KENNETT SQUARE, PA — Frank Manfredi has a hard time sitting still. Though over the years the former mushroom farmer has built a simple cold storage facility into a major league transportation and logistics hub an hour outside of Philadelphia, he is constantly tinkering with the formula and facilities that have made The Manfredi Cos. successful.

Over the last few months, Manfredi has either completed or launched plans to upgrade facilities for truckers waiting to pick up shipments, made significant investments in his railyard with an eye on the future, begun a truck brokerage service, expanded his repack operation and bought the property next to his to make the whole plan come together.

“We’ve been trying to get our hands on that for the last five years and what it’s going to do is finish out the property,” Manfredi said. “When it’s done, there will be just under half-a-million square feet and we’ll store just under 37,000 pallet spots (up from 21,000) of product. Part of the project is to expand the repacking side as well. Right now that operation is 40,000 square feet and we want to take it to 60,000. With the property that adjoins us we can continue that building down another 700 feet.”

While Manfredi is well-known as a popular distribution point for fresh produce arriving along the Delaware River, “We don’t just do fruits and vegetables, we also do finished foodstuffs, and the plan now is we’re introducing a truck brokerage company as well. It will add service to the lanes we already travel in our trucks. What we need to do is expand beyond those dedicated lanes and offer a broader customer to store product and be able to consolidate freight here. The fact that we’ll have so much space will make it easier,” Manfredi said.

“We try to service the customer that stores product with us. That long-term commitment here is what enables what you see to happen. We couldn’t do what we do without the customer who stores product here,” Manfredi said. “At the same time, we’re still soliciting our first railcar shipment — we haven’t gotten anything yet but we hope to see something this year. With freight rates out of California going up and the trucking situation being what it is, we’re hoping we can land that first apple car, pear car, avocado car, citrus car. We’re still dedicated to that and hopefully we’ll have a car out there at some point.”

With new trucking regulations that will limit hours behind the wheel and drivers sometimes stuck in places they might rather not be, “We’re trying to create a better atmosphere for the truckers themselves: one, with a place to park their truck; two, with facilities that will include bathroom, showers and a pretty big breakroom, computers so they can check their e-mail, TV, a place for them to stretch their legs. With the new rules, if they get stuck here, I know this isn’t the Waldorf-Astoria but you want to try to make the stay as pleasant as possible because the trucker makes everything happen. If you can keep them happy, they’re not going to say anything good, but hopefully they won’t complain to their boss either.”

“What makes this work is we’re a full-service facility. We operate seven days a week. Customers look at the services you provide versus your competition. If you factor in everything and add it all up the cost of doing business here is the same or a little less than doing business at the waterfront,” Manfredi said. “We take the customers’ product very seriously and their needs are ever-changing. We listen to their feedback. We have a lot of good, long-term relationships we’ve built over the years and our partners trust us to do a good job.”