NFI Industries announced Monday the acquisition of port services provider MCO Transport. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Wilmington, North Carolina-based MCO provides container drayage, warehousing and truckload transportation out of terminals near the ports in Savannah, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina; and Norfolk, Virginia. It has facilities in Atlanta and Wilmington as well.
“The acquisition also allows us to bring value to our customers by expanding our presence in the Southeast during a time when our customers are looking to diversify their port strategy,” stated Sid Brown, NFI CEO, in a news release.
Inbound container traffic to the U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports is up 11% year over year (y/y) over the past 12 months while the West Coast has seen a 4% y/y decline in traffic over the same period. Many shippers began routing traffic East last year to avoid supply chain bottlenecks and potential work stoppages ahead of union labor negotiations.
NFI provides a variety of supply chain services, including dedicated transportation, distribution and warehousing. The company has grown its port drayage offering through acquisition and now has a presence in most of the largest ports in the U.S. and Canada. It acquired California Cartage Co. in 2017 and South Carolina-based G&P Trucking in 2019.
Last year it announced a deal with the Georgia Ports Authority to operate a new transload and cross-docking terminal in Savannah. The site will open next year. The company also has three other locations in Norfolk and Suffolk, Virginia, as well as Houston coming online by the end of 2023.
“Throughout this process, our team wanted to ensure we found a buyer that would create opportunities for our employees and our customers. It is a culture that matched what MCO has grown to expect,” said Danny McComas, MCO’s owner and CEO.
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