hauls with loads reaching 180,000 pounds.

The company, founded in 1959, has grown to several hundred tractors with more than 400 trailers and also runs terminals in Savannah, Georgia, and Mobile, Alabama.

Bulldog operates throughout the United States and Canada and supports customers in the automotive and energy sectors, including wind, solar and nuclear power.

Rod Moseley, Bulldog’s chairman and son of its founder, R.D. Moseley, described the merger as a “great opportunity” for the company.

“I’ve known Don for a number of years and he’s had an interest in Bulldog becoming a Daseke company,” he said. “What he is building is impressive and our new sister companies represent the best in the industry.”

Byrd added: “We’ve been growing at a 20% clip over the past two years and now, as a Daseke company, we expect that growth to compound.”