Saia LTL Freight

Saia began in 1924 when Louis Saia, Sr., a produce dealer in Houma, LA, decided there was more to be made in delivering produce than selling it. Our first “truck” was the family car with the rear seats removed.

Over the next 45 years, Saia continued to expand, establishing terminals throughout Louisiana and Texas. By 1986, Saia was one of the largest regional LTL carriers in the country, with 23 terminals across five Southeastern states, approximately 1000 employees and over $50 million in revenue.

In 1987, the Saia family sold the company to Preston Trucking. When Yellow Corporation purchased Preston in 1993, it also acquired Saia. Two years later, Saia merged with Smalley Transportation, another Yellow division, and opened terminals in North and South Carolina and western Texas. As a result, Saia customers had access to 100% of all 11 Southern states we now covered.

In 2001, Yellow integrated its Action Express and WestEx divisions, under the Saia brand, increasing our direct coverage to 21 states and more than 100 terminals. In 2002, Saia and Jevic Transportation, another Yellow Corp. company, spun off to form an independent, publicly traded company, SCST.

In 2004, Clark Brothers Transport, Inc. and its nine-state, 16-terminal network joined Saia’s network, providing our customers service to key Midwestern markets including Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City and Minneapolis. Two years later, SCST sold Jevic Transportation, folded all corporate functions into Saia and began trading on the NASDAQ with the ticker symbol “SAIA.”

In 2007, Saia announced the acquisitions of The Connection Company, of Columbus, OH, and Madison Freight Systems, Inc. based in Waunakee, WI. That same year, we also had over a billion dollars in gross revenue for the first time in our history.

In 2012, Saia expanded our capabilities beyond LTL with the purchase of The Robart Companies, a Georgia-based firm that provides non-asset based truckload service and third-party logistics.

Saia acquired LinkEx Inc., a diversified, asset-light, 3PL based in Dallas, Texas, in 2015.

Today, Saia’s operates 169 terminals across the country and employs over 10,500 people. Through our network of partners, we provide service to Alaska and Hawaii, plus Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico. Our operating service groups, Saia Logistics Services and LinkEx, provide complete transportation and logistics solutions.

Saia LTL Freight’s dependable one, two and three-day direct service accelerates your delivery cycle, enabling you to leverage the speed of just-in-time distribution and the power of a competitive edge. Our direct service area features nearly 160 terminals, delivering more than 26,000 shipments a day – one shipment at a time.

Benefits Include:

Reliable transit times with next-day service up to 600 miles and second-day up to 1,200 miles

85% of shipments delivered within 48 hours

12,000 one and two-day lanes

Nearly 60,000 ZIP codes served directly in our coverage area

Fast, consistent on-time service

Saia LTL Freight provides you with consistent, reliable service.

Whether you have freight moving from Montgomery to Minneapolis or Dallas to Des Moines, Saia LTL Freight delivers like no other carrier. If you have freight to ship, we can get it where it needs to go within our 41-state direct service areas.

Since we offer some of the fastest, most reliable transit times in the business, Saia LTL Freight boosts the efficiency of your supply chain -decreasing your delivery cycle and enabling you to reduce inventory carrying costs. If you’re looking to get more mileage out of your partner carrier, contact Saia LTL Freight today.

When you have a large amount of cargo to move, truckload shipping offers several benefits including reduced shipping costs along with less handling and dedicated delivery.

Saia LTL Freight offers single pup, set and van quotes. Our Truckload Pricing Department can provide truckload/volume quotes on a variety of equipment, depending upon available capacity in specific lanes. This selective price offering is for shipments that occupy 21 or more linear feet of trailer space or weight in excess of 20,000 pounds.