(Business Wire)  Daseke, Inc. (www.daseke.com), North America’s second largest open-deck/specialty transportation company, has added three members to its board of directors: Tom Hund, retired EVP/CFO of BNSF Railway; Brian Bonner, retired CIO of Texas Instruments; and Ron Gafford, retired CEO of Austin Industries.

“We’re very excited about the new additions to our board,” said Don Daseke, CEO and chairman of the board of Daseke. “They have a wealth of experience in business, leading well-known companies to success. This gives us a great team of leaders with a depth of know-how to grow and manage businesses of significant scale with workforces similar to ours.”

Daseke, Inc., which began operation in 2009, is comprised of eight open-deck carriers — Smokey Point Distributing; E.W. Wylie; J. Grady Randolph; Central Oregon Truck Company; Boyd Bros. Companies (Boyd Bros. Transportation, WTI Transport, Mid Seven Transportation); and Lone Star Transportation. Combined, Daseke companies employ more than 2,500 people and have complete coverage of North America with more than 2,600 trucks and 5,500 trailers, including those operated by a dedicated group of owner-operators. Combined revenue was $668 million in 2014.

Tom Hund began his dynamic 31-year career with railroad companies that eventually became BNSF Railway. Between 1999 and his retirement in 2014, he served as executive vice president and CFO. He helped lead BNSF Railway to become the second-largest freight railroad network in North America, with more than 32,000 miles of rail lines across the western two-thirds of the United States. BNSF employs 43,000 people and has revenue of about $21 billion.

Brian Bonner retired in 2014 after 33 years with Texas Instruments. During his career he led many different aspects of the business including sales and operations, eventually spending the last 14 years as CIO. Texas Instruments is a global semiconductor design and manufacturing company and is the third-largest manufacturer of semiconductors worldwide. TI has approximately $13 billion in annual revenues and 35,000 employees worldwide.

Ron Gafford has over 40 years experience in the construction industry; 18 of those years were with Austin Industries, where he served as chairman, president and CEO from 2008 to 2012. Between 2012 and his retirement in 2014, he continued to work with the company as a consultant to the CEO and board of directors. Austin Industries is one of the nation’s largest, most diversified U.S.-based construction companies, with more than 6,500 employee-owners and approximately $2 billion in annual revenues.

About Daseke, Inc.:

Addison, Texas-based Daseke, Inc. is a family of open-deck trucking companies serving 49 states, Canada and Mexico. The companies include Smokey Point Distributing, based in Arlington, Wash., (www.spdtrucking.com); the E.W. Wylie Corporation, based in West Fargo, N.D., (www.wylietrucking.com); J. Grady Randolph, based in Gaffney, S.C., (www.jgr-inc.com); Central Oregon Truck Company, based in Redmond, Ore., (www.centraloregontruck.com); Lone Star Transportation, based in Fort Worth, Texas, (www.lonestar-llc.com); and The Boyd Companies, including Boyd Bros. Transportation, based in Clayton, Ala., (www.boydbros.com), WTI Transport, based in Tuscaloosa, Ala., (www.wtitransport.com), and Mid Seven Transportation, based in Des Moines, Iowa, (www.mid7.com). Smokey Point is a leader in aviation-related transportation with a highly diverse trailer fleet featuring a large inventory of curtain trailers in flatbed, step-deck and low-profile step-deck configurations. E.W. Wylie is known for hauling heavy equipment and oil field supplies, with daily operations into Canada. J. Grady Randolph is an expert in over-dimensional open-deck cargo. Central Oregon Truck Company is known for extremely efficient operations, high safety ratings and offers open-deck, roll-top, and heavy-haul trailers. Boyd Bros. Transportation offers high-volume, time-sensitive open-deck/specialty services. WTI Transport’s strength comes from its strong owner-operator presence, focused on the sectors of metals and building commodities. Lone Star Transportation specializes in transporting complex and heavy machinery in the energy, aerospace and construction sectors, with a daily presence in Mexico. Together, the companies comprise the second-largest open-deck/specialty carrier in North America.

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