Glen Mills, Penn.-based 3PL, last-mile and full mile services provider Pilot Freight Services, a subsidiary of Denmark-based A.P. Moeller Maersk, said this week it has opened up new locations in Austin, Texas and Omaha, Nebraska.

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Pilot said these new locations will provide shippers with various services, including first, middle, and last mile via air, ground and ocean integrated with Maersk’s logistics and services.

“We’re working closely with customers to support their competitiveness and growth goals in Austin and Omaha,” said Pilot CEO Zack Pollock in a statement. “These new locations bring us ever closer to businesses and consumers in growing markets, and they are designed to be a catalyst for enabling our customers’ growth and high levels of service commitment.”

Located in Kyle, Texas, Pilot said that this location will support customers in the Austin and San Jose markets, noting that Auston is the fastest-growing U.S. city this year, with San Antonio not far behind in sixth place. The company added that the ability to connect both cities via the I-35 corridor through one centrally-located site enables faster service and future growth of these business centers. And it added that this new location brings Pilot’s Texas coverage to six facilities, which are all connected via a dedicated middle mile hub in Dallas. Prior to this location, Texas was serviced by five locations (Laredo, Houston, McAllen, El Paso & Dallas) with a middle mile hub in Dallas, said the company.

And it explained that the Omaha facility is in a key location, with Omaha in the center of the eight county Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area with a combined population of more than 1.5 million people in the delivery range of the facility. Pilot said that this facility will be serviced daily from Pilot’s 58 other facilities through a dedicated middle mile network “providing greater speed to market, better quality of care, and Pilot first and last mile uniformed and dedicated drivers.”

A Pilot spokesperson told LM that the new locations bring Pilot closer to businesses and consumers in growing markets to better serve its clients and deliver their goods to consumers faster. Prior to this location, Texas was serviced by five locations (Laredo, Houston, McAllen, El Paso & Dallas) with a middle mile hub in Dallas.

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“We are excited to combine forces with Ascend and build on our company’s excellent track record for service,” said Fuchs President Jay Doescher in a statement. “Together we will be best able to serve the rising complexity of our customers’ supply chains. We look forward to growing together with Ascend and creating additional jobs in the Sauk City. Additionally, we will benefit by combining with Ascend to expand our capabilities and improve our buying power, boosting our competitiveness in the regional truckload market.”

Ascend said that Doescher and one of his Fuchs partners will retain investment in the business, helping to maintain continuity.

Ascend’s McLary said the company believes strongly in its organic growth potential, and significant value can be generated by augmenting that growth through strategic acquisitions.

“Fuchs Trucking is an excellent fit for a few reasons,” he said. “Fuchs and Ascend have high cultural alignment, a testament to the culture formed by the Fuchs family and carried on by President Jay Doescher since he partnered with the company in 2014. We also like Fuchs because of the track record of high service it has established with its customer base. Finally, the acquisition adds to our scale and network density, improving our buying power and providing greater network design / optimization opportunities.”