A. Duie Pyle Reopens Ex-Yellow Terminals
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A. Duie Pyle in a fast start to 2025 set in motion plans to open four new less-than-truckload terminals.
Pyle, which ranks No. 57 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America, set Jan. 20 as the day it will open a new terminal in Camp Hill, Pa. That follows the Jan. 13 opening of another terminal in Erie, Pa. The company, based in West Chester, Pa., expects to open two more before the end of the first quarter.
All four terminals — the other two are in Bridgeport, W.Va., and Rochester, N.Y. — were bought at auction from the administrators of bankrupt LTL carrier Yellow Corp. in late 2023.
Camp Hill includes 85 LTL service center doors and is located on an 11-acre site. The service center underwent an overhaul ahead of opening, while work on the fleet maintenance facilities is ongoing, Pyle LTL Solutions Chief Operating Officer John Luciani told Transport Topics.
Luciani
Upon opening, that facility will have 35 drivers, 18 dockworkers, five fleet technicians and six leaders, but by the end of 2025, Camp Hill is expected to have over 150 employees.
The Erie site currently has 13 employees. Until now, the Erie area was being serviced by the company’s Buffalo, N.Y., terminal, mandating a two-hour drive. Camp Hill was previously a New Penn Motor Express service center. Pyle paid $24 million to acquire Camp Hill.
“Camp Hill was too good an opportunity not to take a shot at,” Luciani said. “We were fortunate we were the only bidder.”
Pyle expects further penetration in central Pennsylvania through the acquisition, said Luciani. The company also expects to use its York, Pa., and Camp Hill terminals as pool facilities, where Midwest and West Coast shippers can consolidate their freight.
While an attractive facility, a significant amount of work was required to refurbish Camp Hill, said Luciani, a tale many a buyer of ex-Yellow terminals has told over the past 12 months or more.
Pyle renovated the entire interior of the facility, painted the docks white to reflect light and offer a much more attractive work environment, installed new overhead doors and increased the height of the door headers. He also noted that the previous layout offered no way to get from the dining area or drivers’ room to the offices.
A. Duie Pyle plans further expansion this year. (A. Duie Pyle)
“Our culture is based on open and honest communication,” he said.
Erie was in the best condition of the four that Pyle bought, Luciani noted, but the carrier still refurbished the offices and painted the exterior of the facility.
Rochester and Bridgeport are set to reopen by the end of the first quarter, Luciani said. The region around Bridgeport is currently being serviced by the company’s Pittsburgh terminal.
Pyle opened two terminals in 2024 — Maspeth in Queens, N.Y., and Charleston, W.Va. The 77-door Maspeth site is also an ex-Yellow terminal. Yellow leased the terminal from Pyle.
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The facility was returned to Pyle in April and reopened in June, serving Long Island, Brooklyn and Queens. Pyle already had a Bronx terminal, which opened in 2019. As a result, Pyle now has 150 doors on the New York side of the Hudson River.
Pyle plans future expansion in 2025, too. The company participated in the latest Yellow terminal auction, which took place Jan. 13-15, Luciani told TT. A total of 47 owned terminals and 65 leased properties with more than 3,100 and 4,000 doors, respectively, were on offer.
Estes Express Lines and an affiliate of R+L Carriers jumped the queue by purchasing 12 terminals for a combined $192.5 million in a stand-alone deal.
While Pyle is interested in acquiring additional terminals, the privately held company does not intend to buy out a rival, said Luciani. All of Pyle’s growth is organic, the executive said, noting that when he joined Pyle in June 2010 the company had 13 terminals and 2,300 employees. It now has 4,300 employees.
The company’s growth has been steady and organic because the leadership team doesn’t want to hurt the company culture, which a takeover may upset, he said.
Luciani expects Pyle’s LTL business to post mid-single-digit percentage growth in 2024. Pricing was relatively stable in 2024, and Luciani expects more of the same in 2025, he noted.
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He noted that Pyle is planning to build terminals in Altoona, Pa., and Burlington, Vt., two facilities that will replace existing terminals. They’re expected to open in late 2025 or early 2026.
In 2026, Pyle intends to build terminals in Fredericksburg, Va., northeast Maryland and Norfolk, Va.
The Norfolk facility will have 52 doors and up to 420,000 square feet of warehousing space. The Fredericksburg facility will have 60 doors. The northeast Maryland site will have 70 doors, Luciani said. Each is set to open in late 2026 or early 2027.
