Outpost, a leading network of managed semi-truck parking facilities, recently raised $12.5 million in Series A funding to accelerate the expansion of its managed properties and technology platform. This funding was led by GreenPoint Partners with support from Speedwagon Capital Partners.
Founded in 2021 as Semi-Stow, the company also unveiled its new Outpost brand, reflecting its growing network of strategic locations for trucking companies to store their assets and expand their geographic footprint securely.
“As we’ve evolved and grown into our business, we know that each yard actually has a bigger meaning to them,” Outpost’s Co-Founder and CEO Trent Cameron told FleetOwner. “We think that the future of what our business and what freight look like is a large network of locations that you call outposts, where carriers can come together and park, drop, and put freight, house drivers, etc.”
Outpost’s funding comes as the nation’s 3.5 million truck drivers contend with acute parking shortages. According to the American Trucking Associations, there is currently only one parking space for every 11 trucks on the road. Drivers spend nearly an hour daily trying to find parking, amounting to a 12% annual pay cut in addition to the economic and environmental impacts of wasted fuel. This forces drivers to park in unsafe and unauthorized locations or violate federal hours of service regulations that require rest breaks at specific times.
Expansion and features
Headquartered in Austin with an engineering hub in Seattle, Outpost is working to solve these problems by expanding its network of 18 properties and 8,000 parking spaces. In 2023, the company opened 10 new fleet yards and is projecting to more than double the number of properties under management in 2024. This anticipated growth will be fueled by Outpost’s direct acquisition of real estate and through the company’s management of a $500 million industrial outdoor storage investment portfolio launched by GreenPoint last year.
When expanding, there aren’t many locations Outpost isn’t considering adding to its network. Cameron told FleetOwner the company is looking at locations in New York, New Jersey, Miami, Atlanta, and even the Midwest.
“Truck parking is essential infrastructure for our supply chain and the U.S. economy—no different from roads and bridges,” Cameron said. “This infrastructure will evolve beyond parking in the years ahead to include maintenance, electric vehicle charging, autonomous vehicle landing, office space, and other essential services. The first step toward that future is building a nationwide network of outposts for truck parking, fleet positioning, and drop trailer relays, and today’s funding will help us accelerate these efforts.”
According to Cameron, Outpost’s facilities come with the following features: demarcated parking bays, LED lighting, security cameras, electric gates, remote monitors, on-site staff, office spaces, restrooms, maintenance bays, and docking bays. Some facilities are also equipped with electric security fencing.
In addition to its managed facilities, Outpost operates a brokerage arm that helps trucking companies find secure parking anywhere in the U.S.—the brokerage business currently includes 20 additional yards managed by Outpost partners.
See also: Feds to fund $300M in truck parking improvements
Background
In a fragmented and traditionally non-digital industry, Outpost is building a consistent and modern customer experience across its locations. In addition to introducing standards for access control and safety, the company is deploying a technology platform that enables trucking companies to book and manage reservations online, manage driver access to each facility, monitor equipment through real-time and on-demand video feeds, get detailed reports on usage, and improve the efficiency of their parking and storage spend. For parking lot owners, Outpost’s technology platform and asset management service streamline operations, resulting in higher occupancy and returns without the need to source new business.
Outpost serves many of the largest fleets in the nation, including Landstar, Werner, Prime Inc., FirstFleet, PAM, Dot Transportation Inc., Western Flyer Xpress, and RTI, as well as more than 1,500 midsized fleets and small trucking companies. The company also increasingly works with other segments that have commercial vehicle storage needs. These include semi-truck and trailer manufacturers, leasing companies and dealerships, moving companies, bus companies, public transport entities, heavy equipment manufacturers, and utility providers.
“We know that this [lack of truck parking] is a really big problem, and that in order to solve this problem, it’s going to take an effort from a company that can control all sides of the equation,” Cameron told FleetOwner. “And the sides that I’m talking about typically are having access to real estate, having really great technologies and operations to support the execution in partnership with truck drivers and trucking companies, helping them find that space. So we feel like we are well poised to make a large dent in solving what is a very large problem.”
