William B. Cassidy | Jan 08, 2010 3:31PM EST
Detroit billionaire and bridge-owner Manuel "Matty" Maroun may oppose a government-owned span linking the Michigan city and Canada, but that won't stop him from setting up trucking operations right where that bridge's foot may someday stand.
Maroun's less-than-truckload company, Central Transport, is moving into the former YRC Worldwide terminal on West Jefferson Ave. in Southwest Detroit's Delray district.
Central purchased the terminal from YRC for an undisclosed price.
"The Detroit terminal will make us faster, more reliable and reduce our handling of loads," John Locke, executive vice president of Warren, Mich.-based Central Transport, said in a statement. Central will shift LTL operations from Romulus, Mich., to Detroit.
"The Delray terminal is purpose-built for the LTL business," Locke said. "It's larger than our Romulus facility and this is a great opportunity for us to save on our infrastructure costs. There are few LTL companies that could use a terminal like this."
Central will immediately transfer 100 jobs to the Delray facility, and bring as many as 300 more jobs to the area.
Central Transport, which had about $450 million in revenue in 2008, is a major player in the cross-border trucking business. Its parent company also owns the Ambassador Bridge linking Detroit with Windsor, Ontario, the busiest U.S.-Canadian border crossing.
Maroun is building a new span alongside the Ambassador Bridge and opposes U.S. and Canadian plans to build a competing bridge, the Detroit River International Crossing, fighting numerous legal battles over the DRIC and his plans to build a new bridge.
A portion of the 42-acre former YRC site in Delray is in the DRIC's path. Approach ramps to the bridge would cross a corner of the site, the Associated Press reported. A Michigan official told the AP the purchase wouldn't interfere with the bridge.
Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com.
