Saia is an American less than truckload (LTL) trucking company, that originated in

Houma, Louisiana Houma ( ) is the largest city in, and the parish seat of, Terrebonne Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is also the largest principal city of the Houma– Bayou Cane– Thibodaux metropolitan statistical area. The city's governme ...

in 1924. With original operation occurring in Louisiana and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

for the first fifty years, expansion came after 1980 when coverage began reaching into more states within the South. Further expansion happened through mergers with other companies, which allowed Saia to provide service for thirty six states. Saia ranks within the top ten of LTL carriers in the United States, with revenues of over $1.8 billion in 2020.

History

Foundation and expansion

Saia began in 1924 in Houma, Louisiana by Louis Saia Sr. Louis was a produce dealer who realized that there was more success in delivering produce rather than selling it. The first Saia truck was his car with the rear seats removed. By 1970, Saia expanded and established terminals in

and

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

. Saia became one of the largest regional LTL carriers in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

with 23 terminals throughout the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern po ...

and revenue exceeding $50 million.

Subsidiary of Preston and Yellow

The Saia family sold Saia to Preston Trucking in 1987. The

Yellow Corporation Yellow Corporation is an American transportation holding company headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas. Its subsidiaries include national less than truckload (LTL) carrier YRC Freight, regional LTL carriers New Penn, Holland and Reddaway and ...

purchased Preston Trucking, along with subsidiaries Saia & Smalley, in 1993. In 1995 Saia merged with Smalley Transportation resulting in the establishment of terminals in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = G ...

and western

Resumed independence

In 2002 Saia and Delanco, New Jersey-based Jevic Transportation, another Yellow Corporation subsidiary, spun off to form an independent publicly traded company called SCS Transportation (SCS). Clark Brothers Transport, Inc. was acquired in 2004 incorporating its nine state, sixteen terminal operations into Saia. In 2006, SCS sold Jevic to a

Sun Capital Partners Sun Capital Partners, Inc., is an American private equity firm specializing in leveraged buyouts. Sun Capital was founded in 1995 by Marc J. Leder and Rodger Krouse, former classmates at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and ...

affiliate for $40 million. The sale came after years of low profitability at Jevic and allowed SCS to focus on its more successful Saia unit. Along with the sale, SCS announced plans to rebrand the parent company to Saia and move its corporate headquarters from Kansas City, Missouri to Saia's headquarters in

Duluth, Georgia Duluth is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. Located north of Interstate 85, it is approximately northeast of Atlanta. As of the 2020 census, Duluth had a population of 31,873, and the United States Census Bureau estimated the po ...

. Saia president Rick O'Dell would become president, CEO, and a board member of the parent company with former chairman and CEO, Bert Trucksess, transitioning to non-executive chairman. Jevic, originally founded in 1981 by Harry Mulschlegel, would shut down in 2008 after being unable to improve its fortunes as an independent company. Saia began trading on the

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

with the symbol SAIA.

Expansion via acquisitions

Saia expanded further with the acquisitions of two LTL carriers:

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

-based The Connection Company in 2006 and Madison Freight Systems (MFS) of Waunakee, Wisconsin in 2007. Saia acquired Robart Transportation (and subsidiary The RL Services Group) in 2012 for approximately $7.8 million. Robart, founded in 1981 in

, was a non-asset truckload and brokerage service provider while The RL Services Group focused on supply chain, logistics, data mining, and operations analysis and related services. The acquisition of Robart, which Saia planned to rebrand under the Saia name, marked Saia's first significant move into non-asset logistics services. In 2015, Saia acquired Dallas-based third-party logistics provider LinkEx for $25 million. LinkEx was founded in 2002 as a non-asset-based intermodal logistics management company, providing services and technology for management of international and domestic shipments. After the LinkEx purchase, Saia's previous non-asset acquisition, Robart, was merged into LinkEx which continued operations as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saia with offices in Dallas, Atlanta, and Guadalajara, Mexico.

Operations

Saia has 172 terminals and serves the 48 states in the

contiguous United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawai ...

directly. It also serves Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Canada via a network of partners. The three operating service groups of Saia are Saia LTL Freight, Saia Logistics Service, and LinkEx. Saia has over 10,500 employees and handles over 26,000 shipments per day as of 2021. In 2017, Saia partnered with TST Overland Express, now TST-CF Express to provide cross border shipments into Canada. Saia provides the equivalent service for TST.

References

External links

Saia Official WebsiteLinkEx Official Website
{{Authority control Companies based in Fulton County, Georgia 1924 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Trucking companies of the United States Companies listed on the Nasdaq