P.A.M. to buy Celadon terminal in Laredo, Texas, for nearly $20 million

Tontitown-based carrier P.A.M. Transportation Services Inc. looks to purchase 53.15 acres in Laredo, Texas, from Celadon Group Inc. for $19.8 million, court documents show.

The deal was included in documents filed Jan. 24 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware as part of Celadon’s bankruptcy case. On Dec. 9, Celadon Group announced it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The purchase includes all the buildings on the land at 13601 Mercury Drive in Laredo, according to the documents. The property comprises a trucking terminal and is about 19 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border along Interstate 35, according to a FreightWaves article. Celadon built the terminal in 2016, and it includes a 130,464-square-foot, two-story warehouse and a one-story, 37,500-square-foot garage, the article shows. The deal might be completed by this Friday.

Half of P.A.M.’s business can be attributed to the freight it hauls across the border. In a recent Fuller Speed Ahead podcast, P.A.M. President Daniel Cushman discussed the carrier’s reaction to the General Motors strike. The automotive industry accounts for half of the carrier’s business, but over the past 10 years, the carrier has changed its freight mix. General Motors used to account for 63% of the carrier’s business, but it now accounts for less than 20% of its business.

In a fourth-quarter earnings preview for the truckload and brokerage sectors, analyst Jack Atkins and associate Wade Schaller, both of Little Rock-based Stephens Inc., noted that the industry had more than 800 carrier bankruptcies in 2019. This led to a nearly 60 basis point reduction in capacity from June to November. The Celadon Group bankruptcy is expected to lead to another 10-15 basis point reduction in capacity.

Shares of P.A.M. (NASDAQ: PTSI) were trading Tuesday afternoon at $56.46, up $2.83, or 5.27%. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has ranged between $71.56 and $41.82.