Roadrunner Launches New Outbound Services from San Antonio and Laredo

Author: Jeff Berman
October 18, 2024

This week, Roadrunner, a national less-than-truckload (LTL) service provider specializing in long-haul city-to-city transportation based in Downers Grove, Illinois, announced the launch of a new outbound service originating from two key Texas markets—San Antonio and Laredo. The company describes these as “the busiest shipping ports” in the United States.

Tomas Jamroz, Chief Operating Officer at Roadrunner, stated in a press release that opening these new outbound lanes reinforces the company’s confidence in its service capabilities and the growing demand for reliable LTL transportation.

“Our improved direct city-to-city LTL operations are performing well, and our customers have noticed,” he said.

In recent years, the company made a clear business decision to focus on LTL by optimizing its operations and long-haul network through direct city-to-city service. Roadrunner claims this strategy has been “highly successful,” evidenced by reduced rehandling of goods and low exception rates associated with direct loading and long-haul transport to distribution centers.

Chris Jamroz, Executive Chairman and CEO of Roadrunner’s board, told Logistics Management that the company now sees rapid-growing U.S.-Mexico cross-border lanes (primarily through Laredo) as a significant long-term opportunity and an area aligned with its core capabilities.

“Considering recent nearshoring trends and because Laredo is the largest port in the United States, Roadrunner has developed a strategic plan over a year before opening outbound services to more than 40 cities across our entire network,” Jamroz said. “As our customers’ supply chains continue to evolve, many will start including more cross-border movements into and out of Mexico. We aim to grow and evolve with them. LTL shippers from various sectors—manufacturing, industrial, e-commerce, automotive, and retail—are now able to access Roadrunner’s entire network.”

When asked how Roadrunner previously served this region, Jamroz explained that the company did not establish a service product for movements into or out of Mexico because it primarily focused on domestic LTL freight in the U.S.

“While we made some deliveries to San Antonio for domestic shippers, we had no presence in Laredo,” he said. “We wanted to ensure our service standards and network were up to par before opening access to our entire network. This year’s significant rise in our ranking in the annual Mastio LTL survey demonstrates the strength of our smart network and how our service levels exceed customer expectations.”

From Roadrunner’s perspective, Jamroz noted that the primary competitive advantage of this new service is that LTL freight can now immediately enter its full network.

“Given that these are the busiest shipping ports in the United States, there’s a huge demand for LTL shippers in this region,” he said. “Shippers can not only access our long-haul network but also benefit from our Smart Assurance program and 1-2 day long-haul lanes through Weekend+ Advantage. Typically, these routes would take 3-4 days to deliver, but by using team drivers working over the weekend, we can deliver within a single business day. Essentially, shippers get expedited shipping at standard LTL rates, which is a significant advantage.”

Source: Logistics Management