Warehouse on Wheels CEO John Brooks said the company is aiming to double its footprint to 100 locations and 100,000 trailers, building on growth from 2 locations and about 4,000 trailers when it launched in November 2017 to 37 locations and 35,000 trailers today. The Houston-area company says it serves 6,000 customers across a network that now stretches from Montreal to Monterrey, Mexico, a corridor that has drawn increased logistics investment as manufacturers expand nearshoring operations in northern Mexico.

The company's model is straightforward: it acquires end-of-life over-the-road trailers, repaints them, certifies them federally, and rents them to manufacturers, retailers and distributors as flexible industrial storage. Brooks said the trailers rent for 2 to 4 times less per square foot than traditional warehouse space, an advantage that has become more pronounced as industrial real estate rents surged during the pandemic-era warehouse boom before showing signs of cooling in 2023 and 2024 with rising vacancy rates. Contracts are structured as 30-day evergreen agreements rather than the five-, seven- or 10-year leases common in industrial real estate, and the company targets an 8x return on invested capital over the life of each trailer.

"When we win a heart and mind, we rarely lose it. And so a customer may have 50 trailers, they may size down to 25 or up to 100, but they never really give up that solution once they've had a chance to experience what we offer," Brooks said.

Warehouse on Wheels is preparing to open a Chicago location within two weeks. Brooks said the city fits the company's strategy of placing assets along the eight major U.S. transportation corridors and in smaller towns adjacent to those routes. The company is backed by private equity sponsor Windpoint Partners, which came in 2021 after an initial partnership with Milton Street Capital.

Alongside its expansion, the company recently introduced a Supply Chain Activity Index designed to measure goods flow through the supply chain rather than act as a pricing benchmark. The index combines a basket of widely tracked indicators with on- and off-ramp activity from Warehouse on Wheels' own trailer fleet, adding a proprietary layer to publicly available measures such as the ISM Manufacturing PMI and the Cass Freight Index. Scored from 0 to 100, with 50 as neutral, the index registered 42.2 in June, indicating contraction.

Brooks said he expects the July reading to improve, but he described conditions outside AI-related infrastructure spending as subdued. "There is still a general malaise, in our opinion," Brooks said, adding that supply chain operators are in a "wait-but-still-move mindset" as they look to show quarterly growth without making large inventory bets. He contrasted the current environment with 2018, when the first round of tariffs triggered a stronger build-ahead in inventories, saying this cycle has produced smaller and more cautious purchasing decisions, consistent with broader destocking trends that have weighed on freight volumes since peaking in 2021.

Operationally, Brooks said neither land nor used trailers are major constraints on growth. The company typically needs only 3 to 5 acres of gravel per location, and the post-COVID used trailer market has created ample supply as private carriers defleet and modernize their fleets. Average rental periods currently run about 20 to 24 months.

Brooks said each acquired trailer is refurbished to meet the company's "55 and 55" standard, meaning it should look good from 55 feet away at 55 miles per hour. The process includes a fresh coat of paint and federal certification so the unit is "safe, dark, and dry" before going to work for a customer.

The company said its storage trailers are used by automotive manufacturers, apparel producers, retailers and plastics manufacturers, but not by businesses that require temperature-controlled storage. Brooks also said the model can support permitting and ESG goals because it helps avoid new warehouse construction and keeps some trailers out of the scrapyard. Warehouse on Wheels has an Ecovadis score and says the solution is viewed positively by procurement teams, CFOs and operators.

Brooks said the company's growth has also come from consolidation in a fragmented market of small regional operators serving storage and local cartage needs. He said Warehouse on Wheels has kept regional brands after acquisitions, including Meisler Trailer Rental, First In Trailer Service and Advantage Trailer Rental, which now sit under the holding company.

The average rental period for the company's trailers is long enough, Brooks said, that some units may remain on rent so long he has not yet seen them during the hold period. He also said the trailers are licensed and federally certified, so they can be moved between locations if needed.

Brooks said the company is focused on capital discipline as a private equity-backed business, but he said the expansion from 2 locations in late 2017 to 37 today shows the model's potential. "My vision for the organization is 100 locations and 100,000 trailers, and that's what we're building towards," he said.