Watkins Motor Lines has 132 hubs, including the one in West Chester where Thursday morning's shootings occurred. The company, at a glance:

Founded: 1932 in Thomasville, Ga., when Bill Watkins began delivering chickens and farm products in a pickup. Watkins, who died Sunday at age 84, expanded the company to about 50 trucks handling war materials during World War II, according to an obituary written by the Associated Press.

Growth strategy: By 1966, Watkins had grown to one of the largest carriers of perishables in the country by specializing in hauling frozen orange juice concentrate.

A top trucking firm: The company, now based in Lakeland, Fla., has grown to have 12,000 employees, 4,000 tractors and 11,500 trailers operating in 45 states and the province of Ontario. Watkins is one of the top 20 overall trucking carriers; its primary competitors include Yellow Corp., Roadway Corp. and CNF Corp.

Workplace violence: Thursday's incident was not the first outbreak of workplace violence for the company. A Watkins maintenance worker killed his boss before committing suicide in July 1999 at a Watkins site in Charlotte, N.C.

Parent company: Watkins is owned by Atlanta-based Watkins Associated Industries, ranked as one of the 20 largest privately owned companies in Georgia. The holding company's diversified interests include transportation, real estate, construction and seafood processing.

The holding company's transportation interests alone produced in excess of $800 million in revenues in 1999, according to the Web site for Land Span, another smaller Watkins-owned trucking company that specializes in irregular routes.

Freight loads: Federal Department of Transportation records show Watkins carries general freight; sheet, coil and rolls of metal; liquids and gases; chemicals; paper products; and building materials.

Safety: DOT inspection reports for the past two years show Watkins has a better-than-average record for vehicles and HAZMAT materials, as well as a much better-than-average record for drivers. In the past two years, the company has reported six fatal crashes and 52 accidents with injuries. Its safety rating as of last February was satisfactory, federal officials said.