The Kenan Advantage Group recently completed its purchase of Carbon Express.
The Wharton, New Jersey-based, for-hire carrier transports liquid bulk products, including chemicals, transformer oil, motor oil, lubricants, and water treatment chemicals, throughout North America with a fleet of 65 trucks.
The two companies announced the deal Sept. 2.
“We believe in serving our customers first and foremost,” said Steven Rush, Carbon Express founder and executive chairman. “We’ve been committed to building a strong and positive reputation with our customers and our employees for many years.
“By joining KAG, we believe we are remaining true to this commitment and are excited about the future potential going forward.”
Rush will remain with the company through the transition before calling it a career.
“It’s been coming for a while,” he told Bulk Transporter in September. “I’ll be 79 years old in a couple of weeks. When we saw what we were worth, we said, ‘Let’s do this.’ It will protect our people because they have similar philosophies.
“They take care of their people, and they like what we do. So at the end of the day, really, it was a no-brainer.”
Sean McAllister will continue to manage daily operations as president, while seeking to leverage “additional assets and resources” to capitalize on growth opportunities, KAG said. The entire team will join KAG’s Specialty Products division.
“Their operating region and customer base complements our footprint today, but also provides additional expansion opportunities in the Northeastern U.S.,” said Karen Rizzuto, KAG’s senior vice president of operations for Specialty Products.
The addition of Carbon Express is KAG’s third acquisition this year. It picked up American PetroLog in August, and K-Limited Carrier in February.