COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (April 20, 2006) – Averitt Express, one of the nation’s leading providers of freight transportation and supply chain management, recently opened three PortSide distribution centers in Seattle, Washington, Oakland, California, and Panama City, Florida.

Over the past three years, Averitt has established distribution facilities in several major U.S. port cities as part of its strategy to expand its international services for its customers. The facilities allow Averitt to perform several importing/exporting support services directly at ports, including container drayage, transloading, deconsolidation/consolidation and nationwide intermodal inland transportation management. Averitt also provides a wide variety of value-added warehousing functions at its PortSide facilities: cross-docking, product storage, flow-through distribution, assembly, kitting, bar coding, retail-ready labeling and integrated yard management.

According to Averitt officials, the facilities, all located within five miles of their respective ports, will allow Averitt to continue to expand its end-to-end importing/exporting capabilities for its customers.

"More than ever, our customers’ supply chains are stretching around the world, and without question, their number one concern is speed to market," said Chuck Odom, Averitt’s vice president of global development. "Our PortSide facilities allow us to provide customized solutions that result in maximum velocity and streamlined product flow. And by combining our PortSide capabilities with our domestic distribution network, we can often shave days off of inventory cycle times, affording shippers some very appealing efficiencies."

Odom says the new markets present Averitt with alternative ports in the case of congestion or other disruptions at other ports as the volume of global and domestic trade increases.

"It's important for us to always be looking at new markets and alternative solutions that will improve our customers' importing/exporting processes, especially in light of recent congestion issues and disruptions at ports," added Odom. "Having facilities in Seattle and Oakland provide us with valuable flexibility on the West Coast for goods moving between the U.S. and Asia. Panama City, meanwhile, is becoming an important gateway for us for cargo coming from Central America, especially with the damage inflicted to the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina last year."

Averitt already operates distribution facilities in several major U.S. port cities, including Los Angeles, Long Beach, California, Houston, Texas, New Orleans, Louisiana, Miami, Florida, Jacksonville, Florida, Savannah, Georgia, Charleston, South Carolina, and Norfolk, Virginia. 

In addition to PortSide™ distribution services, Averitt provides a wide variety of importing/exporting capabilities: 

• Cross-border LTL and truckload transportation to/from Canada and Mexico
• Averitt operates as an NVOCC, providing door-to-door ocean LCL and FCL services to/from more than 100 countries around the world
• Averitt is a direct IATA provider offering complete global airfreight forwarding services
• Customs clearance services
• Cargo insurance

About Averitt Express

Established in 1971, Averitt Express is a leading provider of freight transportation and supply chain management with international reach to more than 100 countries. The company specializes in delivering customized solutions with a single source of accountability for service offerings that include less-than-truckload, truckload, time-critical, importing/exporting, and supply chain management.  Backed by successful execution for hundreds of customers, Averitt’s supply chain capabilities include dedicated fleet operations, warehouse management services, portside distribution, transportation management, and transportation network design and operation.  For more information, call 1-800-AVERITT or visit http://www.averittexpress.com/.