Top 40 Truckload and LTL Carriers
Special Report
Yellow ’ s exit pulled all carriers higher in the rankings . Saia moved up two spots to seventh among the top 40 , with a 3.2 % increase in revenue propelled by territorial expansion and the addition of 3,470 shipments a day from Yellow in the second half .
Detroit-based Central Transport joined the 10 largest LTL providers for the first time after increasing revenue 2 % to $ 1.3 billion last year . As a subset of the group , the 10 largest LTL providers saw their combined revenue drop 5.2 % to $ 38.5 billion .
Small but fast
Smaller carriers in the top 40 rankings were among the fastest-growing companies .
Revenue at Denver-based North Park Transportation , 37th in the rankings , jumped 14.6 % to $ 94 million , making it the fastest-growing LTL carrier in 2023 . North Park ranked 40th in the previous year ’ s rankings .
Cross Country Freight Solutions , with headquarters in Bismark , ND , was the second-fastest-growing carrier , raising revenue 10.6 % to $ 207 million . Growth at Cross Country was fueled more by acquisitions than overflow freight from Yellow .
Sutton Transport of Weston , Wis ., increased its revenue 9.8 % year over year to $ 123 million , in part from the purchase of the LTL business of CRH Transportation in 2022 .
“ We ’ re going to see more acquisitions of small LTL carriers ,” Jindel said .
“ There ’ s greater need to invest in technology ,” he noted , adding that includes pallet and shipment dimensioning equipment . “ Not all small carriers can afford to make that investment .”
The LTL carriers acquired by Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings also grew in 2023 . AAA Cooper Transportation , ranked 16th , increased its revenue 5.1 % to $ 764 million , and Midwest Motor Express , ranked 28th , raised
www . joc . com
revenue 4.6 % to $ 160 million , according to SJ Consulting Group estimates .
Signs of growth
There are already signs the LTL sector is emerging from the trough it entered in 2023 .
LTL carriers are preparing for higher freight volumes not just in 2024 but as far down the road as 2028 , building new terminals , buying older ones and expanding into non-traditional markets such like ocean container transloading .
“ The LTL industry ... did many times better than the truckload guys . They ’ ve got a lot more discipline in pricing .”
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics ’ long-distance LTL producer price index rose 5.4 percentage points from July through December and by February was up 13.4 percentage points from July . That puts the all-inclusive measure of LTL pricing up 3.3 % from February 2023 .
US manufacturing has also shown signs of stabilizing , with the S & P Global manufacturing purchasing managers index returning to growth in January and February . S & P Global is the parent company of the Journal of Commerce . “ The LTL industry from a profit point of view did as well last year as it did in 2022 and many times better than the truckload guys ,” Jindel said . “ They ’ ve got a lot more discipline in pricing and they held on to their price increases despite a soft economy .”
email : bill . cassidy @ spglobal . com
April 22 , 2024 | Journal of Commerce 35