Less-than-truckload (LTL) operations returned to near normal Friday while parcel services were restored to many markets along the Texas-Louisiana Gulf coast as Tropical Storm Laura tracked through southeastern Missouri heading for parts of the Tennessee and Ohio River Valley regions.
Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL) reported that all of its stations in the region were at 100% capacity except for Beaumont, Texas, which was reported at 50% capacity, and Monroe, Louisiana, at 80%.
YRC Freight, the national LTL unit of YRC Worldwide Inc., reported Friday that its Texarkana, Texas, facility had reopened but its Monroe and Alexandria, Louisiana, stations were closed due to lack of power.
Saia Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) reported that its Alexandria and Lake Charles, Louisiana, stations stayed closed Friday.
FedEx Freight, the LTL unit of FedEx Corp. (NYSE:FDX), reported station closures in Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana and Missouri, the latter added to the list in response to the severe storms there late Thursday night and into Friday morning.
FedEx Express, FedEx’s air and international unit, said on its website that it suspended service Friday in 46 locations in Louisiana and 53 in Texas. Its FedEx Ground unit reported service suspensions in 46 locations in each state.
As of late Friday afternoon, UPS reported that it was not providing pickups and deliveries in 34 Louisiana ZIP codes. Early in the day, it reported that 61 ZIP codes in Texas were not receiving service. UPS’ website did not have an update on service issues in Texas as of late Friday afternoon.
The number of closed stations was far less than both parcel carriers had reported Thursday.
FreightWaves reported late Friday that all but a nine-mile stretch of Interstate 10 in Louisiana between Lake Charles and Sulphur had reopened. Kathy Fulton, executive director of the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN), which connects its relief organization partners with private companies donating logistics resources, said I-10’s reopening will expedite the movement of supplies and volunteers into the region. The relief organizations are “still in assessment mode” and have begun moving teams into the area, Fulton said.
Lake Charles and Sulphur remain problem areas, however. Besides Saia, FedEx’s operations there also remained closed. DuPre Logistics, an asset-based logistics company based in nearby Lafayette, Louisiana, reported Friday morning that most of the city’s businesses were not operating. Doug Roberie, DuPre’s vice president of asset logistics, said in an email early Friday morning that the company’s operations in southwestern Louisiana had been “impacted in a big way.”
DuPre’s Sulphur terminal suffered major damage, Roberie said Friday morning. The company would not know the extent of the damage until later in the day, he said. DuPre did not respond to a request for an update after the initial email.