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Dive Brief:
- Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings plans to add 20 service centers — 10 in the first half of 2024 and another 10 in the second half of the year — as it seeks to build a national, domestic LTL service by the end of next year. CEO and President Dave Jackson said Wednesday earnings call.
- The carrier opened five new locations in late January, located in West Burlington, Iowa. Cherry Ville, Kansas; Rock Island, Illinois; Forest City, Arkansas; and Wichita Falls, Texas.
- While Knight-Swift already provides national service through interconnection partners, the company expects to fill out its national map primarily through acquisitions, Jackson said. “We expect this map to look less hyperlocal and more national over the next couple of years,” he said.
Dive Insight:
Knight-Swift entered the LTL industry in 2021 with the acquisition of AAA Cooper Transportation and soon followed with the purchase of Midwest Motor Express and Midnite Express.
The carrier has been clear about its national ambitions even before Yellow Corp’s collapse. open opportunities for Knight-Swift to buy 13 properties and acquire two leases in a court-supervised auction.
As of 2021, the carrier has opened 14 LTL locations, Jackson said. This he brought LTL service center in total at about 115 with approx 4,551 terminal doorsaccording to an earnings presentation.
“This is a multi-year plan, but it’s not as far off as you think,” Jackson said.
In addition to the 20 upcoming service center additions highlighted by executives during the Q4 earnings call, Jackson also suggested another 10 facilities could be added, perhaps through leases.
“These are very much gap-fillers,” he said, adding that they complement a “very deliberate effort” of acquisitions.
Knight-Swift’s current LTL network covers large areas of the Southeast and Midwest, leaving significant opportunities for growth in the Northeast and Southwest.
Because of the company’s reputation and culture, Knight-Swift is poised to lure other companies with takeover deals, said Craig Decker, managing partner at Brown Gibbons Lang & Co.
Family firms considering a sale to a public company can be motivated by extending their family legacy, who could assess how the business will continue under new owners, Decker said.
“Also, you probably want to make some reserve and some people are interested in the deal,” Decker said. “So you want to be with the best carrier. Knight is one of the best transportation providers out there.”