AAA Cooper

AAA Cooper Transportation, headquartered in Dothan, Alabama. is a family owned, non-union, transportation company servicing customers through Less-Than-Truckload (LTL), Dedicated, Port, International and other related transportation services. The company was founded in 1955 by John H. Dove after he purchased an interest in P.C. White Truck Lines. The company continues to be owned and operated by the Dove family.

AAA Cooper Transportation
Private
IndustryTransportation
Founded1955
HeadquartersDothan, Alabama, U.S.
Key people
G. Mack Dove, Chairman
Reid Dove, President and Chief Executive Officer
Charlie Prickett, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Steve Roy, Chief Financial Officer
ProductsLess-Than-Truckload
Revenue$500+ million USD (2009)
Number of employees
4,500
Websiteaaacooper.com

Company history

In the 1930s, John H. "Red" Dove began his association with the transportation industry by working with his father hauling logs from the Alabama woods to sawmills.[REF 1] In 1951, Mr. Dove bought an interest in P.C. White Truck Lines.[REF 2] In 1955, he purchased the remaining ownership interest in P.C. White Truck Lines and changed the name to AAA Motor Lines.[REF 1] His sons, Earl and Mack, received their degrees in Transportation from the University of Tennessee and joined the family firm between 1959 and 1962.[REF 2] The decades of the 1950s, 1960s, and the early 1970s were a time of regulation by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), a former independent agency of the U.S. government. The Company growth potential would be limited to purchasing other operating routes, or companies who possessed routes that were not being operated to their greatest potential.[REF 3] Thus, in 1969, AAA Motor Lines Inc., bought Cooper Transfer Company Inc. The resulting company was called AAA Cooper Transportation or ACT.

In 1973 Mack and Earl recognized the beginning industry deregulation and began to position the Company for that occurrence through improved cost measurement systems and management training.[REF 1] In 1976, the Company obtained approval from the (ICC) to serve all of Florida.[REF 3] Deregulation of the industry began in July 1980 with the passage of Motor Carrier Act of 1980. Meanwhile, ACT completed its opening of Florida and in 1978 bought expansive authority to operate in Georgia, North and South Carolina.[REF 3] As a result, the Company entered the decade of the 70's with $3 million in annual sales and ended the decade with $43 million in sales.

ACT continued its expansion during the 1980s by purchasing Haynes Motor Lines in 1986 which added nine new terminals. In January 1989, Earl sold his 50% ownership in the company to Mack.[REF 1] In early 1990, ACT purchased nine terminals from the former Bowman Transportation Company. These facilities were used for new terminal openings and relocating certain existing terminals for expanded and improved service. By 1989, annual sales had increased to $136 million.

During the 1990s, ACT's terminal network in the South continued to expand. In 1994, ACT opened its first terminal outside of the Southeast in Chicago. Later that year, ACT opened a terminal in Minneapolis.[REF 1] Also in this year Mack's son, Reid, joined the company after his graduation from Auburn University.[REF 1] Reid has held many positions in the Company from Truck Washer to Driver to Terminal Manager, was named President of the Company in 2001.

In 1997, "Truck-to-Ship-to-Truck" service was added for the island of Puerto Rico. ACT's international service also extends to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.

A Dedicated Contract Carriage offering was formally established in 2002 and as a result, it expanded the LTL service to all of Texas and Cincinnati in 2005.[REF 4] In 2006 annual revenue of the Company surpassed $500 million for the first time.

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References
  1. Bridgman, Gary (April 1995), "Straight 'AAA's in Alabama", Southern Motor Cargo: 12–22
  2. Callahan, Nancy (May–June 1983), "Red Dove: Trucking Pioneer", Alabama Trucker: 11–12
  3. Martin, Annamarie (August 1991), "This Dove's Flying High", Business Alabama Monthly: 39–41
  4. "Dedicated Contract Carriage United States Directory", Traffic World: 40, 2008
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