Dive Brief:
- A federal bankruptcy judge approved Estes Express Lines’ and R+L Carriers’ acquisitions of a dozen more Yellow Corp. terminals for a combined $192.5 million last month, according to court documents.
- Estes spent $142.5 million to acquire seven terminals and buy back the leases of four more, per the documents and a company announcement this month.
- R+L Carriers spent $50 million through an affiliated company, RAMAR Land Corp., to acquire a single Hudson Valley terminal in Maybrook, New York, court documents said.
Dive Insight:
The real estate purchases add to the nearly $2 billion in terminal acquisitions and another $82.9 million in lease purchases in the defunct LTL carrier’s bankruptcy last year.
The trucking companies are hustling against XPO, Saia and others to bring more capacity into their networks ahead of an anticipated improvement in the freight market.
Estes, one of the top buyers of properties in the auction, has added more than 700 doors to its network through six new terminals and the relocation of 14 others to bigger facilities, the company said.
Estes’ latest Yellow terminal acquisitions are:
- A 167-door, 52.7-acre Tracy, California, terminal
- A 75-door, 13.5-acre Fort Wayne, Indiana, terminal
- An 80-door, 21.9-acre Jeffersonville, Indiana, terminal serving Louisville, Kentucky
- A 136-door, 39.2-acre Hagerstown, Maryland, terminal
- A 67-door, 8.6-acre Omaha, Nebraska, terminal
- A 216-door, 42.9-acre Cincinnati, Ohio terminal
- A 198-door, 95-acre Ringgold, Georgia, terminal serving Chattanooga, Tennessee
Its four lease buy-backs are in Norway, Michigan; Dunmore, Pennsylvania, near Scranton; Miami; and Orange, Florida.
R+L Carriers acquired eight Yellow terminals and three leases for $211.5 million last year.
The 304-door, 51.2-acre terminal the company purchased last month in New York was the second-largest site available in a third round of the real estate auction, according to a filing from September.
