Last year, Pilot’s San Diego station started working with a Pacific Beach-based company called Tower Paddle Boards, handling their entire supply chain from the import of their products from overseas to warehousing and domestic distribution. The startup sells stand up paddleboards direct-to-consumer, taking a unique, web-based approach to this fast-growing market.

Next week, Tower will gain a whole new level of exposure when founder Stephan Aarstol appears on ABC’s popular show, “Shark Tank,” where they will ask the “sharks” to invest in the company.

Everyone at Pilot is extremely excited for Tower, and we’re rooting for a bidding war among the investors!

Tune in on March 16th at 8/7c to check out the show. Good luck, Stephan!

Last year, we opened our first international station in Amsterdam, and promised that there would be more to come. True to that promise, this month we have officially opened our first Canadian station, in Toronto.

Because of its status as the U.S.’s largest trading partner, Canada has been extremely important for us over the years. We will continue to work with Concord Transportation, our Canadian partner — but having our own physical location in the Toronto will allow us to provide more hands-on customer service to our customers shipping into and out of the region. Additionally, because Toronto is one of the largest import/export hubs in North America, we’ll be opening up additional options to our U.S. customers who would benefit from exporting their shipments via this city.

We’ve tapped Andy Harris, who has over twenty years of experience in the freight forwarding industry, to manage the station. Heading up customer service/operations is JoAnne Stoddart, a new addition to the Pilot team, whose strong background in international shipping will be a great asset. More staff will be added in the coming weeks to support Andy and JoAnne.

Congratulations to everyone involved in getting the Toronto station off the ground!

LIMA, Pa.—February 27, 2011—Pilot Freight Services, a worldwide provider of transportation and logistics services, announced today that it has opened a station in Toronto, its first in Canada. The new location will handle shipments into and out of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, working in conjunction with the company’s Canadian partner, Concord Transportation.

This new location is the second full-service station for Pilot outside of the U.S., following the announcement of its first European station in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The company has continued to grow at a fast pace over the last two years, closing out a record-breaking year in 2011 and opening new locations, with more expected in 2012.

“As we looked to continue expanding our international footprint, Toronto was a natural choice,” said Gordon Branov, executive vice president of business development for Pilot Freight Services. “Canada is currently the United States’ largest trading partner, and Toronto is one of the largest import/export markets in North America. Positioning ourselves in this major transportation hub gives us the opportunity to provide more hands-on customer service to our customers in Canada, and expanded options for international export from Toronto to all of our North American customers.”

The Toronto station offers a full suite of transportation and logistics services, including air, ocean, ground and logistics capabilities, and will be managed by Andy Harris, a twenty-year veteran of the international freight forwarding industry. The station is located at 96 Disco Road, Etobicoke, ON M9W OA3 CANADA.

ABOUT PILOT FREIGHT SERVICES

Pilot Freight Services, Inc. is a full-service transportation and logistics provider with over 75 locations throughout North America and recently opened stations in Amsterdam and Toronto. The company’s freight forwarding services encompasses every mode of transportation, including air, ground and ocean, serving all corners of the globe. Pilot’s logistics programs offer a complete line of expedited and time-definite services, international shipping solutions, product warehousing and inventory management. In addition, Pilot’s online shipment navigator, CoPilot, makes online shipping fast, convenient and secure. Learn more about Pilot Freight Services at www.PilotDelivers.com.

PRESS RESOURCES

Press contact(s): Jessica@GregoryFCA.com
Web site: https://www.pilotdelivers.com/
Blog: https://www.pilotdelivers.com/category/blog/
Press room: https://www.pilotdelivers.com/category/press-releases/

A year ago, I announced that 2010 was the year that Pilot broke all of personal and volume records. After a year like that, most companies would expect — and be content — to level off. Not Pilot. The numbers are in, and we have once again blown away our old records with $491 million in revenue for the year, up 16 percent from 2010.

That number would have been impossible without every single one of our business segments marking significant gains for the year. Congratulations are in order for everyone for making this growth possible, and a special recognition goes to Larry Wenrich and the government group, which grew its revenue by an unbelievable 65 percent over the previous year. The work that they’ve done with both existing and new customers to serve U.S. interests at home and abroad clearly has not gone unnoticed.

As if these numbers weren’t exciting enough on their own, I’m even more impressed by the fact that while we handled more volume in 2011 than ever before, we did so while achieving our best ever performance numbers. So not only did Pilot continue to grow, we also continued to deliver the excellent service our customers have come to expect. And that deserves a big round of applause all around.

After a year like that, where do we go from here? Nowhere but up.

Lima, Pa.—February 1, 2012—Pilot Freight Services, a worldwide provider of transportation and logistics services, announced today that it broke company records for revenue, number of shipments, and total shipment weight in 2011. Pilot reported revenue of $491 million for the year ending December 31, 2011, an increase of nearly 16 percent from 2010. During that period, the company handled over one million shipments with a total weight of 595.5 million pounds. The year was closed out by a strong fourth quarter, with revenue of $141.5 million, up 10.5 percent year-over-year.

Pilot saw significant growth across all of its business segments, led by government (up a massive 64.6 percent year-over-year), special services (up over 33 percent), and international (up 24 percent). Government business has been a major part of Pilot’s growth over the past year, as the company continues to service agencies including the Department of Defense, Department of State and NASA, servicing the needs of our Armed Forces both domestically and in the Middle East and Africa.

“This was a remarkable year for all of us at Pilot, solidifying and building on our enormous growth in 2010,” said Richard Phillips, chief executive officer of Pilot. “But more important than just our revenue numbers is the fact that despite handling more volume than ever before, our performance numbers improved during the year. So not only were we able to build the business, but we did it while doing a better job for our customers – completing their deliveries on time and without damage.”

Phillips continued, “We’re expecting to see continued growth in 2012, as we focus on not only continuing to secure large national accounts, but on growing our business on the local level throughout the country. This projected growth, coupled with new logistics and warehousing locations expected to open this year, gives us a lot to be excited about.”

ABOUT PILOT FREIGHT SERVICES

Pilot Freight Services, Inc. is a full-service transportation and logistics provider with over 75 locations throughout North America and a recently opened station in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The company’s freight forwarding services encompasses every mode of transportation, including air, ground and ocean, serving all corners of the globe. Pilot’s logistics programs offer a complete line of expedited and time-definite services, international shipping solutions, product warehousing and inventory management. In addition, Pilot’s online shipment navigator, CoPilot, makes online shipping fast, convenient and secure. Learn more about Pilot Freight Services at www.PilotDelivers.com.

Press contact(s): Jessica@GregoryFCA.com
Web site: https://www.pilotdelivers.com/
Blog: https://www.pilotdelivers.com/category/blog/
Press room: https://www.pilotdelivers.com/category/press-releases/

As the holidays approach and we prepare for our busiest time of the year — thanks to the huge growth of our home delivery business over the past few years — I’m excited to close out yet another strong quarter at Pilot. As we announced today (check out the press release below), Q3 was the seventh consecutive quarter in which our revenue grew, keeping us on pace to have our biggest year ever.

Special congratulations goes to two groups: government services, which was up a whopping 46 percent over Q3 of 2010, and special services, who almost matched that number, with 44 percent year-over-year growth. Both teams have had great success in landing new accounts, as well as getting additional business from current customers. Great job to everyone involved!

Lima, Pa.—October 27, 2011—Pilot Freight Services, a worldwide provider of transportation and logistics services, reported revenue of $122.2 million for the third quarter, ending September 30, 2011. This growth marks the seventh consecutive quarter of rising revenue numbers for the company. Pilot shipped more than 153 million pounds of freight in the quarter.

Pilot saw growth across all of its business segments, led by its government (up more than 46 percent year-over-year) and special services groups (up over 44 percent). Both business segments grew as a result of the addition of major new customers, as well as further penetration of existing business. Additionally, home delivery was up almost 10 percent for the quarter. As the company enters the fourth quarter, it is preparing for a major increase in revenue in its home delivery business, thanks to holiday deliveries of electronics and other consumer goods.

“Congratulations to everyone at Pilot who drove yet another successful quarter,” said Richard Phillips, chief executive officer of Pilot. “As we continue to grow, we remain committed to offering our customers a solid partner who is dedicated to solving their most difficult transportation and logistics problems.”

ABOUT PILOT FREIGHT SERVICES 
Pilot Freight Services, Inc. is a full-service transportation and logistics provider with over 75 locations throughout North America and a recently opened station in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The company’s freight forwarding services encompasses every mode of transportation, including air, ground and ocean, serving all corners of the globe. Pilot’s logistics programs offer a complete line of expedited and time-definite services, international shipping solutions, product warehousing and inventory management. In addition, Pilot’s online shipment navigator, CoPilot, makes online shipping fast, convenient and secure. Learn more about Pilot Freight Services at www.PilotDelivers.com.

PRESS RESOURCES 
Press contact(s): Jessica@GregoryFCA.com
Web site: https://www.pilotdelivers.com/
Blog: https://www.pilotdelivers.com/category/blog/
Press room: https://www.pilotdelivers.com/category/press-releases/

As the third quarter comes to a close and we gear up to handle record volumes of home delivery business this holiday season, I want to congratulate the folks in our Seattle station, who had a phenomenal month in August. The station brought in $6.27 million in revenue for the month, beating out the previous company-wide monthly record by about $500,000.

I spoke with Seattle station owner Patrick Allen, who credited the station’s success to strong numbers from established customers, as well as landing several new clients. I personally visited there last month, and every employee in the office is totally focused on customer experience, and on spreading the word that there is something special at Pilot. The atmosphere is electric. Patrick has long talked about how proud he is of his whole team, and that pride shows in the way they handled the unprecedented volume.

Congratulations to the Seattle team, and we look forward to seeing who will set the next record!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Seattle, Wa.—September 28, 2011—Pilot Freight Services, a worldwide provider of transportation and logistics services, announced today that its Seattle station has set a company record for highest single monthly revenue. The station generated $6.27 million in revenue for the month of August, beating out the company’s previous record by half a million dollars.

Station owner Patrick Allen attributes the outstanding month to a mix of existing business including locally harvested perishables like cherries and peaches, and new accounts that have been recently secured.

“We saw unprecedented volume through our station in August,” said Allen. “I’m extremely proud of the way the entire Seattle team came together to maintain the level of quality service our customers have come to expect from us. It was a total team effort across the board.”

ABOUT PILOT FREIGHT SERVICES

Pilot Freight Services, Inc. is a full-service transportation and logistics provider with over 75 locations throughout North America and a recently opened station in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The company’s freight forwarding services encompasses every mode of transportation, including air, ground and ocean, serving all corners of the globe. Pilot’s logistics programs offer a complete line of expedited and time-definite services, international shipping solutions, product warehousing, and inventory management. In addition, Pilot’s online shipment navigator, CoPilot, makes online shipping fast, convenient and secure. Learn more about Pilot Freight Services at www.PilotDelivers.com.

Press contact(s): Jessica@GregoryFCA.com
Web site: https://www.pilotdelivers.com/
Blog: https://www.pilotdelivers.com/category/blog/
Press room: https://www.pilotdelivers.com/category/press-releases/

Every month, Inbound Logistics magazine runs a “10 Tips” column, offering advice on a specific topic related to shipping and logistics. For the July issue, they asked us to put together some industry tips on “Maneuvering Freight Through Challenging International Areas.” I put together some of my thoughts on the subject, which were published this week.

Back in June I told you about the Pilot Houston station moving to a new space, and now the Detroit station has followed suit. As of a few weeks ago, all Pilot operations in Detroit are being housed at a new facility, more than double the size of their previous space. The move was necessitated by significant sustained growth across the station’s domestic, international and home delivery business.

With this location change, the automotive group — which was previously displaced due to a lack of room — has moved back in with the rest of the Pilot group in Detroit.

I spoke with Zach Pollock, the station manager, who was very excited about the 12 dock doors in the new facility. The station recently launched a cartage trucking operation, which has been extremely successful thus far, but was limited by the old facility’s limited number of docks. With this increased capacity, the team will be able to load and unload multiple trucks at once, increasing the flow of freight they can handle.

Congratulations to the team on the move!

Continue reading below for the press release we put out this morning on the news.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LIMA, Pa.—August 2, 2011—Pilot Freight Services, a worldwide provider of transportation and logistics services, announced today that its Detroit station has moved to a new location, located less than half a mile from the Detroit Metro Airport, significantly expanding its footprint.

The new site offers more than 21,600 square feet of office and warehouse space—more than double in size from the station’s previous location—and features twelve dock doors that will accommodate the station’s recently launched cartage trucking operation. Additionally, the larger facility has created space for Pilot’s automotive logistics group, previously housed at a separate location. With this move, all Pilot Detroit operations are located in one building.

“We’ve seen continuous growth across our home delivery, international and domestic business over the last several years, and we just ran out of space to work with,” said Zach Pollock, manager of the Detroit station. “This new location has been renovated to fit our exact needs, and offers us much more room to accommodate new and existing customers, particularly in the warehousing space and increased number of docks.”

The station, which is currently operational, is located at 11400 Metro Airport Center Drive, Suite 200, Romulus, MI 48174.

ABOUT PILOT FREIGHT SERVICES

Pilot Freight Services, Inc. is a full-service transportation and logistics provider with over 75 locations throughout North America. Pilot is also a founding member of the World Freight Alliance (WFA), operating in more than 190 countries worldwide. The company’s freight forwarding services encompasses every mode of transportation, including air, ground, and ocean, serving all corners of the globe. Pilot’s logistics programs offer a complete line of expedited and time-definite services, international shipping solutions, product warehousing, and inventory management. In addition, Pilot’s online shipment navigator, CoPilot, makes online shipping fast, convenient, and secure. Learn more about Pilot Freight Services at www.PilotDelivers.com.

PRESS RESOURCES

Press contact(s): Jessica@GregoryFCA.com
Web site: https://www.pilotdelivers.com/
Blog: https://pilotdelivers.com/category/blog
Press room: https://www.pilotdelivers.com/category/press-releases/

Back in January, I mentioned that there was big news coming for Pilot this year, including new locations both here in the states and abroad. After months of hard work by Gordon Branov, Gilles Auzanneau, Alexandra Ryan and many others, I am excited to announce that Pilot has opened its first European station, in Amsterdam.

Opening a full Pilot station in Amsterdam (AMS) will transform our company. Today, our customers’ businesses often rely on international shipping or logistics. In order to offer the best possible customer service and transit times in Europe, as well as our sophisticated logistics solutions, we simply had to have our own people in place. And Amsterdam was the clear choice for where the first European station should go.

Amsterdam’s Schipol airport and the Port of Rotterdam are two of the largest cargo portals in the world. Because of this, Amsterdam is home to enormous logistics programs, and is the perfect gateway to Western Europe. Its central location will allow us to offer overnight service to several major destinations, including France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Poland.

Additionally, AMS will give companies exporting freight from Europe easier access to our network in North America, Asia and many other countries around the world. While we expect much of the initial traffic through the Amsterdam station to be coming from the U.S. to European destinations, we anticipate that over time we’ll see many more European companies taking advantage of our well-established domestic network.

The Amsterdam station will be managed by two Pilot veterans, Gilles Auzanneau and Alexandra Ryan. These long-time Pilot employees and international shipping experts are both previous winners of Pilot’s Globetrotter award, and will bring the mix of operational and sales expertise that our customers expect from Pilot. The station will be overseen by our executive vice president of business development, Gordon Branov.

This is an important shift for Pilot. It marks our commitment to our international product, and stakes our claim as a global force in transportation and logistics. We expect AMS to lead to additional stations in other international locations. Stay tuned for more announcements later this year!

LIMA, Pa.—July 14, 2011—Pilot Freight Services, a worldwide provider of transportation and logistics services, announced today that it has opened a station in Amsterdam, Netherlands. This new location marks the first company-owned station for Pilot in Europe, and will service new and existing customers sending shipments through the region. This opening comes on the heels of Pilot’s record-setting revenue in 2010, with its international shipping sector marking a dramatic 60 percent year-over-year growth compared to 2009.

“After years of working with customers and partners throughout Europe, we are thrilled to be opening the first official Pilot station abroad,” said Richard Phillips, CEO of Pilot Freight Services. “This is a big milestone for our company, as we continue to grow and expand our footprint both domestically and internationally.”

The Amsterdam station offers a full suite of transportation and logistics services, including air, ocean, ground and logistics capabilities. The station will be managed by Pilot veterans Gilles Auzanneau and Alexandra Ryan, who will be responsible for all sales and operations.

“Amsterdam was a logical choice for our first European station,” said Gordon Branov, executive vice president of Pilot Freight Services. “Strategically, it’s a great location to access major European and Asian markets. The Schiphol airport and the Port of Rotterdam, are among the largest cargo airports and ocean ports in the world, respectively.”

ABOUT PILOT FREIGHT SERVICES

Pilot Freight Services, Inc. is a full-service transportation and logistics provider with over 75 locations throughout North America. Pilot is also a founding member of the World Freight Alliance (WFA), operating in more than 190 countries worldwide. The company’s freight forwarding services encompasses every mode of transportation, including air, ground, and ocean, serving all corners of the globe. Pilot’s logistics programs offer a complete line of expedited and time-definite services, international shipping solutions, product warehousing, and inventory management. In addition, Pilot’s online shipment navigator, CoPilot, makes online shipping fast, convenient, and secure. Learn more about Pilot Freight Services at www.PilotDelivers.com.

Press contact(s): Jessica@GregoryFCA.com
Web site: https://www.pilotdelivers.com/
Blog: https://www.pilotdelivers.com/category/blog/
Press room: https://www.pilotdelivers.com/category/press-releases/

As Pilot has grown and expanded as a company, stations across the country have found it necessary to move to larger facilities to keep up with that growth. The latest station to make their move is Houston, which has moved into a new location, adjacent to the Houston Intercontinental Airport. The new facility features over 18,500 square feet of warehouse space (compared to 9,950 sq. ft. at the old location) and more than 3,000 sq. ft. of office space (up from 1,750).

When I spoke with her on the topic, we discussed the importance of various factors in the 3PL relationship, including having a strong process in place and having good local knowledge, particularly in the case of international imports and exports.

As I told Gail, the key to success in the logistics process is to “partner with the right vendor and document expectations as well as how the process will actually work. Having a clear statement of work, and understanding what the customer wants, makes it easier to design an efficient system for them.”

To read the full article, head over to the WT100 website.