LOGISTICS BRIEFS

Great Dane Limited Partnership said it plans by 2012 to build and open a 450,000-square-foot plant in  Statesboro, Ga., to manufacture more than 5,000 refrigerated trailers per year. Officials noted that the operation will be less than an hour's drive from Great Dane's divisional offices in Savannah, where the company houses sales, marketing, engineering, and research and development functions. Great Dane also maintains offices in Chicago. The company also supplies dry van and platform trailers.


Greatwide Logistics Services, Dallas, said it hired Tyler Ellison as group president, responsible for transportation management and corporate sales. In this new senior management role, officials said Ellison will manage and be responsible for all Greatwide transportation management offices throughout the United States and Canada, as well as the corporate sales and sales support team.

“Greatwide has cultivated more than 40,000 carrier relationships over the years serving more than 2,000 customers, so having a single leader for both brokerage and sales makes sense and is a natural overlap for our business,” said Leo Suggs, Greatwide Logistics chairman and chief executive officer. “His expertise in managed transportation services will also help to accelerate our focus on growth of combined supply chain solutions that fit with our unique strengths”

Ellison joins Greatwide after serving two years as president of Con-way Multimodal, where he significantly grew the division’s revenues and profits in a recessionary environment, officials said. Prior to joining Con-way Multimodal, Ellison spent 12 years in a range of leadership positions with Schneider Logistics, Inc. and Schneider National, Inc.

Greatwide Logistics Services offers an integrated service platform to customers including dedicated, irregular route truckload, full-service truckload brokerage, warehouse-based logistics and managed transportation services. Greatwide also is the largest provider of dedicated refrigerated transportation in the United States.