Pilot Freight Buys Manna, Expands Furniture Delivery
Pilot Freight Services acquired Manna Freight Systems to expand its final-mile delivery and installation services of furniture and appliances. Terms of the deal were not released.
Lima, Pa.-based Pilot is a transportation and logistics provider with offices in North America and operations in Western Europe and Asia Pacific. Its freight forwarding services include air, ground and ocean transportation. It offers clients expedited and time-definite services, international shipping, product warehousing and inventory management.
Manna, based in Mendota Heights, Minn., provides expertise and final mile delivery in the heavy and hard-to-handle product category. Manna’s brands include Manna Distribution Services offering nationwide, fast, white-glove service; Orion Air Ride specializing in white-glove delivery of high-end furniture; and Last Mile Home for final-mile, dock-to-door or store-to-door home delivery.
Adding Manna will grow Pilot’s North American footprint to 83 offices from 71.
The purchase means Pilot can offer to consumers the same white-glove service it currently provides its business customers, according to a spokesperson.
More consumers are buying furniture and heavy products online for home delivery. A March survey from Alix Partners found that 57% of consumers had purchased furniture online, up from 33% in 2012. And 48% of consumers this year said they had bought large appliances online, a rise from 20% in 2012. Pilot reports that e-commerce will account for 35% of its business this year.
Pilot Freight ranks No. 25 on Transport Topics’ list of top airfreight forwarders with 220,000 tons of air cargo shipped and No. 63 on TT’s list of top dry storage warehousing firms.
