JOC Staff | May 30, 2012 12:37PM EDT
Roadrunner Transportation Systems, one of the fastest-growing U.S. trucking companies, is expanding in the Northeast by opening two terminals.
The carrier is opening less-than-truckload terminals in Philadelphia and Baltimore that will complement an LTL terminal opened in North Bergen, N.J., last June.
The terminals will provide out-bound LTL service from the Northeast for customers of the LTL and truckload carrier as far south as the Richmond, Va., area.
Previously, Roadrunner provided inbound LTL service to the Northeast. The new terminals will speed growth in the region, said LTL President Scott Dobak.
The outbound terminals will also help the carrier’s independent contractors find freight to backhaul from the Northeast to the Midwest and other regions.
The carrier, which runs an asset-light long-haul, point-to-point LTL network using owner-operators, is expanding organically and through acquisitions.
Roadrunner was the fastest growing trucking company among the 50 largest U.S. motor carriers in 2011, according to data from SJ Consulting Group.
The Cudahy, Wis.-based company increased trucking revenue 35.1 percent to $768 million in 2011, ranking 25th on The Journal of Commerce list of Top 50 carriers.
Roadrunner increased total revenue last year 33.5 percent to $843.6 million. LTL revenue accounted for more than $450 million of that 2011 total.
The carrier’s LTL revenue will top $500 million in 2012, Dobak said at the National Industrial Transportation League Freight Policy Forum May 8.
The carrier saw LTL freight revenue rise 18.2 percent to $119 million in the first quarter, as tonnage increased 11 percent and shipments 12.8 percent.
LTL revenue rose faster in early 2012 than in the fourth quarter of 2011, when Roadrunner increased LTL revenue 12.8 percent year-over-year.
LTL yield, a measure of pricing and productivity, rose 3.9 percent year-over-year in the first quarter and 2.7 percent in the fourth quarter, excluding fuel surcharges.
Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter at @wbcassidy_joc
