TFI Eyes a ‘Brother’ for TForce Freight, Not a Merger

“If we have an opportunity to buy an asset-light [LTL] operation, we’ll jump on that front. If that’s not available, because there are only a few of those, then we’ll go down the asset-heavy route,” Bédard said. (TForce Freight)

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The timeline for TFI International expanding its U.S. less-than-truckload operations by buying a rival is becoming hazier, but CEO Alain Bédard is clearer than ever that the Montreal-based carrier will need to make a splash when it does so.

During TFI’s fourth-quarter 2024 earnings call with analysts Feb. 20, the company’s top executive said he did not expect any major acquisitions in 2025, after previously promising substantial truckload and LTL acquisitions in 2025.

However, later in the call, Bédard rowed back that assertion, repeatedly telling analysts TFI had to be bold and deals may go through as the company struggles to turn around TForce Freight, which it bought in 2021 from UPS, and build enough size to spin off its truckload unit.

Part of the uncertainty relates to the ongoing rut the North American freight industry finds itself in, but also the quandary Bédard finds himself in after espousing a “buy when the market is down” strategy in recent years during which TFI has inked more acquisitions than any other major carrier.

All that dealmaking sees TFI sit at No. 4 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America and No. 8 on TT’s list of the top LTL carriers, but Bédard said during the call that 20,000 shipments per day in the U.S. meant it was too small a player with not enough shipment density to achieve the performance metrics the executive aspires to.

The company also announced plans to redomicile its headquarters from Montreal to the U.S., though it did not specify a timeline or location for the move.

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 Bédard

“You have to be bold,” he said, before quickly hedging by adding: “It’s always about trying to have balance.”

Bédard said conversations with board members about substantial purchases had the potential to revolve around not missing an opportunity in a down market, how much debt the company is carrying and what the TFI team already had on its plate.

Company executives are already trying to turn around TForce; cut costs at TFI’s truckload unit while integrating No. 1-ranked flatbed carrier Daseke, which was bought in December 2023; and preparing to spin off the truckload division — the timeline for which would also seem to be slipping.

TFI wants to find a “brother” for TForce, said Bédard, adding: “The problem with U.S. LTL is you have to do something with size.”

The company may have to buy a nonunion, asset-based carrier to run alongside TForce, he said.

“If we have an opportunity to buy an asset-light [LTL] operation, we’ll jump on that front. If that’s not available, because there are only a few of those, then we’ll go down the asset-heavy route,” he said.

Any new part of the U.S. LTL operations will not be merged with TForce, Bédard said.

“Never say TFI wants to buy a company and merge it with A or B or C,” he said. “We hate mergers. We keep the companies separate.” Doing so is better for the companies’ culture, he added.

TFI already added two U.S. LTL carriers in 2024 to beef up the unit.

In March, TFI bought Hercules Forwarding. Hercules focuses on intra-U.S. and U.S.-to-Canada cross-border transportation. The company operates 31 terminals and has 210 trucks, close to 600 trailers and about 75 containers.

Then, in November, TFI acquired a smaller carrier, executing another example of what has become a regular feature of its playbook: the tuck-in purchase.

Truckload and LTL carrier Keystone Western specializes in dry van, flatbed and heavy-haul carriage. The company has fewer than 100 tractors, according to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration records.

Grande Pointe, Manitoba-based Keystone Western operates terminals in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Waterloo, Ontario; and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Size matters in the top-heavy LTL space as terminals are required for a successful business.

Top-ranked LTL carrier FedEx Freight averaged 91,000 shipments per day in its second fiscal quarter of 2025, which ended Dec. 31.

But terminals require a great amount of land and cost a lot of money to build, and the land is very hard to come by near major metropolitan areas.

TFI paid $700,000 for an ex-Yellow Corp. terminal in Fayetteville, N.C., in February in a private deal executed outside of an ongoing auction of the onetime No. 3-ranked LTL carrier’s remaining real estate, according to court documents.

However, TFI’s rivals among the largest LTL carriers are also snapping up terminals.

Knight-Swift Transportation, ArcBest and A. Duie Pyle bought terminals in February. ArcBest’s ABF Freight unit and Pyle rank No. 7 and No. 16 among LTL carriers, respectively.

Estes Express Lines, an affiliate of R+L Carriers and Central Transport International jumped the queue in the auction previously.

Estes moved up a spot to No. 4 among LTL carriers as a result of picking up ex-Yellow terminals; R+L Carriers ranks No. 5 on the LTL list, up from No. 8 a year earlier; and Warren, Mich.-based Central Transport ranks No. 10.