Top 25 Truckload Companies

The long-term outlook for truckers, and their shipper customers, is blurred by the fog of trade wars, but 2020 will bring changes.

Large US truckload carriers are cutting excess capacity, albeit only slightly, pulling the JOC Truckload Capacity Index down for the first time since 2016.

A long-term investment in technology is helping Werner generate profits, and capacity for shipper customers.

The driver shortage has diminished, but not disappeared, the American Trucking Associations says. Demographics, freight demand, and pay are the key issues.

IHS Markit data shows LTL pricing and rate hikes declining at a slower pace than truckload pricing.

Shippers own the US freight market in mid-2019, but they are finding the cost of poor or inconsistent trucking service can outweigh the savings of lower rates.

As the US economy softens, shippers are pressing truckload carriers to reverse rate hikes, but carriers say the money has already been spent -- on driver raises and new trucks.

Uncertainty clouds the freight outlook beyond August, as spot truck rates cool in July after rising in June and US inventories remain high.

Cross-border truck traffic between Mexico and the United States is rising, and shipping costs are likely to increase as delays tighten border capacity.

Heavy truck orders are in steep decline, but production backlogs are falling and new trucks are hitting US highways, adding to excess capacity and preserving shipper pricing leverage.

With trucking employment rising, there are few signs excess US truck capacity will be reduced soon, keeping pricing power in the grasp of shippers.

The typical retail-based truck freight rebound came later this year and is likely to be shorter as trade tensions with China and Mexico ease.

The eighth-largest US trucking operator adds an intermodal option in Indianapolis, making service between the US Midwest and Northeast more competitive with trucks.

Lower manufacturing activity, high inventories, and trade wars are flattening the US freight economy, speakers at the SMC3 Connections 2019 conference said.

Truckload carriers surveyed by Cowen & Co. are banking on a stronger second half and expect contract rates to rise 2.7 percent on average over the next six months.

Ike, a developer of automated trucks led by veterans of Uber, Google and Apple, says ATs are entering a new phase, but still many years from widespread use.

Logistics growth is moderating, but shipper of choice programs are surviving because lower rates won't guarantee on-time delivery, speakers at the CSCMP State of Logistics Report launch said.

Truckload rates out of Atlanta and the West Coast have increased significantly amid the arrival of the spring produce and retail season, and the movement of excess inventory from bonded warehouses.

Trucking companies hauling oversized heavy freight saw revenue jump by double digits last year, but bigger and bigger shipments challenge specialized capacity.

Canadian shippers preparing for the upcoming electronic logging device mandate have a good model in the US experience.

A roadside truck inspection blitz that typically depresses truck capacity gave US spot market truck rates a boost in early June, as produce and retail seasons heat up.

Transportation consulting firm Trans-Logistics Group is expanding its advisory services for US freight shippers, opening an office in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Seasonal adjustments and other factors may have amplified a surprising truck tonnage gain reported by the American Trucking Associations last month.

Quarter-to-quarter, the acceleration of the Truckload Capacity Index is slowing, indicating large carriers’ parking lots are getting full.

Transloading or cross-docking helps expedite northbound freight as cross-border capacity imbalances and delays become more frequent.

By adding an asset-based drop-and-hook trailer program to its digital brokerage platform, J.B. Hunt Transport Services is redrawing traditional business boundaries.

At a time when freight volumes should be increasing, they’re slowing, casting a shadow over the outlook for US trucking and intermodal rail operators.

Shippers need contingency plans, and action, to deal with the threat of more truck congestion and freight delays at the US-Mexico border, logistics executives tell JOC.com.

The FMCSA is seeking comments on plans for a second pilot program testing whether 18- to 20-year-olds should drive trucks in interstate commerce.

Shippers shouldn’t be worried about large carriers shutting down, but smaller trucking firms are vulnerable as the freight market softens.

Historically, intermodal rail has offered a slower, lower-cost option for shippers, but with truckload prices falling, intermodal rail is now more expensive than trucking in some secondary markets.

US shippers have pricing power over truckers now, but their advantage may slip away by the end of 2019, Coyote Logistics warns.

Some of the biggest trucking companies are riding the 2018 wave well into 2019, and they’re focused more on building profit than revenue as the US economy slows.

The nation’s largest truckload operator is keeping a firm grip on costs and lowering its expectations for the second quarter as US motor carriers prepare for a potentially bumpy road ahead.

An influx of new Class 8 tractors and straight trucks is easing capacity constraints and pulling truck pricing downward as the US economy expands at a slower pace.

Chainalytics sees contract truckload rates turning ‘negative’ year over year as oversupply hits softer US freight demand.

A large number of small and midsize US trucking companies report competitors charging “unsustainably low rates” in a recent Bibby Financial Services survey.

A lackluster truckload spot market is putting more pressure on truck contract rates, as carriers wait for signs of the seasonal spring retail surge.

President Trump’s threats to shut down the US-Mexico border grabbed headlines last week, but freight congestion caused by a shift in Customs resources to handle a surge immigration is already costing US importers millions of dollars each day.

A drop in the number of truckers at the smallest US trucking companies could indicate a market shift toward large carriers as spot truckload rates seek bottom.