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Logistics/Supply ChainsTruckload Freight

Geodis acquires broker Velocity Freight Transport

Transaction to have modest impact on French giant’s brokerage business

Mark Solomon
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Many ex-warehouse workers remain on the sidelines, according to Newmark report (Photo: Geodis)

French logistics company Geodis said Tuesday that it has acquired freight broker Velocity Freight Transport Inc. from McLane Co. Inc., a unit of conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK.A, BRK.B) Terms of the transaction, which closed June 30, were not disclosed.

Velocity, based in Plano, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, will remain in its current location. Geodis’ Americas operation is based in Brentwood, Tennessee, near Nashville.

The transaction will have a modest impact on Geodis’ brokerage business. According to research and consulting firm Armstrong & Associates Inc., Geodis generated $406.6 million in gross brokerage revenue in 2020, placing it 41st on Armstrong’s list of the top 100 brokers. Velocity generated about $26 million in gross revenue last year, according to Armstrong data. Gross revenue is the amount of revenue a broker generates before deducting the cost of transportation.

Geodis operates more than 150 U.S. warehouse facilities with over 47 million square feet of warehousing space.


Mark Solomon

Formerly the Executive Editor at DC Velocity, Mark Solomon joined FreightWaves as Managing Editor of Freight Markets. Solomon began his journalistic career in 1982 at Traffic World magazine, ran his own public relations firm (Media Based Solutions) from 1994 to 2008, and has been at DC Velocity since then. Over the course of his career, Solomon has covered nearly the whole gamut of the transportation and logistics industry, including trucking, railroads, maritime, 3PLs, and regulatory issues. Solomon witnessed and narrated the rise of Amazon and XPO Logistics and the shift of the U.S. Postal Service from a mail-focused service to parcel, as well as the exponential, e-commerce-driven growth of warehouse square footage and omnichannel fulfillment.