Heartland Express is heading west. The Iowa-based truckload carrier is expanding to the western United States with a new operations office in Phoenix. The fleet’s current westernmost terminal is in Iowa City, Iowa.
Company officials would not put a price tag on the expansion but are eyeing an 8-acre operations center and a 500-strong driver fleet that would be up and running within five years. “It’s kind of a wide-open space out there for us to tackle,” says Mike Gerdin, Heartland’s vice president of regional operations. Gerdin adds that the company has its eye on other western markets, including California, Oregon and Washington.
The company now is leasing a 1,200-square-foot office in Phoenix. Plans call for a terminal with eight to 10 terminal bays, a driver’s lounge, full offices and parking. For now, the rented office oversees a handful or drivers traveling between Phoenix and Los Angeles. The company, which now has eight Midwest and eastern regional operating centers plus its corporate headquarters, says future growth in the West is dependent upon success in Phoenix.
For more information, visit https://www.heartlandexpress.com/.