A-C Motor Express - Refigerated Transporter Magazine Article, Page 2 of 4

SINCE 1933 : 73 YEARS STRONG

339-C Bliss Street
West Springfield, MA 01089

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Toll Free:
Fax:

1-413-736-0314
1-800-332-4080
1-413-736-0316

"THROUGH SERVICE WE GROW"

A-C Motor Express Increases Fleet
To Boost LTL Service in Northeast

By Foss Farrar, Refrigerated Transporter Magazine
(December 1995 Issue; reproduced with permission)

Page 2 of 4

Article Picture #2

Owner John Nekitopoulos Sr. and his son, John Christy Nekitopoulos Jr., general manager, have led the growth of A-C Motor Express, founded in 1933 by his grandfather, Christy Nekitopoulos.

Produce Niche

A-C Motor Express dispatches as many as seven tractor-trailer rigs each day to the New England Produce Center in Chelsea, Massachusetts, on the Boston harbor. Four or five tractors, usually hauling empty trailers, leave the company terminal between 3AM and 6AM. The driver of each rig picks up approximately 15 shipments for same day delivery. Each trailer typically makes two to four deliveries at customer locations in western Massachusetts and Connecticut. More trucks are dispatched later in the day when orders are heavy.

"On produce runs, our main haul is picked up away from home," Nekitopoulos says. "We're looking for freight going east to Boston to balance the produce loads we haul back."

Various types of outbound freight - nonrefrigerated as well as refrigerated - are loaded on a small percentage of the eastbound trailers used in the produce runs, he adds. For example, eastbound rigs recently were used to deliver roofing materials to construction sites between Springfield and Boston.

A-C Motor Express began the produce operation 20 years ago when a customer, a produce wholesaler, asked the LTL carrier to transport freight from the Chelsea market into Springfield.

"We started hauling produce for only one customer and our reputation for good service spread by word of mouth," says Dan Boucher, traffic manager for A-C Motor Express. "One customer led to another customer and the business kept growing.

The produce runs are not all one direction. During the summer when produce grown in western Massachusetts is harvested, A-C Motor Express transports blueberries, cabbage, corn and potatoes from Springfield east to Boston.

Besides dedicating seven trailers to the produce runs, A-C Motor Express dispatches six more eastbound tractor-trailer rigs on daily peddle runs to Boston. Each route has both delivery and pick-up stops; the driver unloads and loads the trailer throughout the day. The Atlantic shore to the north and south of Boston is covered, including Rhode Island.

Article Picture #3

A tractor-trailer rig and a straight truck are backed into receiving bays at the A-C Motor Express terminal. Freight is stored in refrigerated trailers shown at left before it is consolidated and loaded for next-day delivery.

December 1995