Central Freight Lines Inc. (CFL) was an American regional less-than-truckload (LTL) company headquartered in Waco, Texas and serving the Southeastern and Southwestern United States.

CFL faced challenges internally from a push toward unionization and externally from the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 deregulation.

Joe Hall was appointed CFL's new president in 1995[13] in the midst of significant competitive pressure on the company from further federal trucking deregulation.

However, deregulation had the effect of stripping the Texas Railway Commission of its power, significantly increasing competition in the state.

With slim margins in the LTL industry, this meant Roadway Express, despite representing over 40% of RSI's US$5 billion annual revenue,[18] was less profitable than its sibling carriers.

This meant that by 1997 it was actively seeking a buyer[15] and was rapidly shedding assets including its former Coles and Spartan east-coast operations.

[20] The prospect of a total shutdown led former CFL management, including former president Joe Hall, to open negotiations to buy the former carrier.

[13] The Moyes had a long history in trucking having co-founded Swift Transportation with their father in 1966 and overseen its growth to one of the largest carriers in the US.

[24] By January 2000, CFL reported it was in excellent financial health and projected revenues over $300 million by year end.

Hall, who had been instrumental in rebuilding CFL, stepped down as President later in the year for personal reasons and was replaced in the interim by board member Ronald Moyes.

[29] Simon was renamed Central Refrigerated Service and immediately after the acquisition, projected it would be profitable on revenues of approximately US$200 million annually.

[28] Before the end of 2002, Central Refrigerated Service was spun out as a separate entity wholly owned by Moyes[30] who would sell it to Swift in 2013.

[31] On December 1, 2003, after a three year delay, Central Freight Lines finally went public on the Nasdaq stock exchange with the symbol CENF.

[13] Moyes had been forced out of his position as chairman and CEO at Swift[32] in October 2005 after an SEC investigation into insider trading allegations involving the Phoenix Coyotes NHL team.

[40] In December 2020, Moyes stepped in as interim CEO and president in an effort to address the company's financial difficulties.

[45] CFL's failure was the largest trucking industry closure since the shutdown of truckload carrier Celadon Group in 2019.

According to Kalem, the issues which led to CFL's closure had begun with the loss of a major customer in 2016 in the midst of a debt-financed four-year fleet replacement which ended in 2017.

[16] After reestablishment as an independent company in 1997, CFL extended its services into the southeast through acquisition of several smaller LTL carriers.

[2] CFL was a member of the EPA's SmartWay Transport Partnership in which shippers, carriers, and related companies volunteer to achieve certain fuel efficiency and emissions benchmarks.