Pilot Freight Services expands home delivery of oversized goods with acquisition

In a bid to expand its services in the hot sector of final-mile delivery for bulky items, the transportation and logistics service provider Pilot Freight Services has acquired DSI Logistics, a non-asset based provider of last-mile home delivery and installation for heavy and hard to handle goods.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Glen Mills, Pennsylvania-based Pilot said it had financial backing from the private equity firms ATL Partners and British Columbia Investment Corporation (BCI) and that the transaction had closed on March 31.

According to Pilot, its full mile and final mile home delivery solutions continue to benefit from the strong growth of e-commerce in the big and bulky product categories. Adding California-based DSI will expand those business segments to represent over half of Pilot’s total revenue and position Pilot as the second-largest last-mile delivery provider for big and bulky goods in the U.S.

Even before the pandemic, that sector was growing fast as consumers went online to buy everything from furniture to appliances to exercise equipment. And a jump in e-commerce orders during 2020 has accelerated that trend, inspiring investments and acquisitions in recent months by large players such as XPO Logistics, J.B. Hunt Transportation Inc., FedEx Corp., and Cardinal Logistics Management Corp.

“Pilot serves as a key partner to many shippers who are experiencing the rapid growth and increasing transportation requirements associated with e-commerce,” Pilot CEO Zach Pollock said in a release. “The acquisition of DSI was a natural fit and another successful step in Pilot’s e-commerce strategy.”

Following the move, Pilot will integrate the entire DSI Logistics leadership team and employee base into its corporate structure, assigning those 200 individuals to support its Pilot Last Mile Home and National Customer Service units.

Supporting its services like last-mile delivery and multi-client warehouses, Pilot has 96 locations throughout North America, several locations in Western Europe, and a presence in the Asia-Pacific marketplace. The company’s freight forwarding services encompass the air, ground, and ocean transportation modes.