CAI International acquires truck broker

The container and railcar leasing company has acquired Hybrid Logistics, Inc. and its General Transportation Services, Inc affiliate, which are asset-light truck brokers with a focus on flatbed truck and over-dimensional shipments.    CAI International, best known as a container and railcar leasing company, has acquired Hybrid Logistics, Inc. and its General Transportation Services, Inc affiliate for $12 million, with the price partially dependent on the future performance of the companies.
   Headquartered in Portland, Ore., Hybrid and General Transportation are asset-light truck brokers with a focus on flatbed truck and over-dimensional shipments. They have 68 employees in six regional offices throughout the United States, generating combined revenues of $46 million in 2015. Robert Thompson, a co-founder and shareholder, will be president of the companies, which CAI plans to merge into one company and brand in the coming weeks.
   As of March 31, CAI operated a worldwide fleet of 1.16 million TEUs and 5,338 railcars.
   In the past year, CAI has made several acquisitions. In July 2015, the company purchased ClearPointt Logistics, an Everett, Wash.-based logistics company focused on the domestic intermodal market, for approximately $4.1 million. In addition, CAI purchased N.J.-based non-vessel operating common carrier Challenger Overseas for approximately $10.8 million in February 2016.

 

   “Over the past year we have advanced our goal of becoming a fully integrated logistics provider,” CAI CEO Victoria Garcia said.
   In addition, Garcia noted the Hybrid/General Transportation deal “doubles our annual logistics revenue, significantly expands our customer base, and gives us additional room to leverage and expand our relationships with customers and carriers. We have the capabilities in house to serve our customers’ transportation logistics needs with domestic intermodal transportation, international freight forwarding and now national truck brokerage.”
   “Our focus going forward will be to organically expand the reach of each of our businesses and make strategic acquisitions that enhance our overall global platform as a premier logistics provider. We expect that this transaction will be immediately accretive to our results,” Garcia said.
   “We like the asset light nature of the truck brokerage model and, with expanded access to available trucking lanes, we expect to realize synergies and cross-marketing opportunities with our existing logistics and asset owning businesses,” Garcia said. “We intend to merge the companies into one company and brand over the coming weeks.”