Saia Inc. is a U.S. less-than-truckload carrier with roots that go back to 1924, when Louis Saia Sr. began hauling goods from Houma, Louisiana to New Orleans, gradually turning a local produce run into a dedicated freight business. Over the ensuing decades the operation expanded across the South, building terminals and routes that shifted the company from a regional hauler into a multi-state network. Ownership changed hands along the way—through Preston and Yellow—before Saia regained independence in the early 2000s, a period that also saw strategic bolt-ons and the integration of acquired regional carriers.
The company’s core is LTL service: scheduled linehaul moves connect city terminals, while cross-dock operations consolidate and deconsolidate freight for efficient zone-to-zone delivery. Around that core, Saia has built complementary offerings—domestic and cross-border logistics, truck brokerage, and international forwarding—through its Saia Logistics Services and LinkEx units, giving customers options beyond standard LTL when shipments require multimodal coordination or door-to-door orchestration.
Saia operates through a dense terminal network across the contiguous United States, using partners to extend service into Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Mexico. This footprint allows the company to provide direct coverage on most U.S. lanes and arrange cross-border moves where it does not run assets directly. The model emphasizes predictable transit times, visibility, and consistent pickup and delivery windows supported by its terminal-linehaul-terminal cadence.
Culturally and operationally, Saia’s identity reflects its century-old start as a family business that scaled by adding terminals, refining linehaul flows, and standardizing dock processes. Industry accounts of its centennial underscore that longevity and the focus on network execution rather than one-off projects: keep freight moving, keep schedules tight, and keep coverage wide. That combination—heritage in LTL, a nationwide terminal grid, and adjacent logistics capabilities—explains how Saia is commonly recognized among the major LTL carriers in the United States.