TFI weighs U.S. nonunion LTL acquisition

The majority of TFI’s LTL operations encompasses the unionized TForce Freight fleet in the United States. (TFI International)

TFI International plans to expand its U.S. nonunion less-than-truckload operations, including through acquisition, executives said.

The carrier is looking into adding a nonunion LTL carrier for around C$200 million, or $142 million at current exchange rates, CEO Alain Bédard told analysts during the company’s second-quarter 2026 earnings call after the market closed July 27.

The majority of TFI’s LTL operations encompasses the unionized TForce Freight fleet in the United States. The unit also includes a Canadian LTL segment.

Montreal-based TFI ranks No. 6 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America. Its LTL unit ranks No. 8 in the segment.

“Where would we want to be? We want to be in Texas. That is for sure. We want to be in California. That is for sure. We want to be in Ohio. We want to be in Michigan. One will be in New York. One will be in the Carolinas. This is the beauty when you build from scratch,” the company’s top executive said.

RELATED: TFI eyes further truckload OR improvement as market rebounds

Shipments by TFI’s LTL unit rose 7.5% to 1.97 million in the second quarter of 2026 from 1.83 million in Q2 2025.

“We have a very small nonunion LTL business today in the U.S. Very small. 1,000 shipments a day, 1,300 shipments a day, which is peanuts,” said Chief Financial Officer David Saperstein. “We are working to build that up over the next few years and do the same thing as we do in Canada. In Canada, we run union or we run nonunion. We run both.”

LTL contributed 38% of TFI’s revenue before fuel surcharge. The LTL unit posted a revenue total before fuel surcharge of $724.9 million, a 3% increase compared with $703.7 million a year earlier.

However, the division’s average weight per shipment fell 1.5% to 1,515 pounds from 1,538 pounds and revenue per shipment (excluding fuel) fell 2.1% to $297.73 from $304.11.

U.S. pricing fix

Executives expressed disappointment in the weakness in pricing for the division, noting that TForce Freight saw a jump in business from the third-party logistics segment as a result of offering rates that did not reflect the market fully and at the expense of service. 3PL shippers represent more than a third of the unit’s business.

“The issue we have with pricing is in wins in one sector per se, right? SMB — no. Corporate — no. The biggest culprit where we probably made a mistake is 3PL … where we got inundated with volume? Because probably we were the cheapest guy in the country? This is what now our commercial team is working on fixing,” said Bédard, adding: “Maybe we were not aware of where the market was going, and now we have to react to that.”

That said, the unit’s overall performance improved compared with the same period in 2025 and the first quarter of 2026.

TFI’s LTL unit posted an operating ratio of 88.5 in the most recent quarter, compared with 89.5 in the year-ago period. A carrier’s OR provides insight on how well a company is balancing its costs and revenue generation. The lower the ratio, the better a company’s performance.

Overall, TFI’s second-quarter net income increased 39% to $136.2 million from $98.2 million in Q2 2025, bolstered by another strong quarter from its truckload division.

The carrier’s revenue rose 12.4% to $2.29 billion in the most recent quarter from $2.04 billion in the year-ago period. TFI’s truckload division saw a 6.8% increase in revenue before fuel surcharge to $760.8 million from $712.3 million in the same period 12 months earlier.

Over the past couple of years, TFI carried out a buying spree in the truckload sector, adding both major players such as Daseke and a plethora of tuck-in acquisitions. The company has only made one deal so far in 2026.