Saia continues expansion with New York state facility

August 3, 2022

•

Saia has opened a new facility in Binghamton, N.Y., and plans to continue its expansion with one in the Chicago area this month and more by year end.

This is in addition to five new facility openings already this year.

Saia has five facilities in New York, including the new Binghamton location.

The company won’t be done with opening facilities at year end, according to Frederick Holzgrefe, president and CEO for Johns Creek, Ga.-based Saia, who made comments during a second-quarter earnings call in late July. A transcript of the call is available.

“Our pipeline for terminal openings carries well into 2025,” Holzgrefe said.

He promised a detailed update on opening and relocation plans for 2023 as part of Saia’s third-quarter conference call.

Getting closer to our customers to provide higher levels of service is an important part of the company’s strategy, he said.

Saia less-than-truckload revenue per shipment, excluding fuel surcharge, was 16% higher year-over-year, Holzgrefe reported. Daily shipment activity across the quarter was roughly 32,000 shipments per day.

Saia has seen benefits from its facility expansion, he said.

“In Atlanta, for example, we’ve seen higher growth and improved profitability in the market because of our new terminal in the Northwest side of town. We opened the facility just last December, and we’re already seeing significantly improved service for our customers and synergies for sales and operations,” Holzgrefe said during the call. “We expect the Atlanta market to benefit further from the June openings of terminals in Macon and Valdosta to the south of Atlanta, along with an additional Metro Atlanta terminal opening planned for 2023. The success seen in these recent openings is only in the early stages.”

Revenue up

Second quarter revenue increased by $174.2 million to $745.6 million, reported Douglas Col, executive vice president and chief financial officer.

Tonnage grew 2.8%, which included a 1.8% increase in shipments and a 1.1% increase in weight. Length of haul remained at 910 miles.

“Yield, excluding fuel surcharge, improved by 14.9% and yield increased by 26.3% including fuel surcharge,” Col reported. “Fuel surcharge revenue increased by 97.4% and was 21.7% of total revenue compared to 14.4% a year ago.”

Previous Saia facility openings

Saia reported opening new I-75 terminals in Georgia in June.

Also in June, Saia opened a new terminal in Rockford, Ill.

In mid-March, Saia announced opening a terminal in LaSalle, Ill. Shortly after that, in late April, Saia LTL Freight announced the opening of new terminals in Mineral Wells, W. Va., which is near Parkersburg, W. Va.

These are in addition to the Saia facilities opened in 2021 in Calhoun, Ga.; Staunton, Va.; Girard, Ohio; New Haven, Conn.; Fredericksburg, Va.; Hagerstown, Md.; and Wilmington, Del.

Saia LTL Freight operates 182 terminals across the country, Saia LTL Freight was founded in 1924 in Houma, La., by Louis Saia Sr., a produce dealer who switched from selling produce to delivering it. The company is publicly traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under SAIA. LL