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Private carriers report mixed fleet growth in 2026
Some private fleets expand in sectors including agriculture, while others stagnate
With 608 tractors, Veritiv again leads the list of largest private fleets in the paper and office products sector. (Veritiv Corp.)
Key Takeaways:
- Private carrier fleet growth in 2026 varied by sector, with beverage, food service, agriculture and retail fleets generally expanding while others stagnated or shrank.
- Major investments included Performance Foodservice adding more than 1,000 trucks, Tyson Foods adding 363 tractors and Walmart increasing tractor count 7%.
- Sector leaders largely held their positions, including Walmart, Sysco, Tyson Foods, Halliburton, Clean Harbors and Medline atop their respective lists.
The picture of equipment acquisition for private carriers has been mixed in 2026, with fleets in industries like agriculture expanding while others stagnate.
The largest private fleets in the beverage and food service distribution industries skewed toward expansion in the past year, with several companies making significant investments in their fleets.
The top five fleets on the beverage sector list remained unchanged from last year, with PepsiCo Beverages North America again leading the way.
At Nos. 7 and 8, Southern Glazer’s and Swire Coca-Cola USA both substantially expanded their tractor fleets, adding 278 and 179 tractors, respectively.
The top of the food service sector list also was unchanged, once again led by Sysco Corp. The biggest change on this list was the fleet expansion from Performance Foodservice, which added more than 1,000 trucks in the past year to grow its fleet by 27%.
Many of the largest agriculture and food processing companies in North America added to their private fleets since last year, with seven of the list’s top 10 companies reporting more tractors in operation in 2026.
The list’s leader, Tyson Foods, added 363 power units to extend its lead over No. 2 Nutrien, which reported no change.
Walmart, once again No. 1 on the full Top 100 Private Carriers list, continued to lead the wholesale and retail sector, and further expanded its fleet with a 7% increase in tractor count year over year.
Dollar General moved up to the No. 2 spot on the retail list this year with 94 more tractors than No. 3 Amazon.
See the 2026 Top 100 rankings
►Private carriers balance costs
►Fleet growth mixed across sectors
Sector Rankings
Food Service | Grocery | Beverage
Petroleum/Chemical | Industrial Gases
Wholesale/Retail | Manufacturing
Equipment Rental | Building Materials
Waste Management | Construction
Paper/Office Products | Healthcare
Uniform Rental | Media & Entertainment
While the top three on this year’s grocery list are the same as a year ago, the big change came at No. 4 with C&S Wholesale Grocers, which acquired grocery distributor and store operator SpartanNash in September 2025. SpartanNash ranked No. 8 on this list last year while C&S ranked No. 10. The merger pushed their combined fleet into this year’s top five.
Four of the top six companies on the building materials sector list expanded their fleets in the past year, and the list is again led by The Quikrete Cos. CRH Americas moved past ABC Supply to take the No. 3 ranking this year after expanding its fleet by 5.3%.
United Rentals retained its spot atop the list of equipment rental providers despite downsizing its fleet slightly. No. 3 Herc Holdings and No. 5 EquipmentShare both added to their fleets significantly, closing the gaps in the top five.
Quanta Services, a newcomer to this year’s publication, took the top spot on the construction sector list with a fleet of 877 tractors. The top three was rounded out by Knife River and MasTec Inc.
Air Liquide USA continues to boast the largest private fleet in the industrial gases industry despite a slight decline in tractor count year over year. The most significant expansion on this list came from Nippon Sanso Matheson, formerly known as Matheson Tri-Gas.
The trend for private fleet size in the petroleum and chemical industries was mixed in 2026 as four of the top 10 reported smaller tractor fleets and three others expanded.
Halliburton Co. retained its lead on the sector list, maintaining its fleet of 3,233 tractors. No. 2 Patterson-UTI Energy, conversely, contracted its fleet operations, reporting 531 fewer tractors this year. Much of the reduction came from subsidiary NexTier Oilfield Solutions, which shrank its fleet by 413 tractors.
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Halliburton's tractor fleet, the largest in the energy industry, came in at No. 9 on the Top 100 Private Carriers list. (Halliburton Co.)
The most growth on this list came from Brenntag North America, which added 67 tractors and moved up two spots to No. 8.
Clean Harbors Environmental Services continued to lead the pack with the largest private fleet in waste management. The business expanded its tractor count by 220 in the past year.
New to this year’s list is the combined fleet of Burrtec Waste Industries and Edco Disposal. The sister companies debut at No. 2 with 788 tractors.
Medline Inc. maintained its fleet of 1,427 tractors to remain atop the healthcare sector list. UniFirst Corp. and NBCUniversal continue leading the uniform rental and media and entertainment lists, respectively.
