O and S Trucking buys Mo-Cal's trucks, customer base

Springfield-based O & S Trucking has purchased Mo-Cal Express, a Springfield-area refrigerated trucking firm with a 21-truck inventory, for an undisclosed amount. O & S will not acquire any real estate assets associated with Mo-Cal's operations, according to a company news release.

The release said this is the first time the company "has used an acquisition or purchase to strengthen their position within the industry."

O & S approached Mo-Cal with an offer to purchase the operation, said Wally Edwards, founder of 12-year-old Mo-Cal. The transfer of assets will be effective Dec. 1. Mo-Cal revenues through mid-November are about $3.7 million.

O & S employs 227 locally and 405 nationwide, according to the Springfield Business Journal's 2003 Book of Lists. It had $49.7 million in revenues and operated 317 tractors and 508 trailers in 2002.

All of Mo-Cal's customer base, as well as equipment, will become O & S's responsibility. The trucks will be based at O & S's Springfield terminal, according to the news release.

Adding a refrigerated trucking capability to O & S's dry-freight trucking operations was the likely motive behind the purchase, Edwards said. He added that Mo-Cal and O & S probably have some common customers and the new trucks will allow them to better service that clientele.

All of Mo-Cal's 30 full- and part-time employees have been offered work at O & S, Edwards said. Personal retirement plans prompted the 62-year-old Edward to sell the company.

At one time Mo-Cal ran heavily in the West, said Edwards, but more recently its focus has been to areas in the East.