Forward Air announced Monday the acquisition of intermodal drayage company Edgmon Trucking.
Located in Kent, Washington, Edgmon serves the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, operating a 5-acre facility in Kent and a 2-acre yard in Seattle. The company uses a fleet of roughly 70 trucks, mostly independent contractors, and a staff of 21 to facilitate its operations.
The purchase price of the deal was not disclosed but a press release said the company generates approximately $22 million in revenue each year. Forward will use cash on hand to fund the deal sometime in May.
The transaction is the first drayage addition for Forward on the West Coast.
“Bringing in Edgmon Trucking marks our commitment to meeting customer demand by increasing our intermodal drayage capabilities within the region,” Tom Schmitt, Forward president, chairman and CEO, stated in a press release. “Over the past 12 months, we’ve been focused on the strategic expansion of our network and operations across our intermodal and LTL businesses — and we are not done yet.”
Forward added roughly $25 million in revenue to its intermodal unit with additions of Minnesota Twin Cities operators BarOle Trucking and TKI Intermodal in November. In February 2021, it picked up Chicago-based drayage operator Proficient Transport, which was listed with annual revenue of $23 million at the time.
Intermodal revenue at Forward surged 55% year-over-year to $90 million during the first quarter as revenue per shipment jumped 61% in the period. Higher yields drove 460 basis points of operating margin improvement at 12.3%.
Forward operated 29 intermodal locations at the end of March. Last 12 months’ revenue for the unit was $321 million.
Forward’s largest segment, expedited freight, which includes less-than-truckload, truckload and final mile, generated $1.37 billion in revenue last year.
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