Knight-Swift adds LTL veteran to board as it targets Northeast expansion

Knight-Swift Transportation announced Friday that Doug Col, former chief financial officer at less-than-truckload carrier Saia, joined its board of directors effective Thursday.

Col retired from Saia in May after 10 years of service. He joined in 2014 as vice president and treasurer and was tapped to be CFO in 2020.

Col joins Knight-Swift (NYSE: KNX) as it looks to add a major presence in the Northeast – the last significant hole in what will become a national LTL footprint.

He was with Saia (NASDAQ: SAIA) when it kicked off a Northeast expansion campaign in 2017 that eventually added more than 20 terminals. He also helped the carrier navigate a $1 billion capex budget last year that included $550 million in real estate acquisitions, including a 28-terminal, $236 million portfolio from bankrupt carrier Yellow Corp. (OTC: YELLQ).

Saia has opened 69 terminals and relocated 28 in recent years.

Knight-Swift began acquiring regional LTL carriers in 2021, first with the purchase of AAA Cooper (Southeast and Midwest) and then Midwest Motor Express (Upper Midwest and Northwest). It acquired Dependable Highway Express (California, Nevada and Arizona) last year.

Knight-Swift’s LTL network now includes more than 170 terminals and 7,600 employees. The unit generated $1.2 billion in revenue last year, placing it on the doorstep of becoming a top-10 carrier.

It added 51 terminals last year (37 organically and 14 with the acquisition of DHE), increasing its door count by more than 30%. It plans to add more this year, and documents in a federal bankruptcy court showed it is acquiring an additional four terminals from Yellow’s estate. (Knight-Swift has acquired 29 terminals from Yellow for $64 million since the 2023 liquidation began.)

Col will serve on the board until the annual shareholders meeting in May, where he will presumably stand for reelection. He has also been appointed to the board’s finance and governance committees.

Col is also on the board of directors at Proficient Auto Logistics (NASDAQ: PAL), a rollup of auto haulers that went public last year. That company is being led by Rick O’Dell, who is also the current nonexecutive chairman at Saia. O’Dell was the CEO of Saia from 2006 to 2020.

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