Roane Transportation acquired by PS Logistics unit Loudon County Trucking

Loudon County Trucking bought nearly all assets of Roane Transportation Services LLC, Roane Logistics Inc. and B&W Leasing Inc., PS Logistics announced on Nov. 5. Roane keeps its name and now runs as a division of Loudon County Trucking. Co-founder Steve Kennedy, who started the company in 1996 with Luke Wyatt, stays on to lead it, according to the release.

Roane has more than 170 drivers, a mix of company drivers, lease-purchase drivers and owner-operators, the company said. It has operations in Rockwood and Memphis, Tenn., and in El Paso, Texas, and hauls mostly steel, aluminum, building materials and electrical products in the Southeast and Midwest. FMCSA's SAFER record lists 189 power units and 164 drivers under USDOT 652055 and MC-302662. Roane Logistics, also part of the deal, runs a brokerage and warehousing business.

PS Logistics runs more than 5,000 trucks and 9,800 trailers from 65 locations, according to the release. Since 2016 it has bought 32 carriers plus five logistics firms that own no trucks. Transport Topics reported that Roane is its first carrier purchase since four deals in 2024, the last of which was Fluker Transportation of Hammond, La. Houston Vaughn, president of the PS Logistics trucking division, said the purchase grows the company in East Tennessee, a region he called important to aluminum producers.

The announcement does not say what happens to lease-purchase contracts, owner-operator leases, driver pay or escrow accounts, or whether Roane keeps its own USDOT number and operating authority. Kennedy said in the release that Roane's local leadership stays in place.