Dive Brief:
- Estes Express Lines opened one of its largest LTL terminals, a 203-door, 200,000-square-foot warehouse in Fort Worth, Texas, the carrier announced this week.
- The site, which the Richmond, Virginia-based company acquired when Central Freight Lines closed in 2021, includes a five-bay shop and nearly 15,000 square feet for offices.
- It’s the 17th Estes terminal in Texas, part of its nationwide LTL network of more than 200 facilities. The terminal features eDock technology, which provides shipment location visibility in real time, according to the company’s announcement.
Dive Insight:
The new facility at 5200 E. Loop 820 S. Fort Worth, Texas 76119 will enable Estes to grow its services and fleet in the Southwest region, Larry Sanderson, district operations manager, said in a statement.
“Opening this terminal serves as a major milestone in Estes’ growth,” Sanderson said. “We are excited to welcome new employees, serve more customers and expand operations at this state-of-the-art facility.”
Estes took over the Texas site along with six other terminals from Central Freight Lines in the acquisition, President and COO Webb Estes told Transport Dive in an interview.
The deal also included equipment, which was especially difficult to procure during the pandemic. Estes received nearly 1,000 tractors in the acquisition, the company president said.
“As a company, pre-pandemic, we had about 8,500 tractors,” he said. “So, 1,000 extra pieces of equipment were a pretty big deal. You couldn't get the equipment. [OEMs were saying], ‘If you want 300, we’ll give you 200.’”
Even in an uncertain economy with demand generally declining, Estes is not the only LTL carrier pushing to continue expanding its networks to reach new markets and position itself for future upswings.
Old Dominion Freight Line CEO Greg Gantt said last summer the carrier’s network expansion plan would be undeterred by a negative short-term macroeconomic outlook. XPO plans to add 900 net new doors by the end of 2023, part of the company’s plan to lower its operating ratio.
Saia and A. Duie Pyle also announced the openings of new terminals in the fall, though Saia warned it could tap the brakes on plans for 10-15 more this year.
