Old Dominion Freight Line launches two new service centers

Less-than-truckload carrier Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) announced it has opened up new service centers in South Houston, Texas and Kalamazoo, Michigan in an effort to better serve shippers in these locales.

The company’s Kalamazoo facility is comprised of 15 employees and 44 doors and is located on an eight acres site southeast of Kalamazoo’s city center and near the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport.

ODFL Vice President for the Michigan region Mike Wood told LM that when Kalamazoo-based Alvan Motor Freight Inc. went out of business in 2008, ODFL needed additional capacity in the southwest part of Michigan and purchased this facility from Alvan.

“As levels started improving in the second quarter of this year, we decided the time was right to open the Kalamazoo center.”

Wood said that this new service center enables ODFL to react quicker to shippers’ needs in the Kalamazoo and Battlecreek area, as well as increase dock capacity in the southwestern part of Michigan.

Prior to the launch of this location, the closest ODFL service centers were in Grand Rapids, Mich., South Bend, Ind., and Lansing, Mich. With the new facility, ODFL took service territory from each of these locations to help make pick up and deliveries more efficient in the Kalamazoo area, according to Wood. He added that the primary advantage of the new center is improved service as ODFL can now react quicker to customers’ needs and also that this new facility also provides terminal capacity for future growth.

The South Houston, Texas location is a 38-door facility with more than 30 employees and is in close proximity to the William P. Hobby Airport, which is southeast of Houston’s city center, said ODFL.

ODFL Vice President of the Gulf States Region Gerry Broadwell said that the company had planned the new service center for three years due to an increase in business levels from South Houston.

“In addition, our drivers no longer have to worry about Houston’s heavy downtown traffic since the service center is located southeast of Houston’s city center.”

Broadwell said that before this new center was opened the closest ODFL service center was in Beaumont, Texas, 90 miles east of Houston.

In terms of the biggest competitive advantages of this new service center for ODFL, Broadwell cited quicker responses to customers’ needs and the ability to improve transit times and provide early pick up and deliveries.

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