SAIA, WESTEX, ACTION EXPRESS TO COMPLETE INTEGRATION BY MARCH 4

SAIA, WESTEX, ACTION EXPRESS TO COMPLETE INTEGRATION BY MARCH 4    Saia, the Deluth, Ga.-based less-than-truckload subsidiary of Yellow Corp., said its integration with WestEx and Action Express is on schedule and will become effective as planned on March 4.
   The integrated company operates under the Saia name.
   The integration will improve transit times to one and two days in 414 lanes of the company's new 21-state system.
   The services were enhanced as a result of deleting artificial company boundaries between the three companies, less handling of shipments and more direct routes where shipments bypass breakbulk locations, said Tony Albanese, senior vice president of operations and sales at Saia.
   “Seventy-one of the lanes improved by two days and 16 improved by three,” Albanese said.
   Yellow acquired Saia in 1993, WestEx, formerly Johnson Freight Lines, in 1994, and Action Express in November 1998. The combined service area covers from southern Virginia across the south and west to California and northwest into Washington and Oregon.