A Nashville-based freight company announced today it will spend $88 million and add 225 jobs as it adds new technology, business services and back office support at its headquarters and expands its truck fleet nationwide.
Western Express Inc., which Donna and Wayne Wise founded in 1991, expects to top $800 million in sales this year. In 2017, Transport Topics listed Western Express as the 58th biggest trucking firm in America with sales of $566.2 million.
The company has terminals stretching from Pennsylvania to California and now has 7,560 trailers offering dry van, flatbed, dedicated fleet, logistics, and expedited truck and rail options.
"Our expansion has been through organic growth and acquisitions," Western Express President and CEO Paul Wieck said in an announcement of the latest expansion today. "We will continue to grow our fleet and our team."
Western Express employs more than 2,100 employees in Tennessee and has a total of 3,600 employees worldwide.
In addition to the 225 headquarters positions, Western Express will hire more than 350 driving associates each year over the next five years.
The expansion is the latest in Tennessee's growing trucking and logistics industry, which includes FedEx in Memphis and U.S. Xpress Enterprises and Covenant Transport in Chattanooga, among thousands of other freight, logistics and trucking businesses across the state.
"Tennessee is home to more than 16,000 distribution and logistics establishments, and we continue to see an uptick in this industry's momentum," said Bob Rolfe, commissioner for Tennessee's Department of Economic and Community Development (ECD)..
The announcement is the latest among 67 major business investments announced by the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development in Davidson County, which collectively have created 21,000 jobs and 2.1 billion of capital investment.
"The expansion of Western Express in Nashville is another sign of how Middle Tennessee is thriving and attracting top businesses and investment," Gov. Bill Lee said in a statement today.