David Parker grew up around trucking. As a boy he regularly watched the choreography of trucks in terminal yards, given his entrepreneurial father was founder of a successful longhaul trucking firm.
In 1986, David and his wife Jacqueline had a vision to start their own trucking company. David made an agreement (a covenant) with God: they would run the business “the right way,” if God would provide. David and Jacqueline Parker invested their hard-earned seed money to start Covenant Transport, with 25 trucks and 50 trailers.
David and Jacqueline built Covenant’s corporate culture around these three values: treat others as you want to be treated (empathy), put others before yourself (servanthood), and do business with integrity, honesty, and fairness in all situations (virtue).
These values have established a culture that remains strong today.
Started Company
In 1994, Covenant became a publicly traded company and today trades as Class A common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select market under the symbol, “CVLG.”
Covenant acquired Southern Refrigerated Transport to expand its capabilities in refrigerated shipping.
Covenant acquired Star Transportation, a medium-haul dry van regional truckload carrier. This strengthened Covenant’s capabilities and regional presence in the southeast United States.
Covenant entered into an integral affiliated relationship with Transport Enterprise Leasing, which provides innovative solutions in equipment leasing in addition to used tractor and sales.
Covenant expanded its capabilities by acquiring Landair, a dedicated truckload carrier with a fleet of 430 trucks and 900 trailers, and Landair Logistics, which operated 12 distribution facilities and 1.8 million square feet in warehousing space.
Covenant completed the acquisition of AAT Carriers, Inc., which aided in the expansion of Covenant’s Expedited segment. AAT specializes in highly regulated, time-sensitive loads for the U.S. government. The AAT fleet averages 15 years of experience and 2.5 million safe miles per driver.
Covenant completed the acquisition of Lew Thompson & Son Trucking, which helped in the growth of Covenant’s Dedicated Contract Carriage segment. Lew Thompson & Son is highly involved in the delivery process of all poultry, from delivering feed to the farm to live-hauling from the hatchery, and even transporting the finished product from the plant to the grocery stores, distribution centers, and cold-storage facilities utilizing our reefer division.
In the same year, Covenant completed the strategic acquisition of Sims Transport Services, LLC which helped expand the progression of Covenant’s Capacity Solutions segment. A family-owned business based in Georgia, Sims specializes in the transportation of edible nuts, further diversifying the service offerings at Covenant Logistics.
Today, Covenant’s values are shared by thousands of on-site associates based at locations throughout the United States. These values are driven by a common goal: to keep America’s shelves stocked and her markets moving.
Today, Covenant has grown its portfolio of logistics and transportation solutions to help customers engineer value-driven supply chains to get products where they are needed quickly, cost-effectively, and seamlessly. Primary capabilities in expedited, dedicated, warehousing, and managed freight transportation
are executed through a unique blend of management systems and employees empowered
by a unique values-based corporate culture.
