There are more than 777,000 for-hire trucking fleets in the United States, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Of those, about 91% operate six or fewer trucks and more than 97% operate fewer than 20 trucks. Even if the small fleets and owner-operators make up a big piece of the overall trucking market, it is impossible to ignore the importance of the largest fleets rolling across the highways of North America.
These companies are influential and powerful voices in shaping the debate involving regulations, trade, and other industry issues. To recognize these fleets, Fleet Owner is launching the For-Hire 500, the largest listing of its kind anywhere. It includes carriers based in the U.S. and Canada.
Combined, the top 500 fleets operate a total of 238,961 trucks, 591,277 tractors, and 1,558,019 trailers. These figures are projected to increase as many for-hire carriers continue to invest in their businesses following the federal tax reform legislation.
The new equipment is being added to meet increasing freight demand, attract and retain professional drivers, and to operate more efficiently and safely.
The 2019 Fleet Owner For-Hire 500 rankings are based on total power units operated by a fleet as of November 2018.
A breakdown by tractors and trucks is provided, and while they are not a factor in the rankings, trailer numbers are also offered.
- View the top for-hire fleets by total trucks
- View the top for-hire fleets by total tractors
- View the top for-hire fleets by total trailers
The fleets are also divided into a variety of operating categories, including package, general freight, household goods, tank truck, heavy hauling, building materials, motor vehicle, petroleum products, bulk, refrigerated solids, and agricultural commodities.
The information for the For-Hire 500 is collected by Fleet Owner’s FleetSeek.com from a database using a number of public and proprietary sources that are constantly being updated, including information from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, surveys and phone interviews.
The For-Hire 500 is also available here as a PDF. Click the box below to view the list, which is also sortable by rank, company name, operating type, city, total vehicles, total trucks, total tractors, and total trailers. (Note to mobile users: If you do not see all the columns in this list, please ask your mobile browser to show the desktop version of the website; instructions on how to do this for iPhones is here and for Android phones is here.)
