Dagnese, former Con-way Freight head, joins pallet-pooling firm Peco as CEO

The former president of the old less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier Con-way Freight, Joseph Dagnese, has been named CEO of wood-pallet-pooling company Peco Pallet, the Chicago-based Pritzker Group, Peco's private equity owner, said today.

Dagnese, who has spent 32 years in transportation and logistics, left Con-way Freight shortly after Greenwich, Conn.-based XPO Logistics Inc., completed its $3 billion acquisition of Con-way parent Con-way Inc. last October. Con-way Freight was the largest Con-way unit, accounting for about $3.5 billion in annual revenue.

Before that, Dagnese was president of the former Con-way Truckload, Con-way's old truckload unit.

Dagnese succeeds David Lee, who announced in February he would step down as CEO during 2016 after 10 years at the helm. Lee joined Irvington, N.Y.-based Peco in 2005, shortly before the Pritzker Group's acquisition, and is credited with rescuing then-ailing PECO from a date with federal bankruptcy court.

Known by its signature red wood block pallets, Peco operates 1,300 service and manufacturing depots in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.