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September 14, 2006 5:30 PM, EDT

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ovenant Transport has acquired Nashville, Tenn. truckload carrier Star Transportation, the company said late Thursday.

The $40 million deal also includes about $42 million of Star’s debt, Covenant said in a statement.

Beth Franklin, chief executive officer of Star, will act as a consultant to Covenant for one year. Jim Brower, president of Star, will remain in place to run the company.

Star, which specializes in short-to-medium dry van truckload operations, generated $89.6 million in revenue in its 2006 fiscal year, which ended June 30, Covenant said.

Covenant Transport is ranked No. 37 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in the United States and Canada.