UPS maintained its No. 1 ranking on Transportation Topics’ Top 100 For-Hire Carriers for 2026 list. (Graham Hughes/Bloomberg News)
key takeaways:
- North America’s largest for-hire carriers reported improving market conditions in 2026 after several years of recession, while the 2025-based Top 100 rankings still reflect last year’s challenges.
- Capacity cuts and enforcement actions tightened supply, making higher rates possible, although most of the Top 100 carriers posted lower 2025 revenue despite isolated growth at companies like Schneider and Prime Inc.
- The industry’s consolidation and restructuring continued with the spinoff of FedEx Freight, the acquisition of FirstFleet by Werner, and several new additions to the list, signaling a gradual recovery and further change in trucking.
The business outlook has brightened considerably this year for North America’s leading trucking companies, which are finally beginning to secure higher rates after surviving nearly four years of freight market downturn.
The elimination of excess freight capacity – through the gradual exit of businesses from the industry and recent enforcement action on non-compliant carriers – has rebalanced supply and demand and led to much-needed profitability gains.
Although a growing sense of optimism has taken hold in recent months, it will take time for the ongoing recovery in the freight forwarder market to lead to broader improvements across the trucking industry.
This latest edition of Transportation Topics’ Top 100 For-Hire Carriers list, which ranks the industry’s largest trucking companies by 2025 revenue, reflects the challenging market conditions of the past year.
Some motor carriers still managed to grow their business, but most of the companies qualifying for the top 100 earned less revenue in 2025 than the previous year.
It appears this trend will reverse in 2026 as market conditions stabilize and the trucking industry enters a long-awaited upcycle.
The most prominent change in this year’s rankings is the debut of No. 4 FedEx Freight as a stand-alone, publicly traded less truckload carrier following the completion of its spinoff from FedEx Corp. on June 1.
Despite that separation, package delivery giant FedEx Corp. Its top-ranked rival, UPS Inc. has easily retained its number 2 spot on the list, right behind.
Another big move was No. 19 Werner Enterprises’ acquisition of Murfreesboro, Tennessee-based dedicated contract carrier FirstFleet, which ranked No. 67 in the top 100 a year ago. That transaction, announced in January, significantly expands Werner’s dedicated operations and positions the company to grow on the list in the future.
In another deal involving two Top 100 companies, No. 15 Hub Group completed the acquisition of No. 48 Marten Transport’s intermodal business in September.
Despite the market downturn, some carriers achieved significant business growth last year.
No. 10 Schneider’s full-year revenue rose 7% last year to $5.7 billion, driven primarily by the acquisition of Baltimore-based dedicated carrier Cowan Systems in late 2024.
No. 20 Prime Inc., the industry’s largest refrigerated carrier, also bucked the overall industry trend with a strong growth year, increasing its revenue 9% to more than $2.7 billion.
This year’s updated Top 100 list includes 10 companies that were not ranked a year ago.
In 33rd place is STG Logistics, an intermodal transportation and drayage provider based in Dublin, Ohio. In May, STG received court approval for its restructuring plan, clearing the way for the company to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Two major bulk carriers based in Oklahoma – No. 82 United Petroleum Transports of Oklahoma City and No. 88 Groendyke Transport of Enid – both made the top 100 this year.
Other newcomers to the list are No. 95 Spee-D Delivery Service, a package courier headquartered in St. Cloud, Minn.; No. 96 Blackhawk Transport, a dedicated contract carrier based in Beloit, Wisconsin; No. 97 Magnum Ltd., a diversified trucking company in Fargo, ND; No. 98 Continental Express, a temperature-controlled carrier headquartered in Sidney, Ohio; No. 99 Pride Transport, a refrigerated carrier based in Salt Lake City; and No. 100 System Freight, a dedicated carrier operating out of Jamesburg, NJ.
The transportation topic top 100 and industry sector lists presented in this publication rank the largest for-hire carriers in the United States and Canada by 2025 revenue.
This information is reflected in financial reports and data from other public sources, as well as companies’ responses to an annual survey conducted by Transport Topics.
Where noted, the lists also include revenue estimates by transportation disciplines. SJ Consulting Group For companies that did not provide updated information.
