Chattanooga Times Free Press

Arrive Logistics expands to ‘freight alley’

Company chose Chattanoog­a as its latest location

- BY DAVE FLESSNER STAFF WRITER

Another freight broker has set up shop in Chattanoog­a with a target of doubling sales every year in the growing trucking and logistics industry.

Arrive Logistics, a transporta­tion service provider that has already grown into a $360 million-a-year business in its first four years, has added a freight brokerage sales office in Chattanoog­a’s “freight alley” adjacent to two other rapidly growing logistics startups. The existing 10-person office is preparing to quickly grow to 50-60 employees as the latest venture to benefit by the experience of former Access America and Coyote Logistics employees.

“Expanding into Chattanoog­a will provide vast growth opportunit­ies for Arrive Logistics and increased value for our customers and carriers,” said Matt Pyatt, who co-founded Arrive Logistics with Eric Dunigan in Austin, Texas, in the summer of 2014.

The company arranges shipments across North America and

has quickly grown from a single 10-person office start in Austin to more than 600 employees at offices in Austin, Chicago and now Chattanoog­a.

The company chose Chattanoog­a as its latest office to capitalize on the talent and experience of freight brokers here, many of whom began at the former Access America, which grew into a $500 million-a-year business before merging first with Coyote Logistics in 2014 and then with United Parcel Service (UPS) a year later in a $1.8 billion deal.

Former Access America personnel have gone on to help start up or lead other freight brokers in Chattanoog­a, including Avenger Logistics, Lync, Trident Transport, LMS and Steam Logistics, and other related logistics support businesses such as Reliance Partners insurance and Reliance Human Capital Management. Chattanoog­a is still home to a major regional office for the Coyote subsidiary of UPS as well as America’s biggest privately owned warehouse company, Kenco Logistic, and two of the nation’s top 10 long-haul trucking carriers — U.S. Xpress Enterprise­s and Covenant Transport.

Arrive Logistics located its Chattanoog­a office in the same second floor office space of the downtown Chattanoog­a Lifestyle Center on Market Street as Steam Logistics, which brokers freight shipments around the globe, and Reliance Partners, one of the biggest insurance agencies targeting truckers and shippers. The three logistics companies share a cafeteria, make-shift bar, rest rooms and meeting areas and combined create a supportive sales culture for each company, according to Asa Shirley,

“With this third office, I’m looking forward to building a team with sales and industry experience who work with passion and a purpose.” ASA SHIRLEY

a former Access America and Coyote manager who is now senior vice president of sales for Arrive Logistics.

Just a block away on Market Street, another logistics startup, Freightwav­es, is building a data, news and analytics company which company CEO Craig Fuller wants to build into a $1 billion-year enterprise.

For Arrive Logistics, Shirley is leading the new Chattanoog­a office and is recruiting brokers to continue to grow more business.

“We’re right in the middle of everything, right in the heart of downtown Chattanoog­a,” Shirley said of the new Market Street site for Arrive Logistics in Chattanoog­a. “We are uniquely positioned to offer some of the best career opportunit­ies in the industry.”

Shirley is hoping to recruit top salesmen and brokers attracted to Arrive Logistics’ training, benefits and work culture.

“With this third office, I’m looking forward to building a team with sales and industry experience who work with passion and a purpose,” Shirley said. “We’ve grown aggressive­ly and we want to continue to grow in the future.”

Arrive Logistics is hosting a launch party on Tuesday to mark the opening of the new office, including an in-office celebratio­n followed by a local happy hour recruiting event.

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