Coyote Logistics and Access America Transport Announce Merger

trucks
Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Two of the nation’s fastest-growing transportation third-party logisitics service providers have announced that they are merging.

Chicago-based Coyote Logistics is combining its forces with Access America Transport, which is based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Terms of the deal were not made public.

Coyote, which posted earnings of $559 million in 2011, specializes in the brokerage of truck freight logistics and services a variety of customer bases, from food and beverage to heavy industry. The company was founded in 2006.

Access America Transport provides multi-modal transportation services, including trucking, less-than-truckload, intermodal, flatbed and specialized freight for shippers and carriers nationwide. The company was founded in 2002.

Becomes One of the Largest 3PL Providers

Combined, the two companies will be one of the largest third-party service providers on the North American continent, with run rate revenues exceeding $2 billion. It will have 17 North America locations, about 40,000 contracted carriers, and about 1,750 employees.

Coyote CEO Jeff Silver said the merger was the right move for both companies.

“We are incredibly excited to welcome the Access America team to the pack,” Silver said in a company news release. “We are confident that our shippers and carriers will see the benefit of  our newly expanded and dedicated customer service team. This merger reinforces our relentless commitment to shippers and carriers across North America. We now have more resources and better capacity to serve them.”

Access America CEO Ted Alling also said that the time was right for the two companies to join together as one.

“This is the perfect marriage of two companies that share a common set of values and are each fiercely dedicated to the shippers and carreirs of all sizes that we serve across North America,” Alling said. “Coyote’s proprietary technology and backend support will bring a level of unprecedented sophistication to Access America shippers and carriers.”

Seeking to Build Premier Supply Chain Offering

The merger is consistent with both companies’ strategies to build a premier supply chain offering that provides services for all transportation needs, according to the news release.

“Shippers and carriers will benefit from an expanded network, enhanced multi-modal transportation capabilities, and improved less-then-truckload services,” it stated.

When the merger becomes complete — which is expected to take place during the first quarter of 2014 — Silver will continue to serve as Coyote’s CEO and Access America’s president, Chad Eichelberger,will serve as the combined company’s president of brokerage.

Company to Be Based in Chicago

The new company will be based in Chicago, a company spokeswoman told Crain’s Chicago Business.

“Our HQ is still in Chicago and will remain here,” the spokeswoman said in an email. “WE are adding roughly 500 employees from Access America and still sticking to our hiring plan for 2014 and beyond.”

Crain’s included Coyote on its 2012 Fast Fifty list of rapidly expanding  Chicago-area companies. In 2013, it had revenues of $786.4 million with 911 employees in Chicago and 1,219 worldwide.

Access America was ranked ninth on the top 25 of America’s Most Promising Companies by Forbes Magazine in 2013. It has been named to the Inc. 5000 list for three consecutive years, the Inbound Logistics Top 100 3PL Providers list from 2008 to 2013, and was included on Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s list of the Top Workplaces in Minnesota in 2013.