The Gateway
to Oak Harbor

It has been one year since restructuring where we introduce freight into our system from Southeastern Freight Lines. Previously we had three gateways which were Sacramento, Los Angeles, and Boise. With the investment at our terminals such as Pasco with their dock expansion, as well as opening in both Phoenix and most recently, Patterson. This presented us with an opportunity to grow the terminals beyond what their local pickups generated and better utilize the available space at these facilities. The changes also helped reduce the burden on the previous gateway terminals who were facing challenges with space restrictions. Other benefits resulting from the change is receiving the freight closer to the DT therefore reducing linehaul costs while improving arrival times as well as balancing lanes that were previously heavy backhaul which has led to the reduction of empty miles.

Over the past few months, the growth out of SEFL into the PNW has allowed us to add additional schedules destined to Pasco helping increase our outbound capacity. We are continually working with SEFL to improve on the loads which ultimately benefits everyone.

While these terminals are the primary gateways for their regions (as shown below), you may notice freight for terminals located in other regions moving through one of the other gateways. This is designed to allow SEFL to keep freight moving in the event they are full going to a particular gateway, yet they have space to load to another gateway in lieu of holding freight which could result in potential service disruptions.