Top 40 Truckload and LTL Carriers

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Revenues among the top 40 truckload carriers plunged 29.4 % in 2023 after rising 39.9 % from 2020 through 2022 . Karolis Kavolelis / Shutterstock . com

Largest truckload carriers running on empty after 2023 plunge

By William B . Cassidy

When the largest US and Canadian truckload carriers hit the bottom of the freight recession last year , it was a hard landing . Those companies are still waiting to bounce off that bottom .

The combined revenue of the 40 largest truckload companies plunged 29.4 % to $ 36.5 billion , according to the Journal of Commerce Top 40 Truckload Carrier rankings prepared by SJ Consulting Group .

When truckload demand and pricing collapsed , the top 40 carriers saw their revenues fall below 2020 levels , when the group had combined revenue of $ 37 billion , according to SJ Consulting Group data .

The top 40 truckload carriers had increased revenue 39.9 % from 2020 through 2022 , but last year their rocket ran out of fuel . Tumbling spot market prices , lower contract rates and falling fuel surcharges reset the truckload sector ’ s revenue baseline .

What went up very quickly came down as market conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic unraveled .

“ There were fewer loads and lower fuel surcharges ,” said Satish Jindel , president of SJ Consulting Group . “ We saw the same trends in less-than-truckload and parcel .” Truckload carriers were more exposed to those trends , however . Altogether , 30 of the top 40 carriers saw revenue fall between 24.6 % ( Landstar System ) and 0.1 % ( Ryder

System ). Eight of those truckload companies experienced a double-digit percentage decline in revenue .

Buying growth

The nine companies that increased revenue were led by Heartland Express , which raised its topline 24.7 % to $ 1.2 billion after acquiring Contract Freighters Inc . ( CFI ) from TFI International in 2022 . One company , NFI Industries , had flat revenue .

Iowa-based Heartland was the only new company to break above the $ 1 billion line in 2023 , joining 16 other billion-dollar-plus carriers .

As a group , those 17 truckload companies accounted for 91 % of the combined revenue of the top 40 carriers . That ’ s still a drop in the truckload bucket . The truckload sector includes a “ long tail ” of small carriers and independent owner-operators

Refrigerated trucking company Hirschbach Motor Lines increased its revenue 9.9 % last year to $ 808 million , according to SJ Consulting Group data , after acquiring John Christner Trucking in 2022 .

In a time of reduced freight demand , acquisitions are key for carriers that want to stimulate revenue growth or add new services .

Last year ’ s biggest truckload acquisition , Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings ’ purchase of US Xpress Enterprises , isn ’ t reflected in the top 40 rankings , but will be next year . US Xpress continues to operate autonomously within Knight-Swift ’ s portfolio .

Freight companies are pursuing opportunities large and small in 2024 . Examples include Ohio-based Kenan Advantage Group ’ s purchase in February of Northern Dry Bulk Carriers , a Michigan-based resin hauler .

The deals are part of a widespread , behind-the-scenes restructuring of transportation networks directly aimed at attracting shippers .

36 Journal of Commerce | April 22 , 2024 www . joc . com