Posted on February 6, 2024
Ryder System Inc. is acquiring Cardinal Logistics in a deal that will add 2,900 power units, 3,400 drivers and 200 operating locations to its existing network.
Miami-based Ryder announced the deal on Feb. 1, and said it would provide additional details during its Feb. 14 fourth-quarter earnings call. Terms of the deal were not announced, but Ryder said it expects the acquisition to be accretive in 2025.
Concord, N.C.-based Cardinal primarily serves the consumer packaged goods, omnichannel, grocery, building products, automotive and industrial industries. It also provides last-mile and contract logistics services.
Ryder provides supply chain, dedicated transportation, freight brokerage, full-service leasing, maintenance and commercial truck rental services, along with fleet management solutions including warehousing and distribution, e-commerce fulfillment, last-mile delivery, managed transportation, professional drivers and used vehicle sales. It operates throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada. Ryder manages nearly 260,000 commercial vehicles and operates approximately 300 warehouses encompassing more than 95 million square feet.
Ryder said the acquisition will further advance its strategy to accelerate profitable growth across its dedicated business.
“With complementary contractual services in many of the same industries, we gain greater economies of scale, and we can provide even more flexibility for transportation networks when seasonality and fluctuating demand inhibit the continuous use of resources,” Ryder SVP of Dedicated Transportation Steve Martin said.
“We’ve come full circle, back to where we started, and that was purposeful,” said Cardinal CEO Tom Hostetler, who will join Ryder in a management role and was one of Cardinal’s co-founders in 1997. “We chose Ryder to continue our legacy because of the company culture. We experienced firsthand Ryder’s people-first, customer-centric culture, and that had an impact on us as we built our own company.”
Cardinal Chairman and fellow co-founder Vin McLoughlin also will join Ryder. Both men spent early-career years in the 1980s and 1990s with Ryder before founding Cardinal.
“We care deeply about our people and our customers, many of whom have been with us for decades,” McLoughlin said. “We also know Ryder. So, we know our people will have expanded opportunities in a larger, well-diversified company, and our customers will have access to an even greater breadth of products and services and the technology to support their continued growth.”
Ryder ranks No. 9 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America and No. 10 on the TT Top 100 logistics companies list. Cardinal Logistics ranks No. 51 on the TT Top 100 for-hire carriers list and No. 63 on the TT Top 100 logistics companies list.
