HO ATH 28' Parcel (PUP) Trailer, RPS #39071 Overview
Roadway Services Inc. (RSI) was created in 1982 as a holding company by national less than truckload (LTL) carrier Roadway Express. Roadway Express was initially RSI's only subsidiary but in 1984 the company acquired short-haul carrier Spartan Express Inc., then specialized truckload carrier Nationwide Carriers Inc., and finally in 1984, it purchased Roberts Express, a same-day critical trucking company, from Emery Air Freight.
With both truckload and LTL services available via its subsidiaries, in 1985 RSI founded a package delivery service, Roadway Package System (RPS) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. RPS was intended to out-compete the package delivery services of UPS by structuring itself for lower costs. By 1988, RPS covered 70% of the US from 130 terminals.