Transcon Trucking Unit Sold to Miami Firm : Transportation: The sale of the money-losing operation came after the parent company’s unsuccessful attempt to buy two other carriers.

Transcon Inc., a Los Angeles-based trucking firm, on Sunday said it was selling its money-losing Transcon Lines carrier to a privately held Miami firm for an undisclosed amount.

The sale of the trucking line--one of the nation’s largest long-haul truckers with 247 terminals in 45 states--to Growth Finance Corp. comes 1 1/2 weeks after Transcon’s plan to buy two other truckers fell through. The unit accounts for most of Transcon’s revenues.

Transcon’s offices were closed on Sunday and company officials could not be reached for comment. Growth Finance officials also could not be contacted.

The firm said it will keep certain truck terminals, real estate businesses and other trucking operations, which includes Keystone Lines. Keystone, which accounted for 18% of Transcon’s $322 million in 1988 revenues, hauls commodities.

The Transcon Lines subsidiary had losses of $31.6 million on revenues of $226.5 million for 1989, according to preliminary reports. The trucking firm’s fortunes have fallen under the weight of rate cuts triggered by industry deregulation in 1980, analysts say.

Transcon has tried several measures to lower costs over the past several years. In 1983, it gave employees a 49% stake in exchange for 12% wage cuts. After losses in 1987 and 1988, the company disbanded the employee stock ownership plan last year and distributed 39% of the company’s shares to its employees. The ESOP was then replaced with a profit-sharing plan in return for continued wage concessions.

The company expects to trim losses this year by scaling back its operations and selling terminals, according to analysts.

Transcon officials had hoped that its agreement in December to purchase ANR Freight Systems and Transport USA--which are subsidiaries of Coastal Corp.--would have allowed it to cut costs by combining truck terminals and routes. The acquisition would have created the nation’s fourth-largest long-haul trucker.

However, the deal was called off after both firms failed to “work out a satisfactory agreement,” officials said.