Top 50 Trucking Companies

Increase shows momentum of U.S. economic recovery keeping pace, as American Trucking Associations tonnage index rises to highest level on record.

Don't be fooled by a seasonal drop in net trailer orders in January — a stronger economy and changing equipment strategies are contributing to a "vibrant" trailer market in the U.S., as FTR sales data show.

The U.S. and Canada cleared a big hurdle to building a second span over the Detroit River, a critical crossing and sometime choke-point for cross-border trade.

U.S. regulators plan to study how truck driver pay methods affect truck and road safety, a step some trucking officials fear could lead to a government role in deciding how and how much drivers should be paid.

Trucking hiring soared in 2014, climbing nearly 90 percent from 2013 as for-hire carriers aggressively recruited employees and raised driver pay. Those efforts still wasn't enough to end a driver shortage.

With a stronger economy and stronger profits at their backs, large truckload carriers are beginning to add capacity, where it pays, pushing the JOC Truckload Capacity Index up 3.6 points in 2014.

Expedited business is up 10 percent year-over-year at regional Western trucking company Reddaway, thanks in part to extreme delays at West Coast ports.

Regional less-than-truckload carrier Reddaway is the latest trucker to offer an accelerated service option as port congestion and tight truck capacity challenge time-definite supply chains.

The port congestion crisis on the U.S. West Coast and changing retail delivery patterns inland both challenged UPS in the fourth quarter, the company said today.

LTL trucker Saia increased revenue and profit for 2014 and the fourth quarter. New equipment that captures the cubic dimension and weight of shipments helped.

Avondale Partners sees higher over-the-road pricing ahead for shippers, but still expects some freight to shift from intermodal rail to truck as fuel prices and surcharges plummet, cutting into total trucking costs.

The annualized driver turnover rate at large truckload carriers rose to 97 percent in the third quarter, despite the efforts of some carriers to keep drivers by raising pay.

The largest U.S. truckload carrier could add 700 to 1,100 trucks this year, if higher rates, higher freight demand and higher pay keep drivers in truck cabs.

UPS is considering "new pricing strategies," including targeted peak-season surcharge prices, after spending $200 million more than expected to deliver packages this holiday season.

Larger international shippers increasingly use UPS's expedited freight service as a strategic "cushion" or aid in supply chain planning, as well as for urgent shipments.

Dry van truckload spot rates dropped slightly post-holiday, but remain elevated, especially in the West, where port congestion keeps demand and pricing high.

ABF Logistics, a subsidiary of transportation holding group ArcBest, expanded by acquiring truckload brokerage Smart Lines.

Con-way Freight workers in Miami Lakes, Florida, voted to join the Teamsters union, making their facility the third in Con-way's LTL network to go union. Three other terminals have rejected the Teamsters.

Truckload carriers are increasingly optimistic about 2015, with 76 percent expecting freight volumes to increase and 86 percent forecasting higher rates, according to a Transport Capital Partners survey.

Regional LTL carrier Holland commits to hiring 500 veterans, seeking drivers and other workers as the U.S. military reduces its overseas forces.

As large LTL carriers and international shippers begin to develop density-based pricing alternatives, the classification system still dominates LTL costing and, by extension, pricing.

Midsize trucking companies are increasingly bullish on the economic outlook and their ability to hire new employees, including drivers, in 2015, according to GE Capital Transportation Services.

Pricing power and advances in technology are spurring innovation in LTL pricing, encouraging carriers to test out dimensional-weight pricing and other alternatives to class-based tariff rates as they seek more dynamic, flexible pricing models.

The third quarter was good to practically all the publicly owned U.S. trucking companies: none reported losses, and their combined revenue rose 10.7 percent to more than $10 billion, supported by a second quarter of stronger freight demand and economic growth.

Road and city drivers at a FedEx Freight terminal in Newark, N.J., voted against joining the Teamsters union — the second victory for FedEx Freight in four elections.

As the U.S. economy gets stronger and freight demand rises, large truckload carriers are beginning to add trucks, driving the JOC Truckload Capacity Index up 1 percentage point in the third quarter.

Net orders for the Class 8 trucks that literally keep the economy in motion soared in October, underscoring growing confidence about the strength of the recovery and the outlook for 2015.

Less-than-truckload carrier ABF Freight System is gaining more freight from competing modes as truckload capacity tightens and intermodal service problems frustrate shippers.

The Teamsters union won a representation election at a New Jersey FedEx Freight terminal Oct. 31, but called off another vote at a less-than-truckload terminal in Pennsylvania.

Celadon Trucking put more drivers on U.S. highways in the last quarter, and those truckers brought back more revenue and profits for the carrier.

Higher rates and better utilization of its terminals, trucks and drivers are helping Con-way Freight, the second-largest less-than-truckload carrier, significantly increase profits.

The wave of stronger economic activity that produced freight for truckload and less-than-truckload carriers alike in the third quarter lifted tonnage, shipments and revenue at YRC Worldwide, giving the $4.9 billion LTL company a chance to improve profitability.

In an era when most companies seem intent on doing more with less, Old Dominion Freight Line is doing more with more. The fifth-largest U.S. less-than-truckload carrier hired 868 employees in the third quarter alone to keep pace with its rapidly expanding business.

Universal Truckload executive vice president and soon-to-be CEO Jeff Rogers spent years running LTL trucking companies, but don't call him an 'LTL guy.'

Heartland benefited from its acquisition last year of Gordon Trucking, which coupled with strong freight demand helped boost third-quarter revenue 66 percent.

Employees at two Con-way Freight terminals in Southern California rejected the Teamsters while those at another voted for the union. The company could face more elections.

Knight Transportation is using sustainable profit to finance sustainable growth, both through acquisition and organic growth, raising driver pay and adding trucks in a tight market.