Privately owned less-than-truckload carrier Estes announced it has closed on lease purchases of seven terminals previously operated by now-defunct Yellow Corp.
The Richmond, Virginia-based company said Thursday that the new locations will result in a net increase of 290 doors to its national network of 11,832. Estes has added 508 doors this year, a 4.5% increase from the end of 2023. It plans to add 940 more within the next nine months.
Estes said it remains debt-free following the transaction.
“I applaud our team’s hard work and dedication for how quickly we’ve been able to deploy and take advantage of these new assets, which include hundreds of shipping containers and trailers, throughout our fleet,” said President and COO Webb Estes.
The company said it will be relocating terminals in the large metro areas of Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Charlotte, North Carolina. Relocations will also occur in midsize markets Rockford, Illinois; South Bend, Indiana; and Eugene, Oregon. The new Charlotte facility has 275 doors, which will be the largest service center in Estes’ network.
The carrier’s $1.525 billion stalking horse bid for all 174 of Yellow’s (OTC: YELLQ) owned terminals edged out a competing bid from peer Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ: ODFL) last September. The winning bid set a price floor for the real estate portfolio for subsequent auctions. Estes acquired 29 terminals from Yellow for $284 million, according to filings in a Delaware bankruptcy court. It has also purchased the leases on an additional 10 properties that it was renting to Yellow.
Handlers of Yellow’s estate have asked the court to allow it to retain CBRE as its sole real estate broker to move the remaining properties, which include 46 owned and 70 leased locations.
Estes also said Thursday it has purchased 6,800 trailers, boosting its trailing capacity to more than 45,000 units, since the beginning of this year.
