This Editorial appears in the July 22 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today. Last year in the trucking industry was another one of those periods that kept most fleet executives tense and on their toes.
In general, 2012 yielded higher revenue and slightly better profits for motor carriers than the prior year, but not enough in many cases to fully compensate for the extra work required to get there.
As we show in the 2013 version of our industry-leading ranking of for-hire fleets included with this issue of Transport Topics, revenue was up for carriers, but so were costs. And while demand rose, it wasn’t quite strong enough to yield rate increases that would have allowed larger profit margins.
Several carrier executives said the freight market is currently pretty much in equilibrium, as packaging improvements and the shrinking of product sizes has balanced off the decline in fleet capacity as carriers have gone out of business or cut back on their truck-replacement programs.
But there also was optimism expressed by some executives that the second half of 2013 will be a better time for carriers.
As for last year’s results, however, they are, as they say, in the book, and the book — the Transport Topics Top 100 For-Hire Carriers in the United States and Canada — can be found following p. 18 in this issue. (And will be posted online later this year.)
There was relatively little movement in the rankings of the Top 100 for-hire fleets in our new survey, although four new ones joined the party, the highest-ranking being Groupe Robert of Quebec, which sits at No. 62.
And a few companies disappeared from the rankings because executives refused to provide financial data necessary for us to compile our listings.
The biggest movers were Universal Truckload Services Inc., which went to No. 26 from No. 39 last year, and Roadrunner Transportation Systems, which went to No. 24 from No. 32.
While virtually all of our staff members contribute to the writing, selling, editing and production of the Top 100 in some way, the leader of the project is Daniel P. Bearth, our senior features writer.
Our ranking of private carriers will be included in the Aug. 26 issue of Transport Topics, and the ranking of logistics companies, brokers, freight forwarders and warehouse companies will be in the Nov. 11 issue.
