Dive Brief:
- R+L Carriers reopened a pair of former Yellow Corp. terminals in Oklahoma and South Carolina last month, the carrier announced.
- The facilities in Oklahoma City and Piedmont, South Carolina, near Greenville, were among eight properties the carrier acquired for $211.5 million in the LTL competitor’s bankruptcy auction last year.
- R+L Carriers will relocate to the facilities from existing terminals in Greenville, South Carolina, and Oklahoma City to take advantage of updated infrastructure and additional amenities at each new site.
Dive Insight:
Carriers capitalized on Yellow’s bankruptcy auction to expand into new markets and scale existing operations by moving them to larger facilities. XPO, Estes Express Lines and Saia are doing both.
R+L Carriers’ other terminal acquisitions in the auction were in Kansas City, Kansas; Salt Lake City, Utah; Wheeling, Illinois; Irving, Texas; Strafford, Missouri; and New Castle, Delaware, according to a filing.
The Piedmont service center, near Interstate 85, boasts 216 dock doors, a two-bay maintenance shop, a three-lane fuel island and 9,500 square feet of office space. The terminal will be R+L Carriers’ largest in South Carolina and joins its Columbia and Yemassee operations in the state.
“In addition to its value as an intrastate shipping hub, the site's proximity to Georgia and North Carolina makes it a valuable resource for interstate commerce,” said Greg Bronner, R+L Carriers VP of marketing and business critical sales, in the announcement.
The Oklahoma City location is closer to Interstate 40 than R+L Carriers’ former site. It offers 155 dock doors, a 10-bay maintenance shop, a three-lane fuel island and 7,800 square feet of office space, the company said. The company has one other facility in Oklahoma: a terminal in Muskogee, farther east.
The Oklahoma City site’s proximity to I-344 and I-44 interchanges along I-40 will ensure smooth and efficient operations through the state capital and support linehaul operations moving through Texas and Arkansas, Bronner said.
