Fast Lane Transportation Inc. has expanded its operations in Inland Southern California at a time when many local transportation companies have curtailed their activities due to the recession and a decline in imports at ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Based in Wilmington, the company, a provider of intermodal transportation and equipment services statewide, recently acquired an 80-acre truck and rail hub and equipment depot in Adelanto for $9.2 million, according to the company's president. Fast Lane already has locations in Wilmington, Long Beach and Oakland.

In an interview with The Business Press, Patrick L. Wilson, Fast Lane's president, said the company had been leasing a portion of the mostly dormant facility for several years, but an increase in demand for additional capacity "supported purchasing the facility."

He said Fast Lane acquired the former Roadway Express property, just east of Highway 395, to serve rail logistics providers, trucking companies and equipment leasing companies. So far, the Fast Lane hub employs six full-time workers, but Wilson said the company expects to hire eight to 10 more maintenance workers and equipment operators over the next year as increased demand returns for both exports and imports.

The Press-Enterprise

Fast Lane Transportation purchased this trucking facility in Adelanto for $9.2 million.

Roadway, a subsidiary YRC Worldwide Inc., will continue to lease loading and storage space at the Adelanto facility, he said. The facility also will allow Fast Lane to serve rail logistics providers, trucking companies and equipment leasing companies with long term storage, he said. The new facility in Adelanto is located adjacent to Interstate 15, about 30 miles north of the BNSF rail hub in San Bernardino.

"Our proximity to San Bernardino and relatively inexpensive storage fees make for strong freight and storage economics," Wilson said. He declined to compare Fast Lane's storage fees in Adelanto to storage fees charged at facilities located closer to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. But with container storage at about 25 percent of Fast Lane's business, Wilson said the company was in position to take advantage of other trucking and equipment company's needs for long-term truck and container storage as demand for imported goods has been affected by the recession.

He said the company's trucking business has suffered because of the recession, but there has been "no change" in Fast Lane's overall net sales due to its diverse business operations, which includes trucking, drayage, containers, chassis, refrigerated equipment and repair services. Wilson said that the privately-held company does not release its annual sales or earnings.

"We have seen a dramatic increase in trucking and equipment companies needed to put equipment into longer-term storage," Wilson said. "With this purchase we have enough space to meet our needs and our customers' needs."

He added that at this point in time Fast Lane wasn't actively seeking to acquire additional intermodal or storage facilities. The company's Adelanto facility, which is located at 17401 Adelanto Road, at the northeast corner of Adelanto and Violet roads, has three terminal buildings.

Terminal 1 is a 99-door crossdock plus office space, while Terminal 2 is a 162-door crossdock plus office. Terminal 3 is a 50,000-square-foot maintenance garage plus office space. The site offers 9,238 square feet of total office space and 119,025 square feet of total dock area; parking for trailers, equipment and employees; and 75 acres of yard space.

"We offer excellent access to major crossroads in California for freight moving north and south and also east-west routes to Las Vegas and beyond," he said.

Wilson founded Fast Lane in 1979 with just one truck. In addition to the new Adelanto facility, Fast Lane now operates a 50-acre facility in Wilmington for equipment storage, repair, sales and trucking services. Fast Lane's Oakland depot is just four miles from the piers, with direct access to the main freeways leading to Interstate 5.