Intermodal Drayage Provider, Asset-Light Southwest Carrier

$17.2M

Revenue

$1.2M

SDE

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is an asset-light intermodal drayage provider that moves shipping containers between rail hubs, ports, and their final destinations across the Southern and Midwest U.S. The company runs on a leased fleet of rigs rather than owning equipment outright, which keeps capital tied up in operations rather than depreciating iron. It holds active FMCSA interstate carrier authority and operates from two yards plus 50 leased container storage spaces along a major freight corridor with access to several ports and rail yards.

The customer base is freight brokers and trucking businesses that need reliable rail-to-truck handoffs, a niche the listing describes as high-demand and capacity-constrained. On $17.2M in revenue the business produced $1.15M in adjusted EBITDA, roughly a 6.7% margin, which is normal for a low-asset-intensity drayage operation where the real leverage comes from lane density and equipment utilization. The headline stat is aggressive growth: revenue CAGR of 27.6% and adjusted EBITDA CAGR of 104.6% from 2023 to 2025.

The business is held through a parent company with five owners who are exiting to pursue unrelated ventures. Two will stay for a negotiable transition and three want immediate full exits, and ownership says it will consider a range of deal structures. The stated growth ramp is impressive but young, and a buyer will need to underwrite how durable those margins are once the founding operators are gone.

Why we like it

Drayage is essential plumbing for the freight economy: containers still have to move from rail and port to their destination regardless of the business cycle, so the demand is far more durable than discretionary trucking. The asset-light leased-fleet model means low capital intensity and less exposure to a truck-value crash in a downturn.
The niche is described as capacity-constrained with active FMCSA interstate authority, which creates a real regulatory and operational barrier that keeps casual competitors out. Positioning along a major freight corridor with access to multiple ports and rail yards gives structural access to volume that is hard to replicate.
The growth trajectory is genuinely strong on paper, with revenue up at a 27.6% CAGR and adjusted EBITDA up at 104.6% from 2023 to 2025. A business scaling profit that fast usually still has operating leverage left to capture as lane density improves.
There is an obvious operator playbook here: cross-sell general freight, extend into warehousing, optimize routes and fuel, and simply build a website since the company apparently has none. A hands-on owner can pull growth levers the current five-owner group clearly has not touched.

How to improve it

Build a real website and basic digital presence in the first 90 days, since the listing flags the total absence of one as an opportunity. For a B2B carrier serving freight brokers, even a simple lead-capture and credibility site can open new broker relationships at near-zero cost.
Convert spot and transactional volume into dedicated lane commitments and standing agreements with the top freight brokers and trucking partners. Locking in repeat volume smooths revenue and moves the business toward something closer to contracted, predictable demand.
Layer in general freight transportation as a cross-sell to existing drayage customers, using the same carrier authority and dispatch infrastructure. This is the clearest same-customer revenue expansion the listing itself calls out.
Attack utilization and empty-mile ratios with route optimization and fuel-efficiency tooling to widen the roughly 6.7% EBITDA margin. In drayage, dispatch discipline and reducing deadhead miles is where margin actually lives.
Add warehousing and cross-dock logistics as a complementary service for long-haul providers, capturing more of the freight chain around the ports and yards you already serve. This deepens customer stickiness and creates a second revenue stream tied to the same corridor.
Expand lane density and regional coverage incrementally into adjacent Southern and Midwest markets before chasing distant geographies. Density in existing lanes compounds margin faster than sprawling into thin new markets.
Institutionalize the operation ahead of the three immediate-exit owners leaving by documenting dispatch, safety, and customer relationships. With most of ownership walking at close, a buyer must transfer knowledge into systems fast or risk service disruption.

Diligence notes

Interrogate the growth story hard, because a 104.6% EBITDA CAGR off a 2023 base often reflects a low or messy starting point plus a hot freight market. Pull monthly 2023 to 2025 financials to see whether this is durable operating leverage or a cyclical spike that reverses as freight rates normalize.
Scrutinize customer concentration among freight brokers and trucking partners, since drayage revenue can hinge on a handful of relationships. Losing one or two large brokers could erase a meaningful share of the $17.2M in revenue overnight.
Verify the leased-fleet economics and driver arrangements: whether rigs are owner-operators or company leases, how rate escalators work, and what happens to capacity if drivers leave. The asset-light model is a strength only if the leased capacity is actually secure and renewable.
Confirm the two yard leases and 50 container storage space leases are truly assumable and priced at market, since these are the physical backbone of operations. Also verify FMCSA authority is clean with no safety or CSA score issues that could restrict interstate operating rights.
Understand the five-owner structure and how the sale mechanics work, given three owners want immediate exits and two want negotiable transitions. Map exactly who holds the key customer, dispatch, and driver relationships and how those transfer if most of the team is gone at close.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →