Midwest Dedicated Carrier Behnke Logistics Acquires AG Freight, Expanding Into the Southeast
Key Takeaways
- •Behnke Dedicated & Logistics acquired AG Freight for an undisclosed sum, establishing its first Southeastern operation near South Carolina's Inland Port Greer.
- •AG Freight, based in Piedmont, South Carolina, offers full truckload, less-than-truckload, expedited, and drayage transportation services.
- •Behnke Logistics operates more than 50 power units from its Battle Creek, Michigan, headquarters, providing dedicated truckload, warehousing, and distribution services across the Midwest.
- •The acquisition extends Behnke's reach into the Greenville market, where manufacturing investment and Inland Port Greer's Norfolk Southern rail connection to the Port of Charleston support freight demand.
- •The deal illustrates freight-market consolidation, as strong regional carriers acquire assets amid soft pricing and weak demand rather than expanding organically.
Behnke Dedicated & Logistics has acquired AG Freight for an undisclosed sum, giving the Michigan-based carrier its first outpost in the Southeast and a presence near South Carolina's Inland Port Greer.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, according to a news release issued by Calder Capital, which represented Behnke Logistics in the deal.
AG Freight, based in Piedmont, South Carolina, provides full truckload, less-than-truckload, expedited, and drayage transportation services.
"AG Freight gives us a real foothold in the Southeast," said Behnke Logistics CEO Ben Behnke. "We've been a Midwest operation for four generations, and the Greenville market — with its manufacturing base and the inland port — is a natural extension of what we already do well."
Behnke Logistics, headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, provides dedicated and over-the-road truckload transportation across the Midwest, operating a fleet of more than 50 power units. The company also offers warehousing and distribution services.
Viking Mergers and Acquisitions represented AG Freight in the transaction.
The acquisition highlights the ongoing trend of regional carriers expanding their geographic footprint through strategic purchases, showing how a regional player such as Behnke Logistics can establish a presence in a key logistics hub like Inland Port Greer without building operations from the ground up. Inland Port Greer, a rail facility operated by the South Carolina Ports Authority with Norfolk Southern rail service connecting to the Port of Charleston, sits in the Greenville-Spartanburg region, an area that has drawn substantial manufacturing investment, including BMW's Spartanburg County assembly plant. For carriers, proximity to such facilities supports drayage and truckload demand tied to rail-to-truck freight flows.
The deal also reflects the broader freight-market backdrop of recent years, in which many small and midsize trucking companies have faced soft pricing and weak demand, contributing to consolidation as stronger operators acquire assets and customer relationships at a time when buying is often more attractive than organic expansion.
Source: FreightWaves
