Dayton Freight Lines

Carrying freight in Big Ten country, Dayton Freight Lines is a less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier operating in 11 states in the North-Central US. (LTL carriers consolidate freight from multiple shippers into a single truckload.) The company operates a fleet of about 900 tractors and 2,100 trailers from a network of more than 40 terminals. Outside its home territory, Dayton Freight offers service in the rest of the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Guam through alliances with other carriers, including A. Duie Pyle, Oak Harbor Freight Lines, and Southeastern Freight Lines. Founded in 1981, Dayton Freight is owned by the Cronin family, which includes President and CEO Thomas L. Cronin Jr. and EVP Michael D. Cronin.

Over the past few years, Dayton Freight has been adding service centers to its network as its business has grown. Even in the midst of sky-high fuel prices in 2008 that caused financial woes across the transportation industry, Dayton Freight opened a $4 million terminal in Rockford, Illinois, to give the company a faster response time for shipments throughout the Midwest