be part of this industry. It’s a big deal for the association and a big deal for me, to leave this world a little bit better than we found it.” Ross added, “I’m honored and humbled
to be a chairman of the Tennessee Trucking Association. The men who have served as chairmen before me have built this industry in this state.”
New Ownership John Ross has a little less on his plate
back home at Milan with the family-owned business. In September 2014, the company negotiated the sale of 80 percent of its closely held stock to HCI Equity Partners. The Ross family retained 20 percent. Ross now sits on a five-person board of direc- tors. In the process, Milan Express re- branded as Milan Supply Chain Solutions. Kevin Charlebois is the CEO and commutes to and from Milan from Minneapolis, HCI’s transportation division headquarters. Along with Milan, HCI’s transportation
portfolio consists of Roadrunner Trans- portation Systems Inc. (Cudahy, Wis.); HVH Transportation (Denver) and Southern Ag Carriers (Albany, Ga.).
“It’s early in the honeymoon here, but
things are going extremely well, and I’m ex- cited about the potential of the future and what Milan can be,” Ross said. “HCI gives us those resources because they have a large portfolio of investment with about 40 percent in transportation. They’ve been in this industry for several years with several successful companies.” Ross’ father, Tommy Ross, now 85,
started the company in 1969 in Milan, Tenn., during the industry’s heavily regu- lated days, handling freight over the 80 miles between Milan and Memphis. The business steadily grew over the
next two decades as Tommy Ross pur- chased smaller carriers in the western part of the state and elsewhere. “As we grew, the footprint started gradually expanding in west Tennessee and the mid-South. We moved into Mississippi, Alabama, Geor- gia. At our height we were throughout the southeastern United States as a LTL and truckload carrier,” John Ross said. In 2000, Milan started a warehousing
division with warehouses in Milan and Jack- son. During the industry downturn, Milan sold off its LTL division. When the economy turned back around, John Ross said, “we
GO AHEAD AND STARE
wWe know e look good.
For details about advertising, call Jennifer Matthews, publisher, at 501-907-6776 or e-mail
jennifer@matthewspublishing.com. 20 TENNESSEE TRUCKING NEWS
rebranded Milan Express as a truckload and warehousing company.” Milan Supply Chain Solutions numbers
around 400 employees, most being drivers scattered throughout Tennessee, along with 50 people in Milan or in Jackson, where the operations, safety, recruiting and mainte- nance offices are situated.
Starting Young Like many children of truck company
founders, John Ross grew up in the busi- ness, he said. When Ross was about 11 or 12, he began riding with a local pickup and delivery driver in the summer. “Back then it was hand freight, in many
pieces, some going to various stops. I did a lot of running back and forth from the trail- ers, unloading boxes, helping our drivers,” he recalled. By around age 14 or 15, he said, he was old enough to start loading and unloading trucks from the docks in Milan and Jackson. In college, he spent a couple of summers in the maintenance shop. “I learned the business from the
ground up,” Ross said. As the son of a marine, John left home
to attend high school at the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen, Texas, a school run by Marine vets, and returned home during summers. “I can truthfully say” his parents didn’t force him to attend military school, Ross said with a laugh. “It was a request by me. My dad served in Marine Corp. and we’ve always been a patriotic family. Although I was working at the company, mowing the grass, doing janitorial stuff, all that, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, so I thought maybe I’d have a career in military.” After graduating college from Lambuth
(now the University of Memphis-Lambuth Campus) in Jackson, Ross said he “had an epiphany, a maturing moment” — he realized what his father had created and decided he wanted to join his dad’s busi- ness. Ross spent his first five years out of college in the company’s largest terminal, in Nashville, handling everything from dock supervision to manager. “It was a 24-hour operation,” he said.
“We’d open up Sunday evening and not close until Saturday morning. I was just married. I wouldn’t want to do it forever [working a 24-hour operation], but it was definitely a learning experience. You defi- nitely see the heartbeat of the company. … Any hiccup in Nashville, they were going to
Q3 2015
Everyone’s an Owner Randy Vernon and the Big G Express Team
Official Magazine of the Tennessee
Trucking Association Q1 2015 $4.95 Value
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