Mississippi carrier Jones Logistics acquires Tennessee firm

Mississippi carrier Jones Logistics has acquired Tennessee company Nationwide Express.

Hattiesburg, Miss.-based Jones Logistics delivers freight brokerage, managed transportation, and dedicated services to clients across the United States. The acquisition expands its geographic footprint, the company said in a news release. It also expands Jones Logistics’ service line offerings and capabilities, which will now include warehousing and enhanced intermodal and managed transportation solutions.

Nationwide Express, based in Shelbyville, Tenn., offers dedicated trucking services, warehousing, third-party logistics services, recycling transportation, and waste management solutions. It has operations in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.

Nationwide Express was founded in 1980 by Charlie Coffey, after he had been a college football coach for 20 years, according to the company website. It added warehousing in 1986, multimodal logistics in 1996, recycling in 2013, and waste management services in 2021.

With the acquisition of Nationwide, Jones Logistics employs 700 and has a fleet of more than 500 trucks. It has operations in 25 states.

“Nationwide Express is a highly reputable organization rooted in the same fundamentals of professionalism, quality, and customer satisfaction as Jones Logistics. We share very similar core values and feel that we have complimentary cultures, which was so important to us when looking at this opportunity” Brian Haynes, CEO of Jones Logistics, said in a news release. “We are excited to welcome the Nationwide Express team to the Jones Logistics family, and we are eager to bring the benefits of our combined team, network, and capabilities to our customer base.”

Jones Capital began in 1949 when Lloyd Jones incorporated a one-site hardwood sawmill in Sandy Hook, Miss., at Jones Lumber Co., according to the company’s online history.

Jones Logistics was founded in 1999 at Jones Bros. Trucking. Other businesses in its portfolio include FV Recycling, PortaBull Storage, Jones Pipeline, PortaBull Fuel, Spot technology, PWI Supply, Yak Access and Codaray Construction. Jones Capital formed in 2018. LL

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