Fort Wayne truck service company acquired

Texas-based FleetPride Inc. announced Tuesday it has acquired Frame Service Inc., a full-service truck and trailer maintenance and repair shop headquartered in Fort Wayne. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Fleet Service owner Barry Ernst said the acquisition will take the company to the next level.

FleetPride bills itself as the nation’s largest distributor of truck and trailer parts and the largest service provider in the independent heavy duty aftermarket.

The company operates more than 300 locations, including retail parts stores in Indianapolis, Evansville and Clarksville, as well as more than 80 service centers and five distribution centers nationwide.

The addition of Frame Service will mark FleetPride’s first service center in Indiana.

“Frame Service adds growth in the Indiana market with broad capabilities in parts and service, and a wealth of heavy duty expertise,” FleetPride President of Parts and Service Mike Harris said in a news release. “As we continue building e-commerce capabilities…for ease and speed of doing business, expanding our network at the same time enables us to better serve local, regional, and national fleets faster to keep trucks on the road.”

Frame Service was founded in 1948 by Jim Ernst in downtown Fort Wayne. The company later moved to its current location near U.S. 33 and Washington Center Road.

FleetPride did not specify if any Fort Wayne jobs would be negatively affected by the deal.

The company did not respond to a request for more information from Inside INdiana Business.