What Cannonball Express Transportation does

Cannonball Express Transportation, LLC is a privately held refrigerated less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier founded in 1970 and headquartered at 10064 S 134th Street, Omaha, Nebraska. The company provides nationwide refrigerated LTL freight services across the lower 48 states using a scheduled weekly cadence — pickups Thursday and Friday for Monday through Wednesday delivery the following week — and operates an integrated 27,000 sq ft refrigerated facility at its Omaha campus that cross-docks approximately 2 million pounds of product each week. Its offerings span core refrigerated LTL shipping, refrigerated cross-docking, full truckload and PUP (pickup and delivery) services, transloading, redelivery within 150 miles of Omaha, and refrigerated warehousing with value-added services such as labeling, repacking, light assembly, returns processing, and customs clearance. The warehouse operation is backed by a proprietary E-Technology warehouse receipt and inventory control system that provides real-time visibility into stored goods for both Cannonball and its customers.

The business model combines transactional freight billing (per-shipment LTL and truckload revenue) with recurring refrigerated storage and value-added warehousing revenue, sold direct to shippers and freight brokers from the Omaha headquarters. Capacity is delivered through a hybrid model of company fleet and contracted owner-operators, with disclosed driver pay rates of 85% of line haul plus 100% of fuel surcharge for truckload and 72% for LTL. Primary customer segments are food and grocery shippers, agricultural and produce distributors, and freight brokers serving temperature-sensitive freight, with no enterprise customer concentration publicly disclosed. The company's legal and operational identity is tied to Nebraska Warehouse and The Junction LLC, suggesting an affiliated-family ownership structure under the Draeger family (President/CEO Tamara Draeger), with a small staff of 11–50 supporting the operation.

From a technology standpoint, the core proprietary asset is the E-Technology warehouse management system, integrated with the adjacent transportation network for end-to-end inventory and shipment visibility. The company also leverages standard industry integrations such as Google Analytics and Google Maps Platform APIs for web and location functionality, and its blog discusses AI-driven fleet management, predictive maintenance, and route optimization — though no deployed proprietary AI model, AI senior hire, or third-party AI validation is documented. Operational scope remains domestic and explicitly excludes Alaska and Hawaii.

Name

Cannonball Express Transportation

Legal name

Cannonball Express Transportation, LLC

Website

https://cannonball-express.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1970

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cannonball Express Transportation is a privately held, Omaha-based refrigerated LTL carrier founded in 1970, serving food, grocery, and produce shippers across the lower 48 states with scheduled LTL pickup/delivery, co-located refrigerated warehousing, cross-docking, truckload, and value-added logistics services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Refrigerated LTL Logistics

NAICS

Specialized Freight Trucking (4842), Warehousing and Storage (493)

SIC

Trucking & Courier Services (No Air) (4210), Trucking (No Local) (4213)

akta.pro primary industry

Interregional/Long-Haul LTL Network Carriers (TLADAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Pool Distribution / Multi-Stop LTL Carriers (TLADAEAF)

Keywords

• Refrigerated LTL shipping
• Cold chain logistics
• Refrigerated warehousing
• Temperature-controlled transport
• Food distribution logistics

Headquarters

HQ city

Omaha

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Refrigerated LTL Shipping: Less-than-truckload refrigerated freight shipping services providing nationwide coverage in the lower 48 states. Freight is picked up Thursday and Friday for Monday through Wednesday delivery the following week.
2. Refrigerated Warehousing and Storage: 27,000 square foot refrigerated facility offering long and short term storage with temperature-controlled space, high-bay storage, drive-in doors, and specialty equipment. Services include cross-docking, transloading, labeling, repacking, and light assembly.
3. Truckload Services: Full truckload refrigerated shipping capabilities complementing LTL services for larger shipments.
4. Local Delivery and Redelivery: Local delivery services including redelivery services within 150 miles of Omaha.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Cannonball Express Transportation provides nationwide refrigerated less-than-truckload (LTL) shipping across the lower 48 United States, operating on a scheduled Thursday/Friday pickup and Monday–Wednesday delivery cadence. The company also runs a 27,000 square foot refrigerated warehouse and cross-dock facility in Omaha, Nebraska that cross-docks approximately 2 million pounds of product per week and supports long- and short-term temperature-controlled storage, transloading, labeling, repacking, and light assembly services.

Product overview

Cannonball Express Transportation operates as a specialized logistics provider offering refrigerated less-than-truckload (LTL) shipping services. The core offering consists of nationwide refrigerated LTL delivery across the lower 48 states combined with a 27,000 square foot refrigerated warehouse facility and cross-docking operations in Omaha, Nebraska. The company has been operating since 1970 and processes approximately 2 million pounds of product weekly. The product portfolio is unified under the Cannonball Express brand and includes the core Refrigerated LTL Shipping and Refrigerated Cross-Dock services, supplemented by warehousing capabilities (Warehousing Services, E-Technology Warehouse Management System, and Value-Added Warehousing Services), local delivery options (Redelivery Services, PUP, Transload), and transportation services (Truckload & LTL Capabilities, Warehouse and Distribution). The transportation and warehouse operations are strategically integrated, being adjacent to each other, enabling seamless logistics coordination for customers requiring both storage and temperature-controlled shipping.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Refrigerated LTL Shipping Nationwide less-than-truckload refrigerated shipping service delivering temperature-controlled freight throughout the lower 48 states for businesses shipping perishable food, frozen, and temperature-sensitive goods. Service runs on a scheduled weekly cadence with Thursday/Friday pickups and Monday–Wednesday deliveries the following week.
• Refrigerated Warehousing Long- and short-term temperature-controlled storage at the company's 27,000 square foot refrigerated facility in Omaha, featuring high-bay storage, optional temperature-controlled zones, drive-in doors, and specialty equipment. Adjacent to the transportation headquarters for integrated storage-and-shipping solutions.
• Refrigerated Cross-Docking Temperature-controlled cross-docking operations at the Omaha facility, transferring inbound refrigerated freight to outbound linehaul with same-week scheduling. Processes approximately 2 million pounds of product per week.
• Refrigerated Truckload Services Full truckload refrigerated shipping for larger temperature-sensitive shipments that exceed LTL volumes, complementing the company's LTL linehaul and using company-owned equipment as well as contracted owner-operators recruited from the Omaha market.
• Redelivery Services Local re-delivery service available within 150 miles of Omaha for shippers needing a second delivery attempt or customer handoff within the Omaha metro and surrounding region.
• Value-Added Warehousing Services Comprehensive warehouse-based services performed at the refrigerated facility, including JIT inventory management, labeling, merchandise returns processing, light assembly, import/export customs clearance, quality control inspections, point-of-sale display construction, split case picking, private label relabeling, holiday gift box preparation, part kit assembly, and repacking from master cases into smaller units.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2 million lbs of product cross-docked weekly
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability4 records

Feature1 record

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Crete Carrier Corporation: Nationwide refrigerated and dry carrier operating a large fleet; comparable in refrigerated food/grocery end markets and asset-heavy operating model.
• Prime Inc. Large multi-modal carrier offering refrigerated, flatbed, and tanker services nationwide; a much larger incumbent that competes for the same refrigerated capacity customers.
• Covenant Transport Group: Asset-based trucking and logistics provider with refrigerated services; broader portfolio but overlapping customer base in food and grocery distribution.
• AmeriCold Logistics: Large temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics company; comparable in refrigerated storage and value-added services, but operates a national warehouse network versus Cannonball's single hub.

Direct peers

• Bay & Bay Transportation: Refrigerated LTL and truckload carrier operating nationwide from Midwest hubs, offering similar temperature-controlled LTL, warehousing, and cross-dock capabilities to Cannonball Express Transportation.
• Hirschbach Motor Lines: Refrigerated trucking carrier offering dedicated, LTL, and truckload services nationwide; comparable in refrigerated capacity and customer base to Cannonball Express Transportation.
• Stevens Transport: Large refrigerated carrier offering LTL and truckload services across the U.S., with similar customer focus on food and grocery shippers needing temperature-controlled capacity.
• Marten Transport: Refrigerated and dry truckload carrier with brokerage and intermodal services; competes for the same refrigerated food/grocery shippers and offers similar asset-plus-brokerage capabilities.
• KLLM Transport Services: Major refrigerated truckload carrier that also offers LTL and logistics services across North America, competing directly for refrigerated capacity and cross-dock business.

Regional players

• Midwest Refrigerated Services: Refrigerated warehousing and cross-dock provider focused on Midwest food distribution; directly comparable to Cannonball's refrigerated warehousing and value-added services offering.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cannonballtrans
• Facebookfacebook.com/Cannonballtransportation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cannonball-express

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cannonball Express Transportation