Schneider to add more than 2,000 regional drivers by year's end

Trucking and logistics giant Schneider National Inc. said it will more than quintuple its workforce of regional truck drivers by hiring 2,100 drivers through the balance of 2010.

The workforce expansion will bring to 2,500 the number of regional drivers employed by Schneider. Currently, the Green Bay, Wis.-based company has about 400 regional drivers. It also employs 12,500 drivers in its long-haul operation.

Schneider said it would be hiring drivers in all five of its geographic regions. "The customer demand for our regional service has exceeded our expectations and created enough freight density to get drivers home weekly," said Mike Hinz, vice president of Schneider National, in a statement.

Separately, Schneider announced it had hired Derrel E. Chappell as director, wholesale business development, for the company's intermodal division. Chappell, who has worked in the rail industry for more than 40 years, will manage Schneider's relationships with intermodal marketing companies and third-party logistics service providers, among other things.