Estes Invests $56 Million to Expand Cross-Border and Offshore Freight

Estes bets $56M on cross-border, offshore freight expansion

Estes Express Lines is investing nearly $56 million in terminals, equipment and capacity for freight moving between the United States, Canada, Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

The Richmond, Virginia-based carrier said the spending is part of a long-term effort to strengthen its cross-border and offshore less-than-truckload network. The investments include larger border facilities, expanded terminal capacity, additional ocean containers and equipment intended to support next-day service.

Alex Peebles, Estes’ senior director of offshore and international operations, said the company is balancing current market uncertainty with the need to prepare for future freight growth.

“We’re really looking at all of these investments from a long-term horizon and viewpoint perspective,” Peebles told FreightWaves. He said the goal is to accommodate growth and add capacity across the offshore and international markets served by Estes.

Estes operates more than 300 terminals and service centers across the United States, Puerto Rico, Alaska and Hawaii, with cross-border coverage extending into Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. The privately held carrier is also approaching 14,000 terminal doors across its network.

Laredo facility will nearly double capacity

Mexico is a central part of the expansion. Estes currently serves the country through 52 service centers, supported by sales personnel in Mexico and at its Laredo, Texas, gateway.

The company purchased a larger Laredo facility from another carrier and is retrofitting the property. Once operational, the facility is expected to increase Estes’ door count in Laredo from about 40 to approximately 85 or 86 doors.

The site also includes additional warehouse space and a larger yard. That could provide Estes with more flexibility than a traditional cross-dock operation, although the company has not detailed how the warehouse space will be used.

For drivers and linehaul operations, the added doors and yard space are intended to provide more room for handling freight at one of the busiest U.S.-Mexico gateways. The Laredo expansion is part of Estes’ broader effort to improve the flow of cross-border shipments and support continued growth in Mexico.

Estes is also working to increase the role of the Otay Mesa, California, and El Paso-Juarez crossings in its Mexico network. The carrier already moves some freight through those gateways, but Peebles said expanded use could reduce mileage and improve network efficiency.

Estes has service centers in San Diego and El Paso and is targeting the end of 2026 for new routings through the two crossings.

Canada network grows amid trade uncertainty

Estes has expanded capacity at three gateways serving Canada: Buffalo, New York; Detroit; and Fargo, North Dakota.

The company opened a relocated Buffalo service center in June. The 171-door facility has four times the door capacity of the previous location and serves as a major gateway into Ontario.

In Detroit, Estes has nearly doubled its terminal from about 70 doors to 139. The company has also doubled capacity at its Fargo location.

The investments come as shippers continue to manage uncertainty tied to tariffs and retaliatory trade measures affecting commodities such as steel, paper, automotive products and electronics. Peebles said Estes’ Canadian cross-border volumes began 2026 slightly below the previous year before improving around the end of February. Demand remains cautious, but the carrier has recorded year-over-year growth in Canadian LTL freight since then.

One shift could be supporting LTL demand. Some manufacturers are ordering smaller quantities of cross-border goods rather than making major changes to their supply chains. Those smaller shipments can move freight that might otherwise have been handled as full truckload into the LTL market.

Estes also reported growth in its volume truckload service between the United States and Canada. That operation generally handles shipments weighing between 7,000 and 10,000 pounds.

According to Peebles, cross-border tonnage is growing faster than shipment counts, with the average weight of a Canada shipment up about 5% to 6% year over year. That trend may reflect shippers moving freight away from full truckload service and into smaller, more frequent shipments.

More terminal doors and offshore equipment planned

Estes currently operates about 13,857 terminal doors across roughly 300 locations. The company expects to exceed 14,000 doors by the end of October if construction remains on schedule.

Over roughly the next year, capital spending is expected to focus more heavily on equipment. Plans include additional ocean containers and a large order of heated trailers to support next-day service into Canada.

Estes currently offers next-day service into Toronto from markets as far south as Virginia and as far west as the Chicago area. Peebles said performance on those shipments has been in the high 90% range.

The carrier is also continuing to expand its offshore operation. Estes says it is the only pure-play U.S. LTL carrier operating its own ocean container fleet for service to Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

The company’s 45-foot high-cube containers have traditionally served Alaska and Hawaii, but Estes expanded the fleet into Puerto Rico over the past year. In 2025, it opened a 29-door service center on Oahu.

Estes uses consolidation points in Rancho Cucamonga, California, for Hawaii; the Seattle-Tacoma area for Alaska; and Jacksonville, Florida, primarily for Puerto Rico. The carrier says its combination of terminals, trucks and containers allows freight to remain within the Estes network from mainland pickup through final delivery in Hawaii.

For professional drivers, the expansion means more freight capacity at border gateways, larger terminal operations and continued activity across offshore lanes. Estes says the investment is designed to position its network for future demand while maintaining its course through a period of unsettled freight volumes and trade conditions.