Midwest Transportation, Warehousing & Logistics Operator, 13-Year Minnesota Company

$11.0M

Revenue

$2.3M

SDE

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a 13-year-old Midwest transportation, warehousing, and logistics operator generating roughly $11 million in 2025 revenue and $2.28 million in EBITDA, a healthy 20.7 percent margin for the freight world. The company serves more than 50 active customers across transportation, warehousing, cross-docking, regional distribution, dry and refrigerated freight, and lift-gate service. It runs a 30-person team, a commercial fleet of tractors and trailers, material-handling equipment, and proprietary logistics software, with an associated industrial real estate footprint that includes third-party tenants.

The business sits in the boring, essential middle of the supply chain: moving and storing goods for regional shippers who need reliable capacity. The mix of transportation and warehousing matters because warehousing and dry-storage contracts tend to be stickier and higher-margin than pure asset-based trucking, which smooths the notorious volatility of freight cycles. The proprietary tech layer and the refrigerated freight capability are genuine differentiators against undifferentiated owner-operators.

The seller is offering this as a full-platform acquisition, most attractive to an existing carrier or 3PL wanting to expand its Midwest footprint, add customers and capacity, or bolt on infrastructure that is already built. The industrial real estate is separately valued at $9.9 million and is explicitly not included in the asking price, so a buyer can structure it as a lease or a separate real estate purchase. Note that the trucking-specific comp displayed at the bottom of the listing is a different, unrelated FedEx ISP business.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is real for the sector: $2.28M EBITDA on $11M revenue is a 20.7 percent margin, well above the razor-thin single digits typical of asset-based trucking. That premium comes from the warehousing and logistics mix layered on top of freight, which suggests genuine service value rather than just hauling capacity.
Durability comes from 13 years of operating history and 50-plus active customers across dry freight, refrigerated freight, cross-docking, and warehousing. Warehousing and storage contracts create switching costs and stickier revenue than spot-market trucking, and refrigerated capability is harder to replicate than a fleet of dry vans.
Freight and warehousing are non-discretionary infrastructure. Goods still move and get stored in a downturn, and a diversified base of 50 customers across multiple freight modes reduces exposure to any single shipper or lane weakening.
The operator advantage is significant for a strategic buyer. An existing carrier or 3PL can drop this platform into an existing network, gain immediate Midwest density, fill trucks with backhauls, and lift warehouse occupancy without building infrastructure from scratch.

How to improve it

Push warehouse occupancy on day one. The listing explicitly flags underutilized warehousing as upside, so audit current square footage utilization, identify open bays, and sell storage and cross-dock capacity to existing freight customers who are already trusting you with their goods.
Mine the existing 50-customer base for cross-sell. Many transportation-only customers likely do not use the warehousing services and vice versa, so map which customers buy which services and build a targeted plan to attach the second service line to each account.
Expand the refrigerated freight book. Reefer capacity is scarce and commands premium rates versus dry van, so if the company already has the equipment and cold-chain competency, dedicate sales effort to winning higher-margin refrigerated lanes and grocery or food-service shippers.
Tighten fleet economics and lane density. Analyze cost per mile, deadhead percentage, and driver utilization, then use routing and the proprietary logistics software to reduce empty miles and improve backhaul capture, which flows straight to EBITDA.
Formalize the industrial real estate structure. Since the $9.9M property is separate from the asking price, decide whether to buy it, lease it, or sale-leaseback, and underwrite the existing third-party tenant income as a distinct cash stream that can offset occupancy cost.
Institutionalize customer contracts. Freight relationships are often handshake-based, so convert top customers to multi-year committed-volume or dedicated-capacity agreements to protect revenue and make the business more defensible and financeable.
Reduce owner dependency in sales and operations. With 30 employees and a departing owner, document who owns the top customer relationships and build a management layer or sales lead so revenue does not walk out the door at close.

Diligence notes

Verify revenue and EBITDA quality. The 20.7 percent margin is strong for freight, so confirm through tax returns and financials whether it is genuinely that profitable, and whether the reported EBITDA already excludes real estate rent that a buyer will have to pay if they lease the separately-owned facility.
Scrutinize the real estate structure carefully. The property is valued at $9.9M and is not included in the asking price, so understand the intended lease rate or purchase terms and how the third-party tenant income and expenses affect the true cost of operating the business.
Analyze customer concentration and contract terms. With 50-plus customers, ask for revenue by customer to confirm no single shipper dominates, and review whether relationships are contracted with committed volume or purely transactional and vulnerable to churn at handover.
Assess fleet age and capex needs. Substantial tractors and trailers were included, so obtain the full asset schedule with model years, mileage, maintenance history, and any financing or leases, because deferred fleet replacement can turn a clean EBITDA into heavy near-term capex.
Confirm no asking price is disclosed and understand why. Price is Not Disclosed, so establish the seller's valuation expectations early, and separate the operating business value from the real estate to avoid overpaying on a blended multiple.
Evaluate the proprietary logistics software. Determine whether it is genuinely proprietary and transferable, who maintains it, whether there are ongoing licensing or developer dependencies, and whether it is a real asset or a marketing embellishment.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →