ODFL opens up new service center in Duluth, Minnesota

Less-than-truckload (LTL) transportation services provider Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) said this week it has opened up a new service center in Minnesota.

Company officials said the eight-door, five-acre facility will serve as a gateway to the Great Lakes shipping area in northern Minnesota and northwestern Minnesota. They added it will serve shippers in Twin Ports and more than a dozen cities in Minnesota and Wisconsin, including Hibbing, Ely and Grand Rapids in Minnesota and Wisconsin-based Hayward, Webster, Minong, and Cameron. What’s more, ODFL said this new service center provides the company with better access to rail heads and major roadways, including Interstate 35 and U.S. Highways 2 and 53.

“While we did not have a physical presence in Duluth prior to this terminal, we have been exploring building a physical presence here for several years, said Darek Novak, president of ODFL’s Midwest region. “Because of customer demand for our quality service, the Duluth and Superior markets are a growth opportunity for us in Minnesota. When the opportunity to move into this facility presented itself earlier this year, we jumped at the chance.”

ODFL said that this location is the 218th in its nationwide service center network and is part of a $90-$120 million company capital investment focused on real estate purchases and expansion projects this year. Earlier this year, ODFL opened up a separate Minnesota-based service center in Benson, Minnesota.

Novak said that prior to the opening of the Duluth-based service center, this area was serviced by one of ODFL’s agent partners, adding that the new terminal will give ODFL greater coverage northern Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin.

“We are going to provide direct service for our customers, expanded coverage, improved tracking/tracing visibility and improved transit times,” he said. “The new service center will help us continue to provide outstanding service to our customers.”