Trinity Logistics sells the part a truck cannot carry

Pompeian had a problem that an olive-oil company might reasonably find irritating: it could move the bottles, but it could not easily see what moving them cost. As the business grew, manual entry left gaps in its view of less-than-truckload rates and delivery status. A shipment could be travelling perfectly well while the people responsible for it remained poorly informed. The truck was doing its job. The information was lagging behind.

Trinity Logistics had handled Pompeian’s truckload needs since the late 1990s. In 2014, after fifteen years of working together, Pompeian chose it as the single-source logistics provider for its main Baltimore distribution center. Trinity integrated the customer’s order system with transportation software and put a specialist on site. The company selling transportation had earned responsibility for the machinery behind transportation.

01 A booking becomes a department

That progression explains Trinity better than a photograph of a handsome truck. A freight broker connects a shipper needing transport with a carrier able to provide it. The shipper buys an arranged journey; the carrier supplies the equipment and driving. Trinity works in this middle space, where matching capacity is only the beginning of the administrative entertainment.

Its services cover truckload and less-than-truckload shipping, rail intermodal, port and terminal drayage, expedited freight, international movements, and warehousing. Manufacturers can use it to move materials or finished goods; food businesses can arrange temperature-controlled transport; a company with scattered shipments can consolidate the planning. Chemicals, industrial manufacturing, and food and beverage are prominent markets. Public customer examples also include flooring supplier TAJ, Beyond Better Foods, and crop-protection business Albaugh.

The managed transportation offer lets customers choose how much work to surrender. Supported software leaves more activity with the shipper. Managed TMS adds operational help. Integrated Outsource takes on a broader transportation function. This is an important purchasing distinction: a login and an outsourced department have different job descriptions, however similar their sales presentations may look.

02 The billion-dollar number needs a second number

Transport Topics lists Trinity’s 2025 gross revenue at $1.1 billion and net revenue at $185 million in its 2026 profile. It ranks twenty-third among freight brokerage firms. The two revenue figures deserve to travel together. Gross revenue includes purchased transportation; net revenue subtracts that cost. Neither number tells you the company’s profit.

The model combines freight arrangement with transportation services and technology. A customer buys access to capacity and, depending on the agreement, help managing shipments. C.H. Robinson, Total Quality Logistics, RXO, and Nolan Transportation Group inhabit the same competitive market. Trinity’s case rests on the combination a buyer receives: carrier relationships, staff who understand freight, and the option to hand over recurring work.

03 Negotiate first. Install second.

TAJ Flooring offers a useful corrective to the idea that every business problem begins with insufficient software. As its sales and customer base expanded, its manual freight process consumed time and obscured spending. Trinity reviewed historical freight information and processes. The first intervention was negotiating direct LTL pricing. Its case study reports savings of 15.7 percent from that step.

Then came the transportation management system and training for TAJ’s customer service team. The order matters. Analyze the work, address the rates, introduce the tool, teach people to use it. The practical lesson is available even to a company that never hires Trinity. Software should arrive with a diagnosis and an owner.

TAJ’s reported savings are not a complete project budget. A sensible buyer should price implementation, integration, ongoing support, and internal staff time against total freight spending and service outcomes. A lower rate is pleasant; fewer expensive exceptions may be equally valuable. Ask what the agreement includes before declaring the spreadsheet victorious.

04 Patience, with an acquisition agreement

Ed Banning and Deana Cox Banning founded Trinity Transport in Cambridge, Maryland, in 1979. The original logo carried the words peace, faith, and truth. The agency program began in 1990; the company adopted the Logistics name in 2012. Its history records an employee ownership plan announced in 2017, followed by acquisition by Burris Logistics in 2019.

The Burris deal began with conversations between friends, Jeff Banning and Donnie Burris, about their companies’ strengths and futures. The stated attraction was a more competitive combined business. Trinity brought freight relationships; Burris brought additional resources and supply chain experience, including temperature-controlled operations. The acquisition price was undisclosed.

In January 2026, Trinity acquired Granite Logistics after nearly fourteen years as an agent partner. Approximately 135 team members joined, along with service centers in Sartell and Minneapolis. Granite added depth in flatbed, heavy haul, and over-dimensional freight. Buying a business already familiar with your operation makes a different kind of bet from buying an impressive stranger.

05 Give the dashboard someone to call

“There’s still this whole human component that comes into play, especially when things go wrong.”Sarah Ruffcorn, Trinity president / 2020 interview

Trinity describes its culture through servant leadership and supports an employee-run foundation and paid community volunteering. Those practices give its people-focused pitch some substance. The operational test remains whether someone takes responsibility when a shipment develops an inconvenient personality.

Technology can address a specific vulnerability, too. In August 2025, Trinity introduced a free load verification tool after scammers impersonated brokers. Carriers enter a load number and their DOT or MC number to check legitimacy before moving. Trust, in this instance, gets a form field.

For an occasional, uncomplicated shipment, full outsourcing may be more machinery than needed. For recurring freight with manual entry, scattered reporting, and overloaded staff, the proposition becomes easier to understand. Buyers still need usable data, willing users, and clear responsibilities; a system cannot conjure a truck into existence. Trinity’s appeal is the prospect of having both a better view and somebody accountable for what appears in it.