Ryder System executives are looking for more dedicated acquisitions along the lines of their $302 million purchase of Cardinal Logistics early last year.
Speaking to the JPMorgan 2025 Industrial Conference on March 12, Chairman and CEO Robert Sanchez said picking up Cardinal helped Ryder’s dedicated division improve its network efficiency. The operation now runs about 700 locations nationwide, comprising about 12,000 tractors and 14,000 drivers. Ryder Integrated Logistics moved up two spots to No. 14 in the year's FleetOwner 500: For-Hire list rankings of the largest carriers in the U.S.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, the group’s revenues were $472 million, a 46% increase from the prior-year quarter thanks to Cardinal.
Sanchez told the JPMorgan gathering that more deals like that—the cost savings of which are on track to reach $40 million to $60 million by next year—are on his wish list.
“We’re always in the market looking,” he said. “We are in the market looking for other Cardinals […] that we can bring in because it also gives us some density on freight.”
Delivering that density, Sanchez said, will be a key element of the next $150 million in profits Ryder can generate from its operations. Dedicated—which counts Shell, Del Monte, and Krispy Kreme among its customers—accounted for a little more than 35% of Ryder’s revenues in 2024. That number can grow both via acquisitions and the better coordination more scale can bring.
“There are opportunities to leverage drivers, to leverage power, to leverage broader equipment,” Sanchez said. “That’s an opportunity we see as the next wave.”
Looking more broadly at Ryder’s business this year, Sanchez said his team expects a minor lift—about $15 million—from general freight market improvements. But that number can grow much larger if and when the trucking environment returns to good health.
Shares of Ryder (Ticker: R) fell 1.48% to roughly $144.64 when trading closed on March 12. Over the past six months, they have risen about 6%, a move that has pushed Ryder’s market capitalization past $6 billion.
