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Fleet Owner 500: America's Top Private Fleets

Feb. 18, 2015
View more of the Fleet Owner 500 The 2015 Fleet Owner 500 Overview 1-100 | 101-200 | 201-300 | 301-400 | 401-500 A breakdown of the Fleet Owner 500

Although the pace has been glacial, America’s economic recovery finally gained credibility in 2014 and this, our 12th annual Fleet Owner 500 report on America’s top private fleets, reflects that generally good news. Whether you’re counting trucks, tractors or trailers, the total numbers run by the Top 500 are up strongly as businesses seem once again to be investing in the transportation networks so crucial to their success in an economy on the rebound.  Once again, the Fleet Owner 500 offers a vivid reminder that while private fleets may be far less visible than their for-hire counterparts, they play a vital role in the growth of their parent companies’ primary businesses as they provide field service, distribute products, power supply chains, and otherwise fill essential roles.

The Fleet Owner 500 list ranks private fleets based on the number of tractors and straight trucks they operate, and this year the total for all 500 grew by 5.2%, or 62,000 power units. Last year’s growth was a much more modest 9,000 vehicles, or just 1%. And trailers, which are reported but not used to calculate the rankings, grew by 4.8% compared to last year, which only showed 2.2% growth. 

Data for the Top 500 is collected by our sister operation, FleetSeek.  Starting with a wide range of public and proprietary sources, it verifies and updates individual fleet equipment numbers and other information through electronic, mail and telephone follow-ups.  This year’s list includes 58 fleets not included in the 2014 report, some having grown significantly through new equipment acquisition or mergers, and others providing validated information not available in previous years that qualified them for the Top 500 ranking.

Following the main listing, you’ll find charts indicating equipment types operated by private fleets in nine general business categories: concrete/cement, construction, food and beverage, manufacturing/processing, petroleum/gases, retail/wholesale, sanitation, business and home services, and utilities.  Backing out the numbers for the 58 new fleets to provide a more appropriate comparison to 2014 data, only two of the nine business categories showed a decline in total vehicle and even those were small—manufacturing (-6%) and utilities (-1%).  The largest year-over-year increases were recorded in construction (16%), concrete (11%), and wholesale/retail (11%).  Overall, 250 returning Top 500 private fleets reported an increase in power units and 65 indicated no change.

The summary charts also identify the five largest fleets in each of those categories, as well as the ten largest tractor fleets and ten largest straight truck fleets.  Stability in a healthy economy seems to be evident there with little change in either the business categories or the tractor/truck rankings from last year.

Although we didn’t break it out in chart form, analysis of private fleet headquarters identified Texas as number one with 84 companies in the 2015 Fleet Owner 500, followed by California (35), Illinois (29), Ohio (24), and Pennsylvania (23).  Together, private fleets in these five states control 42.5% of all the vehicles in the Top 500, with Texas companies alone accounting for 22.5% of the total.

In addition to this print version, the 2015 Fleet Owner 500 can be accessed online at fleetowner.com.  Reprints of the report are also available, as is a database version with more detailed fleet information.  For ordering and price information, contact Reggie Lawrence at [email protected].

And if you’d like to have your private fleet considered for inclusion in next year’s Fleet Owner 500, send contact information to Ron Roth at [email protected].
 

About the Author

Jim Mele

Nationally recognized journalist, author and editor, Jim Mele joined Fleet Owner in 1986 with over a dozen years’ experience covering transportation as a newspaper reporter and magazine staff writer. Fleet Owner Magazine has won over 45 national editorial awards since his appointment as editor-in-chief in 1999.

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