C.H. Robinson acquires refrigerated LTL-services 3pl

Minneapolis-based third-party logistics provider C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. said Thursday that it had acquired "substantially all of the operating assets and certain liabilities" of Trans-Consolidated Inc. (TCI). TCI is a 3pl that focuses on refrigerated less-than-truckload (LTL) services for food concerns.

TCI is headquartered in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. TCI, like Robinson, is nonasset-based. According to a statement from Robinson, TCI provides temperature-controlled LTL consolidation and distribution services for more than 400 carriers and cold-storage warehouses. TCI has 38 employees and had gross revenue of around $24 million last year, according to Robinson.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

"TCI is a great company with an expertise that's in growing demand in the marketplace," Barry Butzow, senior vice president of C.H. Robinson, said.

"Refrigerated LTL is a natural extension of what we already do for our customers. The refrigerated LTL market is today very fragmented. We believe we can take TCI's service base and scale it out nationally, under our larger sales and operations umbrella."

Robinson said that Olivia M. Bradley, chairman of TCI, would retire after the acquisition. Kenneth R. Jahr, 50, president and chief executive officer of TCI, will join C.H. Robinson as manager of the new TCI/Robinson branch office, according to the company.

Edited by Michael Lear-Olimpi, Managing Editor, Logistics Online