Schneider National moves into China

[Staff]

GREEN BAY, Wis. - One of the country's largest trucking firms, Schneider National, is moving into China.

The Green Bay-based company said it expects to operate its rigs on Chinese highways around midyear. It will be one of the first to establish a trucking service for the internal Chinese market.

Schneider plans to start with about 50 trucks and grow from there, said company spokeswoman Janet Bonkowski. Schneider is also working on possibly acquiring two Chinese trucking companies, in deals that could close by the middle of the year, she said.

"We're going slowly in China because we want to be sure we're studying it correctly, reading it correctly," Bonkowski said.

Besides trucking services, Schneider plans to offer warehousing, freight management and other transportation services in China. It will be based in China's third-largest urban area, Tianjin, a port city in the northeast. Schneider will operate there as Schneider Logistics (Tianjin) Co. Ltd.

The trucking company opened an office in Shanghai in 2005 with an eye on getting into the market.

China has eased restrictions on foreign involvement and its internal transportation market is becoming more open, said Schneider CEO Chris Lofgren. Lofgren said in October, after returning from a trip to Shanghai, that the company would probably invest tens of millions of dollars in China over the next year.

Schneider also has a partnership with China International Marine Containers Co., which manufactures truck trailers and ocean containers.

Source: Associated Press