BNSF LOGISTICS
HQ: Springdale, Arkansas
bnsflogistics.com | Global

BNSF further strengthened its service across North America when it announced the creation of a new Mexican subsidiary, BNSF Railway Servicos de Logistica. The Monterrey-based subsidiary will not only allow BNSF to present hands-on movement of industrial products at a local level—with a focus on project cargo and rail services—but also be near the epicenter of Mexico’s fast growing automotive industry. “Monterrey is an ideal location for BNSF,” says Ray Greer, president of BNSF Logistics. “The region is strategically important to our growth plans in Mexico, and having a local presence is key to developing vendor and client relationships.”

CARDINAL LOGISTICS management
HQ: Concord, North Carolina
cardlog.com | Domestic

Operating one of the largest, most diverse dedicated fleets in the U.S., Cardinal is also one of the largest for-hire providers of dedicated and refrigerated transportation in the nation. Cardinal has an impressive stable of iconic customers including Home Depot, Lowe’s, Office Depot and PetSmart. But no matter the size, the company customizes flexible and scalable technology to support customers’ requirements, working together to develop and integrate customized technology solutions that meet their needs. Its suite of tech solutions, including proprietary modules, handles transportation and fleet management, warehousing, order management, network modeling and delivery point scanning.

CASESTACK
HQ: Santa Monica, California
ww2.casestack.com | North America

A couple years ago when Casestack had not only expanded its Santa Monica headquarters but significantly grown four other North American consolidation centers, Colby Beland, VP of Sales and Marketing, said the expansion “highlights our commitment to ensuring our employees and our customers will have the resources they need from CaseStack for years to come.” That’s certainly true as the company, which also has major regional offices in Cincinnati and Fayettville, Arkansas, now has more than 3 million square feet of warehouse space in North America that strategically rings the contiguous U.S. with locations in Seattle, Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta and Chicago.

C.H. ROBINSON
HQ: Eden Prairie, Minnesota
chrobinson.com | Global

When C.H. Robinson purchased online freight broker Freightquote last year, Scott Satterlee, president of the company’s North American Surface Transportation division, said he expected to integrate Freightquote’s “innovative technology into our existing infrastructure. That will strengthen our ecommerce portfolio, something we consider crucial to our strategy in the years to come.” Actually, it appears to have paid off in the first year as this Minnesota giant widened its reach in North America. In fact, less than a year after the purchase, C.H. Robinson saw significant rises in sales in net truckload revenue and LTL net revenue as truckload volumes rose nearly 10 percent.

FLS TRANSPORTATION
HQ: Montreal, Canada
flstransport.com | North America

Twenty years ago, FLS was a provider of cross-border and Canadian truckload services. Ten years later it moved ahead with plans to expand its presence in the U.S., opening major operations centers in Kansas City and Los Angeles. At the time, FLS President Michael Flinker said the company had “plans for continued growth over the coming years. We plan to open many more offices and continue to expand our existing ones to improve our accessibility and service.” That certainly was the sentiment when FLS announced in April it had partnered with ABRY Partners to “seriously explore potential acquisitions and partnerships in the transportation/logistics space in order to facilitate additional growth.”

LANDSTAR
HQ: Jacksonville, Florida
landstar.com | Global

Landstar provides a full menu of services—ranging from expedited to emergency, step-deck to specialized, etc.—primarily throughout the U.S. and, to a lesser extent, in Canada and Mexico. That figures to change given that in April the company broke ground on a new cross-border logistics center in Laredo, Texas. The 31,000-square-foot facility will include a 30-bay cross-dock and transload facility as well as a dedicated and expanded heavy-haul section with a 120 ton stand-alone bridge crane. “The bridge crane will be a unique trucking application,” says Landstar Transportation Logistics Vice President of Mexico Operations Steve Wisnieski. “It will be used to transfer heavy/specialized freight between various types of platform equipment coming to and from Mexico.”

SUNLAND LOGISTICS SOLUTIONS
HQ: Simpsonville, South Carolina
sunlandlogisticssolutions.com | North America

Headquartered in South Carolina, this year Sunland expanded with another 313,000-square-foot distribution warehouse in the state, yet another indication of its desire to become a player on the national stage. Those intentions were made clear when, in 2009, new CEO Arch Thomason announced the company’s national intentions, saying Sunland would be focusing on establishing expertise in the automotive, chemical, retail and paper industries. A few years later, the Our Destination 2018 Strategic Growth Plan was announced and implemented with a focus on a lean organization, continuous improvement and eliminating waste.

SWIFT TRANSPORATION
HQ: Phoenix, Arizona
swifttrans.com | North America

The largest common carrier in the United States, operating nearly 20,000 trucks, 58,000 trailers and 9,000 intermodal containers, Swift offers an extensive suite of services that includes logistics management, rail intermodal and all manner of truckload options. Swift’s terminal network has grown to more than 40 full-service facilities spread throughout the U.S. and Mexico where, as the owner of Trans-Mex, it offers border-crossing services at all major Mexican border crossings. It also maintains an everyday presence in every Canadian province. The company employs nearly 20,000 people and recently expanded its refrigerated freight business by acquiring Central Refrigerated Service.

TOTAL QUALITY LOGISTICS
HQ: Cincinnati, Ohio
tql.com | North America

There is plenty of optimism at this Cincinnati-based firm, still a year shy of its 20th anniversary. After setting sales records of $2 billion in 2014, TQL topped those last year with $2.2 billion as it opened 10 new sales offices and added 800 new employees. TQL President Kerry Byrne says he expects the expansion to continue and believes his company can flourish in any “decent-sized city.” We’ll find out fairly soon, since another 15 offices are slated to open nationwide. With that kind of upward projection, it’s not surprising that Kerry, asked by a journalist what was Total Quality’s limit when it came to growth, answered: “Is there a limit? Not that I’m aware of.”

UNISHIPPERS
HQ: Salt Lake City, Utah
unishippers.com | Global

Aggressive? When Unishippers announced in June this year that it was bringing on Robert Rodgers as its new chief financial officer, it made clear it was with plans of doubling sales by continuing to expand its already growing suite of subsidiaries. The company, which specializes in offering small package and heavy freight services to more than 50,000 small and medium-sized businesses, has already added the likes of SGI and Launch Logistics. Kevin Lathrop, Unishippers president, says he believes Rodgers’ role in management and finance on the biggest global stages—he previously worked at Lockheed Martin and GE Capital—will “be especially helpful as we identify and pursue growth opportunities to reach our $1 billion sales goal.”