Roadrunner has expanded its LTL service area to a new market for the first time in years — and more are on the way.
The Illinois-based carrier debuted inbound service to Denver last month, and it plans to begin service to Kansas City and Portland beginning later this year, the company announced.
The network expansion will give the carrier’s customers “one more destination to enjoy our fast transit times, minimal rehandle of freight, and outstanding customer service,” Phil Thalheim, Roadrunner’s chief linehaul network engineer, said in a statement.
In 2020, Roadrunner opened facilities in Chicago; Riverside, California; and Philadelphia. It currently serves 37 metropolitan markets.
The carrier, which specializes in long haul metro-to-metro shipping, said its footprint growth follows transit time reductions across 130 major lanes, and the launch of next-business-day service between Chicago and Southern California.
“Opening Denver fits our strategic goal of becoming the best carrier moving freight directly from one part of the country to another and is really an important step in optimizing our network and further reducing transit times,” Tomasz Jamroz, head of technology, operations and linehaul, said in a statement.
Roadrunner, which calls itself “transportation’s greatest comeback story,” said it has spent the past two years optimizing its network, updating its technology, and assembling a diverse and talented team. Its recent improvements sped up service by one to four days, the company said.
Others in LTL are pushing to continue growing and optimizing their networks this year to position themselves to win future business once demand rebounds.
Northeast carrier A. Duie Pyle will open new terminals in Maine, Maryland and New York. Old Dominion Freight Line plans $800 million in capex, in part to expand service center capacity, incoming CEO Kevin “Marty” Freeman said on a Q4 earnings call. XPO will add a net 167 new doors in Salt Lake City, Atlanta and Dallas in the next few months, CEO Mario Harik told the company’s investors.
