Texas Terminal Added in Old Dominion LTL Trucking Expansion

Old Dominion has added a Texas terminal signaling its expansion in the LTL trucking industry. This is the Freight Line Company’s 21^st service center within the state of Texas. Old Dominion is a formidable name in the industry, not least because it is the 4^th largest less-than-truckload carrier in the entire USA. The new service center has nine doors and is based in Lufkin. For those that do not know much about Lufkin, it is a city that is located in the northern part of Houston, just close to the border with the state of Louisiana.

New Trucking and New Job Opportunities

The new facility will assist ODFL in the process of streamlining its trucking operations. For example businesses can expect a combination of early and late pickups within the locality. Darrel Benefield is the Lufkin Service Center Manager. He released a statement confirming the new arrangements and the potential benefits that it brings to the industry as a whole. It is anticipated that the terminal will cover the Texas areas of Livingston, Crockett, Lufkin, Jasper and Nacogdoches.

Stepping Up Services and Efficiency

ODFL has had a long term expansion plan and this is just the latest development in that progression. There is a new terminal in East Texas for example. The company which was originally based in Thomasville (North Carolina) has gradually expanded its trucking reach. Consequently its freight density is growing with more than a dozen terminals spread across the USA from coast to coast. All this expansion has taken place in the last half decade.

Adding Doors beyond the Headquarters

One of the key components of the expansion is the addition of doors and the reconfiguration of the ODFL headquarters so that they are able to handle the diverse trucking that are within the company’s remit at the moment. Existing terminals have been developed and upgraded considerably during that time. Perhaps the biggest expansion was the one that they did in Memphis. This remains one of the company’s busiest hubs and ODFL responded by opening a 267-door terminal way back in October 2014. This effectively replaced the old defunct service center.

A Word from the CEO

David S. Congdon is the CEO and Vice Chairman of ODFL. Last November he confirmed that the company was looking to buy and expand their trucking facilities during a growth horizon phase of between 5 and 10 years. He also pointed out the fact that over the past 15 years ODFL had spent about $1.5 billion on expanding its real estate. At the time ODFL boasted no fewer than 224 terminals. Not only has the expansion boosted operations, it has also significantly improved the company profitability.

High Market Share and Trucking Dominance

 Currently ODFL plays a significant role in the combined revenue of the top LTL carriers. By 2015 it had achieved a market share of 9% within that elite trucking cohort. That was up from its share of 8.4% in 2014 according to SJ Consulting Group data. The company revenue increased by 6.6% in 2015, thanks to the fact that ODFL was expanding its freight volumes even as other industry players were shrinking. Its LTL shipments had increased by 6.4% and 6.1% in January and February respectively.