Gregory Werner is moving up to become CEO of Omaha, NE-based truckload carrier Werner Enterprises. He will take over the CEO duties from his father, Clarence “C.L.” Werner, who founded the company in 1956.

Greg Werner, 47, joined the company in 1977 when Werner Enterprises had 100 trucks. According to Werner, he learned the family business from the ground up, starting as an equipment maintenance mechanic, then moving on to dispatcher, load planner, driver recruiter, and treasurer. As the fleet grew rapidly in the ‘80s, Greg became vp-maintenance, assuming responsibility for the carrier’s management information systems in 1993.

In 1994, Werner officially joined Werner’s board or directors and was named president of the company in 1997, adding the title of COO in 1999. As Greg Werner succeeds C.L. Werner as CEO, the position of COO will not be filled, the company noted. Greg’s brother Gary L. Werner, 49, will remain vice chairman, while their father, C.L. Werner, will stay on as chairman.

Werner Enterprises operates a fleet to 9,000 trucks, with profits of $100 million on revenues of $2.1 billion.