![]() Adding the three "brick and mortar" service centers was a part of that. Hurst said Roadrunner can win back many of those industrial customers as volumes grow and the company installs new procedures to improve customer service. ![]() They are the customers that Roadrunner lost over the years, he said. But they demand reliable transport and high-quality service, as well as freight visibility, Hurst said. Industrial customers are served by many LTL shippers who can use the nimble service that LTL offers when they don't need a full truckload to ship in. Hurst said Roadrunner is aware of the manpower needed, and it has hired more drivers and terminal workers. Additionally, LTL carriers require significantly more people to run the operation," Thompson said. ![]() "Carriers need a physical network of terminals with dock doors and additional equipment, such as forklifts and delivery trailers. Still, LTL requires more work and investment than TL, Thompson said. The company will focus on metro areas, customer service and new freight-visibility technology. Hurst said the company has 21 "brick and mortar" service centers, which he said are necessary to meet demanding LTL customers.Īs for service, Hurst said the focus is now on its old specialty: LTL in 1,500-mile, tier one lanes. Yet it has grown its service-center footprint, announcing in July that it would add 169 dock doors at new terminals in Chicago and Philadelphia, as well as in Riverside, California. It now has no more than 30 tractors, instead using owner-operators and independent contractors, Hurst said. Roadrunner began to sell off parts, such as its intermodal business and Prime Distribution Services, which had 2.6 million square feet of warehouse space.Įschewing such size and operations, Roadrunner became focused intently on being an asset-light company, too. "We kind of really just lost our identity."Īs Roadrunner began fixing the problems and restating earnings, it became clear the company had to unwind itself and become an LTL-only business, Hurst said. "It was not just from the standpoint of service and quality," said Hurst. LTL business became a compartment of what Roadrunner did, not a core. The larger organization became burdened with many tentacles. It had an intermodal business and owned several distinct companies. The LTL-focused company was no longer just LTL. 16 for-hire carrier in North America.īut the acquisitions were not strategic, Hurst said. By 2016, Roadrunner had become quite big, ranking as the No. It acquired 25 privately held logistics companies in the next several years. In 2010, after weathering the Great Recession and making an IPO, the company decided to go shopping. The company, founded in 1984 in the Milwaukee area, merged with another LTL carrier, Dawes Transport, in 2005, brought together by Thayer Capital Partners. Roadrunner was originally a long-haul, metro-to-metro carrier, offering LTL service to shippers with an emphasis on tier one lanes.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |