[my_adsense_shortcode_1]
Borderlands is a weekly rundown of traits in the sector of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and industry. This week: ITS Logistics is making big moves in the Lone Star State; Lineage Logistics opens a chilly chain logistics heart in Houston; a steel recycling company acquires a 55-acre tract at a logistics park; and TQL opens a brand new brokerage administrative center in Arizona.
ITS Logistics making big moves in Lone Star State
ITS Logistics not too long ago opened a $100 million logistics facility in Texas geared toward making a distribution and success provider around the U.S.
The 1.1 million-square-foot facility is situated in Fort Worth on the Intermodal Logistics Center, a construction adjoining to BNSF Railway’s Alliance Intermodal Facility and likewise in shut proximity to FedEx and UPS regional hubs, Fort Worth Alliance Airport and Interstate 35.
“The Dallas-Fort Worth center is a big one and … we’re starting a heavy-haul special projects division that’s going to focus on cross-border, really heavy industry freight that supports oil and gas, aerospace and manufacturing that’s going to be spearheaded through Houston,” Paul Brashier, vp of drayage and intermodal at ITS Logistics, informed FreightWaves. “We’re going to start really building out that triangle from Houston to Dallas, down to Austin, San Antonio, back to Houston.”
Reno, Nevada-based ITS Logistics is a 3PL offering provide chain answers around the U.S. The corporate provides logistics and warehouse services and products, in addition to business trucking transportation.
The Fort Worth facility is ITS’ first logistics facility in Texas and, mixed with the corporate’s current amenities in Reno and Indianapolis, will strengthen efforts to provide nationwide success services and products to 95% of the U.S. inhabitants in 3 days or much less.
The new house options 40-foot transparent heights, 200-plus dock doorways and parking for 211 trailers. It additionally lets in ITS so as to add regional trucking operations, together with devoted contract services and products, drayage, linehaul and expedited.
Brashier mentioned expanding freight flows at ports alongside the Gulf of Mexico is one more reason for the brand new logistics facility in Fort Worth.
“If you look just at what’s going on in Texas through Port Houston, and some of the other Gulf Coast ports, it’s the reason that we’re shifting focus there,” Brashier mentioned. “We’re also starting to focus on cross-border. Mexico is now the U.S.’ largest trading partner, larger than China.”
ITS Logistics not too long ago issued its per thirty days U.S. port/rail ramp freight index on port container and drayage operations for the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf coasts for November.
For the primary time in the historical past of the index, all modes throughout all areas are at standard operations, ITS Logistics mentioned.
“As the good news arrives just in time for the holidays, shippers and carriers should continue closely following the choke points at the Suez and Panama Canals as water conditions worsen and the current conflict between Israel and Gaza continues,” consistent with the index.
Brashier mentioned water ranges in the Panama Canal are proscribing the quantity of shipment that may be transported, whilst unrest in the Middle East additionally has the prospective to have an effect on vessel float throughout the Suez Canal.
The ongoing freight recession could also be inflicting many carriers to provide charges underneath their operations price, which is able to motive extra trucking firms and owner-operators to go out the marketplace in the approaching months, Brashier mentioned.
“The largest concern there is that you’re seeing that these exits are not just in the dray space. You’ve seen Yellow go down, Convoy. … You’re seeing the canaries in the coal mine,” Brashier mentioned. “It’s adversely affecting the small to medium-sized carriers a lot more.”
Brashier additionally mentioned shippers will have to be cautious of simply on the lookout for the most cost effective freight transportation suppliers in the marketplace.
“If you’re going to the RFP right now, you’re going to get cheap capacity [that is] in many cases, 75% to 65% rate reductions on lanes year over year,” Brashier mentioned. “So you’re going to get the financial savings that you wish to have, nevertheless it’s additionally a choice out to what are you purchasing? The factor that we all the time have a tendency to be conscious of and keep up a correspondence again to our purchasers and the ones in this ecosystem is, how financially wholesome are the ones suppliers?
When charges backside out, many suppliers are working at a loss on a charge in step with mile, which is dangerous for the total freight business.
“As long as rates stay there, you’re going to start seeing a lot of the folks that probably provided some really super-low rates start kind of washing out, they won’t be able to maintain those rates,” Brashier mentioned. “Make certain that you’ve got sturdy relationships and other folks that you’ve got a long-standing industry dating with, maintaining them in community.
“It’s a very difficult balance for shippers, but taking in the fiscal health of the carrier base and hedging and just bringing more carriers on if you’re not 100% sure on some of your current carriers is a smart decision, we feel, as you go into uncharted waters in 2024.”
Lineage Logistics opens chilly chain logistics heart in Houston
Lineage Logistics introduced the outlet of a 315,000-square-foot temperature-controlled logistics facility in Houston, its 6th facility in the world.
Known because the Houston ChillyPort facility, it’s situated close to the Jacintoport Terminal at Port Houston and provides built-in transportation and drayage operations to strengthen import and export call for.
“[Houston] has recently seen a surge in port demand amid congestion and other issues at the big ports on the West Coast,” Brian Beattie, Lineage president of North American West, mentioned in a news release. “By adding ColdPort to our Houston network, Lineage’s customers have another option to help manage their costs and increase productivity.”
The addition expands Lineage’s footprint in Texas to twenty amenities totaling greater than 192 million cubic toes of capability. Lineage additionally not too long ago opened a chilly garage facility in Lancaster, close to Dallas.
Novi, Michigan-based Lineage Logistics operates greater than 400 amenities on 3 continents, using 17,000 employees.
OmniSource LLC, a subsidiary of Steel Dynamics Inc., has got a 55-acre, rail-served tract on the Gulf Inland Logistics Park to amplify its metals recycling operations.
Gulf Inland Logistics Park is situated in Dayton, Texas, about 37 miles northeast of Houston. The logistics park totals 2,400 acres and goals to supply production, distribution, rail services and products, garage and transportation functions for corporations in the Gulf Coast area.
“Gulf Inland Logistics Park’s strategic proximity to Houston and its direct connectivity to key road and rail networks make it the perfect site for our latest metals recycling facility,” Miguel Alvarez, president at OmniSource, mentioned in a news release. “The opportunity to begin operations in 2024 will empower us to quickly enhance our capacity to cater to our customers’ demands and significantly extend our footprint throughout the southern U.S.”
OmniSource operates round 70 scrap assortment and processing amenities in the U.S. and Mexico. Its father or mother corporate, Steel Dynamics, opened a 1.2 million-square-foot flat roll metal mill about 226 miles south in Sinton, Texas, in 2022.
TQL opens new brokerage administrative center in Arizona
Total Quality Logistics (TQL) not too long ago opened a brokerage administrative center in Tucson, Arizona, which boosts its funding around the area, officers mentioned.
“We chose Tucson because it is a major transportation hub and has a great pool of talent,” TQL President Kerry Byrne mentioned in a news release.
The corporate opened its Phoenix administrative center in 2016 and lately employs 100 other folks on the location. Tucson is the corporate’s 57th location national.
Cincinnati-based TQL is among the greatest logistics corporations in North America, with greater than 9,000 workers in 56 workplaces around the U.S.
Click for extra FreightWaves articles via Noi Mahoney.
More articles via Noi Mahoney
Houston would possibly limit shipment truck actions within town limits
10 Roads Express lays off 66 employees in Texas
Mexico stays most sensible US industry spouse, Laredo No. 1 gateway
[/gpt3]
