Dive Brief:
- TFI International has acquired Dahlsten Truck Line, a Clay Center, Nebraska-based regional truckload carrier that also operates across Iowa, Kansas and Missouri, TFI said in a LinkedIn post.
- The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Dahlsten, a family-owned business established in 1946, leases or owns about 75 trucks and hauls more than 27,000 loads per year, according to its website.
- Even in a relatively slow M&A year, by the Montreal, Canada-based freight giant’s standards, it has acquired a dozen companies. TFI is “well positioned” for a sizeable acquisition in 2024, Chairman, President and CEO Alain Bédard said during a Q3 earnings call last month.
Dive Insight:
Dahlsten’s separate package and bulk operations use dry vans, reefers and pneumatic trailers, with power units maintained “in the highest industry standards,” according to its website. Its tractors are satellite-equipped, with dash cameras and electric logs for driver safety.
The carrier, which specializes in dry bulk and package services, joins TFI’s Specialized Truckload business segment alongside Vedder Transportation Group, a British Columbia-based tanker carrier TFI acquired in September.
The TL acquisitions underscore the company’s focus on that segment’s performance, which Bédard described to investors as “very disappointing” in a difficult freight environment this year.
TFI had invested about $100 million in M&A this year as of its Q3 earnings call, and it obtained a fixed-rate $500 million private placement “to get a little bit more dry powder” for acquisitions in 2024, Bédard said.
The company set off rumors earlier this year it might acquire ArcBest Corp., the parent company of 100-year-old LTL ABF Freight, by disclosing it had purchased shares of the competitor’s stock.
That deal, put on hold by union negotiations at both carriers, would consolidate the two remaining unionized LTL giants following Yellow Corp.’s bankruptcy this summer.
“The possibility of doing something of size in '24?” Bédard said on the call. “I would put that at 65%, 75%.”
