In its ninth acquisition in 15 months, FleetPride is buying 13 Midway Truck Parts locations in Illinois and one in St. Louis, Mo. Midway Truck Parts was founded in 1978 by Pete Pasdach, president, and Rich Murawski, vice president.

Murawski will join FleetPride in his operational role. Pasdach will lead FleetPride's Midwest Region in his new role as regional vice president - Midwest Region.

The Midway Trailer Sales & Service division is not part of this agreement and will continue to operate as a separate company.

"After Midway, FleetPride will have completed nine transactions, adding 32 locations over the past 15 months," said Lars Haegg, managing director at Investcorp. "Midway is the largest acquisition by FleetPride under Investcorp's and Ridgemont Equity Partners' ownership, and is a prime example of this strategy." Among those acquisitions were four Page Brake locations in Missouri and New Mexico in January.

"Frankly, I was a little taken aback," said Bruce Plaxton of BGP Marketing, an aftermarket consulting group. "If distributors with the size and reach, and as well-managed as Midway, are targets for acquisition, then it is probably fair game across the industry."

A major issue, said Plaxton, is that companies such as FleetPride are increasingly negotiating exclusivity performance contracts with vendors. FleetPride could potentially become the exclusive supplier of some parts. This is not likely to matter for major fleets of 1,000 or more power units because they can leverage so much purchasing power. But there may be negative implications for small- to mid-size fleets and the independent distributors they buy from.

"The difference in price today from what a small guy pays and what a big guy pays is humongous," said Plaxton, noting the 20-30 percent discounts obtained by some national fleets. Large fleets also are completely bypassing distribution more often by purchasing directly from the manufacturer. Small players simply cannot muster the funds to do that.

"That is probably not good for the industry," said Plaxton. "There are some niches that are better served by smaller fleets." With higher fuel costs, he said, the squeeze from expensive parts might be too much for some.

A more immediate concern with the acquisition of Midway is Vipar Heavy Duty, the marketing group headquartered in Crystal Lake, Ill. However, Steve Crowley, president and CEO of Vipar HD, said Midway was one of 118 buyers, comprising only around 3 percent of business.

Crowley also said he disagrees with a "gloom and doom" outlook for independents, although he doesn't like to see them get bought up.

"Consolidation has happened in every business, it is no different in heavy duty. Some people flourish in that, and some do not," Crowley said. "I think it causes everyone to be a better operator."

Moving forward, there is a strong possibility of more large acquisitions. Many dealers and distributors with depleted balance sheets from the recession are looking for an exit strategy.

"The guys with strong balance sheets are out looking for acquisitions," said Plaxton. "I think we are going to see a situation two to three years from now in which the industry looks radically different."