Coyote Logistics LLC, the fast-growing freight broker, has hired C. Thomas Barnes, formerly head of Con-way Inc.'s multimodal unit, to lead its less-than-truckload (LTL) services operation, a move designed to expand Coyote's presence in the high-potential LTL brokerage segment.

Barnes, 39, ran the Con-way multimodal brokerage operation for about four years. He was responsible for placing about $2.4 billion in freight with carriers across all transport modes. In his new position, Barnes will be tasked with building Chicago-based Coyote's LTL business, which accounts for about 2 percent of its annual revenue. Barnes will oversee carrier relations and technology investments as they relate to the LTL operation. He was also named senior vice president of operations for Coyote, joining its executive team and reporting to Jeff Silver, the company's CEO.

Coyote, which is privately held, generated slightly more than $1 billion in gross revenue in 2013. It only discloses full-year revenue figures. Like most brokers, Coyote's bread-and-butter is the truckload sector. However, brokers are increasingly eyeing the LTL arena as a way of broadening their service options to customers and of creating new channels of revenue for themselves. Many LTL carriers already work with third-party logistics (3PL) firms, but those relationships generally go much deeper than the transactional activities—finding the right truck at the right price—that brokers typically provide.

Barnes said in an interview earlier this year that about one-quarter of all LTL business with intermediaries is transactional, and that the transactional side is growing faster than the so-called strategic relationships that involve more than matching cargo with equipment.

In a statement, Jodi Navta, a Coyote spokeswoman, said the company has "established a dominant position in the truckload market, and while our service level in LTL is setting new standards in the nonasset-based space, we see a huge opportunity for growth in that segment that will require the focus and experience that Tommy will bring to the effort."

Con-way, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., has not named a successor for Barnes. The multimodal operation actually operates under Menlo Worldwide Logistics, the 3PL unit of Con-way.