Now joining the North and South : A history of the Mason and Dixon Lines' marketing and operations management, 1932-1982

This is the corporate history of a motor truck common carrier. The Mason and Dixon Lines, Inc. It chronologically presents management milestones in the company's development; acquisitions, diversifications, changes in target markets, and corporate reorganizations. The focus is primarily on the firm's development in the areas of marketing and operations management. The objectives of this disserta tion are to 1) report what events occurred: to document history, 2) relate how the firm acted and reacted to events: as a guide for present and future managers, and 3) seek an explanation as to why particular management actions were taken in order to put the first two elements into perspective.

This paper was based upon historical exploratory research conducted through review of secondary sources, company materials, and a series of twenty-five interviews with Mason Dixon employees, and industry observers.

Mason Dixon was established in 1932 for the purpose of providing motor transport of products from Upper East Tennessee to markets in New York. In the succeeding fifty years that single route had been expanded into an operation that offered service to all points in the continental United States. During that period the company passed numerous management milestones; significant among these are 1) a program to generate backhaul traffic in the early 1930s, 2) recruitment of the best management talent to supervise new activities, 3) E. Ward King's purchase of the total proprietorship rights in 1939, 4) the post-World War II program of terminal construction and fleet modernization to serve as a basis for penetration of the New York-Atlanta freight market, and 5) efforts to increase operating revenues in the 1960s and 1970s through a program of territorial expansion.

This dissertation provides an historical perspective on the issues of regulation, competition, marketing, and operations management. To the extent that a truck line manager can recognize similarities between the reported past and his present circumstances, this dissertation may be employed to reduce uncertainty about the future and make a positive contribution to motor carrier management effectiveness.