Supply Chain Solutions Provider NFI Acquires CAI Logistics

NFI Enhances Non-Asset Logistics Solutions with CAI Logistics Acquisition

NFI, a leading supply chain solutions provider, has completed the acquisition of CAI Logistics, the non-asset logistics division of CAI International, Inc. (“CAI”) (NYSE: CAI) that generates more than $100 million in annual revenue.

By acquiring CAI Logistics, NFI expands its suite of supply chain services, specifically enhancing its brokerage, intermodal, and global freight forwarding capabilities across North America.

With the acquisition, NFI’s non-asset logistics business units will generate in excess of $500 million in annual revenue, making up 20 percent of NFI’s total revenue of approximately $2.5 billion.

Additionally, NFI advances its position as a best-in-class service provider and its expertise in numerous verticals including the industrial, manufacturing, food, beverage, and retail industries.

Facilitating more than 300,000 shipments annually, NFI provides thousands of customers with a wide breadth of multi-modal brokerage services.

The addition of CAI Logistics further bolsters NFI’s specialized capabilities including flatbed, over-dimensional, less-than-truckload, expedited, and temperature-controlled transportation.

NFI is an asset and non-asset intermodal provider with capabilities across North America.

It is an early adopter in the temperature-controlled intermodal space with a fleet of refrigerated intermodal containers.

Integrating CAI Logistics’ rail solutions will extend NFI’s access to more than 100,000 pieces of railroad equipment.

Bringing more than 200 years of combined intermodal operations experience to NFI, the CAI Logistics and ClearPointt Logistics teams will significantly deepen NFI’s intermodal expertise.

Spanning Full Container Load, Less Than Container Load, perishable, and oversized shipments, the acquisition also enhances NFI’s growing ocean and air freight forwarding services that help shippers better connect their international and domestic supply chains.

“With CAI Logistics’ service offerings, NFI will be able to amplify the scalability of its non-asset logistics platform” Sid Brown, CEO, NFI

“With CAI Logistics’ service offerings, NFI will be able to amplify the scalability of its non-asset logistics platform,” said Sid Brown, CEO, NFI.

“As we have showcased with our long history of acquisitions, our ability to combine strong operations is unmatched, resulting in more robust customer experience and integrated solutions that are seamless for shippers and their end consumers.”

“Being a part of the NFI family is a tremendous opportunity for us and for our customers,” said Janet Papworth, President, CAI Logistics.

“Our common approach to customer-centricity, combined with NFI’s vast expertise and capabilities, will undoubtedly generate a new level of value we can provide for shippers.”

CAI Logistics represents NFI’s 20th acquisition since 2000.

BGSA Holdings LLC acted as exclusive advisor to NFI.

Recent acquisitions also include G&P Trucking, SCR Air, and California Cartage Company.

CAI Logistics and its entities ClearPointt Logistics LLC, Challenger Overseas, LLC, Hybrid Logistics, Inc., and General Transportation Services, Inc. will be rebranded NFI.

About NFI

NFI is a fully integrated North American supply chain solutions provider headquartered in Camden, N.J. Privately held by the Brown family since its inception in 1932, NFI generates more than $2 billion in annual revenue and employs more than 13,000 associates. NFI owns facilities globally and operates approximately 50 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space. Its dedicated fleet consists of over 3,000 tractors and 12,500 trailers operated by 2,700 company drivers and leveraging partnerships with 400 owner-operators.

About CAI International, Inc.

CAI is one of the world’s leading transportation finance companies. As of June 30, 2020, CAI owns and leases a fleet of over 1 million intermodal shipping containers to all the major global marine shipping companies.

About BGSA

BGSA Holdings LLC is a leading M&A advisory firm focused on the logistics and supply chain industry. The firm specializes in helping outstanding transportation and logistics companies to maximize value through mergers and acquisitions. BGSA has worked with major supply chain companies including NFI, UPS, DHL, Echo Global Logistics, New Breed (now XPO), GENCO (now FedEx), Converge (now Arrow Electronics), Wilpak (now Jacobson), and others. BGSA is also affiliated with Cambridge Capital, a leading private equity firm investing in supply chain and technology companies.

Trusting Truckers is Key, says the Transportation Intermediaries Association

According to a recent white paper produced by Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), being a “shipper of choice” remains one of the most tired clichés in the current third-party logistics (3PL) market vernacular.

While hardly dismissing the value of having a special shipper relationship, the authors of “Creating a Win-Win-Win Business Relationship” maintain that 3PLs must nurture better partnerships with their motor carrier providers as well.

The expectations of shippers, 3PLs and carriers have traditionally moved in just one direction, states the TIA study. Results show that, in 2018, directional changes - made by both shippers and carriers - were made due to an industry-wide driver shortage and compliance with the electronic logging device (ELDs) rule. Increasingly, these factors changed the dialogue for all parties to meet driver expectations and to make the most of the 660 minutes of driving availability, the authors add.

Chris Burroughs, senior director of government affairs for the TIA, makes many of the same observations. He’s especially adamant about ongoing collaboration in the U.S. “On the domestic front, TIA has seen a fundamental shift in the past 12 months, as 3PLs continue to strive to provide exemplary customer service not only for shippers, but for their motor carriers as well,” he says.

“The customer today is buying drivers’ hours,” says Jim Ward, president and chief executive of D.M. Bowman, a full-service trucking and logistics provider based in Williamsport, Md. “We need to work with customers to best utilize time for the driving associate.”

In TIA’s “Win-Win” study, logistics managers reiterated the importance of trust, communication, and loyalty by saying that those are the factors making it possible to solve today’s challenges - even more so than technology in many instances.

“You still need the human interface,” says J.J. Jones, chief supply chain officer of Monin Americas, a manufacturer of food and beverage flavorings with headquarters in Clearwater, Fla. “You need to talk to get things done.”

Download the White Paper: Creating a Win-Win-Win Business Relationship

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