Guide to Inland Distribution & Warehousing
Special Report
US less-than-truckload( LTL) carriers by number of terminals
As of December 2025
Carrier |
Terminals |
FedEx Freight |
327 |
XPO Logistics 300 Old Dominion Freight Line 262 Estes Express Lines 226 ABF Freight System 1 222 Saia Motor Freight Line 214 Central Transport 1 201 Tforce Freight 2 192 Knight-Swift LTL 1 179 R + L Carriers 127 1 SJ Consulting Group estimates 2 US operations only
Source: SJ Consulting Group published by the Journal of Commerce and SJ Consulting Group. Those companies had 452 terminals last year, a gain of 134 facilities from 2024.
Terminal counts alone can be misleading when it comes to capacity. Think of the difference between a 20-door facility and a 200-door facility. Measured by dock doors, LTL capacity is still below its 2022 peak before the exit of Yellow and its subsidiaries.
In 2022, when the COVID-19 freight boom peaked, the US LTL industry had 176,054 dock doors, according to SJ Consulting Group. In 2023, that number dropped by 10 % to 158,488. In the two years since, the SJ Consulting door count has climbed 5.8 % to 167,6590.
That’ s still 4.8 % below the peak in 2022 when the LTL sector handled 711,023 shipments a day on average compared with 649,796 in 2025.
That means the US LTL sector is still recovering from the 2023 capacity crash and decline in volumes. The sector’ s average daily shipment count was down 8.6 % from 2022 last year and 2.9 % from 2024, according to SJ Consulting.
“ LTL carriers should look at this as a perfect time to learn how to use the various technologies available right now, including artificial intelligence, to handle more freight with the same physical network,” SJ Consulting Group President Satish Jindel said.
email: bill. cassidy @ spglobal. com
FMCSA began implementing Motus in December and phase II of its rollout in May. Brandon Bell / Getty Images
www. joc. com
The agency’ s website also carries an alert for users unable to claim a USDOT record when an email address has inadvertently been registered under the Transportation Service Provider role. FMCSA directs affected users to close that account and, if the problem persists, submit a support ticket and documentation establishing ownership.
FMCSA did not respond to Journal of Commerce questions seeking the number of affected Motus accounts or when the system is expected to be fully stabilized.
American Trucking Associations( ATA) President Chris Spear acknowledged implementation difficulties in written testimony to a Senate Commerce subcommittee June 9. Spear said ATA strongly supports the modernization effort as FMCSA continues“ refining the platform and addressing implementation challenges.”
Garney said some affected carriers have turned to his firm after unsuccessfully trying to resolve problems through FMCSA’ s customer service channels.
Scopelitis Transportation has helped clients by collecting individual cases and bringing them to FMCSA officials to address them. Garney said agency officials have responded quickly when specific problems reach the appropriate people.
He acknowledged that some difficulties stem from additional identity-verification requirements central to FMCSA’ s effort to combat fraud, creating a balance between stopping fraudulent operators and avoiding barriers for legitimate carriers.
September 7, 2026 | Journal of Commerce 17