The Newman based Superior Truck Lines, which has been an integral player in the daily movement of raw milk and dairy products between farms and processing plants throughout California’s Central Valley for more than four decades, has been sold to a new company.

California Freight (Cal Freight), a division of Sandair Corporation, announced they had purchased the family business on Sept. 3. Cal Freight is based out of Ripon.

Superior Truck Lines was founded in 1986 by Frank Amaral, Jr. and his wife, Olivia. The built Superior Truck Lines into a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week transportation service for some of the largest dairy farmers and processing plants in California. The couple were seeking a strategic acquirer that could build on their many years of success, and found it in California Freight, a diversified transportation/logistics provider with a leading position in California’s dairy transportation market.

Frank Jr, 96, has been in the dairy transportation business for more than 72 years, and has never stepped down from daily involvement in the business. He and his wife Olivia said they are looking forward to full retirement from the business after the sale.

As a family enterprise for nearly four decades, Frank Jr. and Olivia have worked in tandem with their two grown children, Frank Amaral III and Deanie Amaral Azevedo, both of whom have held leadership roles growing Superior Truck Lines to more than 200 employees today.

“Our family has had the great opportunity to have served the dairy industry for many years following the footsteps of our previous generation,” said founder Frank Amaral, Jr. “With this acquisition, we are very grateful that most of Superior’s employees will be able to continue their current employment with the new owners. We are confident that our loyal customers will continue to receive qualified, caring service from California Freight.”

California Freight is a diversified transportation and logistics company with a leading presence in the dairy transportation in California. Jim Aartman, Cal Freight’s co-owner and Chief Operating Officer, called the acquisition a “perfect fit”, both culturally and operationally for his company.

“We are honored to be the company presented this opportunity and we are committed to supporting the Amaral family’s move away from the company they have built from the ground up,” Aartman said. “The Amaral family will have the peace-of-mind in knowing their customers will continue to receive Superior service and their employees may have the opportunity to continue their profession with a family-owned and operated company to which they are accustomed with little to no disruption.”

Though Superior’s trucks and employee uniforms will changeover to the California Freight name, Aartman said it will otherwise be business as usual through the ownership transition. The acquisition was effective Sept. 1.

California is the largest producer of dairy in the United States, having surpassed Wisconsin in 1993. The state is ranked first in the country for the production of milk, butter, ice cream, nonfat dry milk, and whey protein. Analysts estimate that the state is home to over 1.7 million dairy cows across 1,500 dairy farms; and that one in five cows in the United States are found in California. An estimated 33% of all U.S. dairy exports are from California.