Lesco Logistics, a Chattanooga trucking company with some 50 employees, will wind down its operations, according to the business' owners.
The trucking company is part of a family-owned group of Chattanooga businesses with deep roots in the trucking industry that includes the Lee-Smith truck dealership, Idealease truck leasing and LyncAmerica freight brokerage service, all located on 8th Avenue, south of the "ridge cut" on Interstate 24.
Lesco leases trucks from its facility on 8th Street across from Lee Smith Inc., but Lesco is winding down its operations.
"It was just a decision we needed to make," Les Lee, president of Lee-Smith, said Monday. He said the decision to wind down Lesco was made because the other operations are growing.
"We have opportunities in front of us with those [other businesses] that we needed to focus on," he said. "[Lesco Logistics] was never part of our core business."
Lesco was founded in 1960 as a full-service commercial truck rental and leasing company to provide transportation resources to accommodate everything from local deliveries to coast-to-coast logistics.
Some of the Lesco truck drivers are staying on to fulfill existing orders, Lee said, and there won't be any interruption in service for Lesco Logistics' customers.
It's not hard for good truck drivers to find new jobs, he said.
"I bet 75 to 80 percent of our people already have jobs," Lee said. "People are always looking for good [truck drivers]. We have drivers that had been with us three years, five years, seven years. Anytime you see a driver that's been with a reputable company for more than two years, they're a good driver."
Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/MeetsForBusiness or on Twitter @meetforbusiness or 423-757-6651.