TFI eyes further truckload OR improvement as market rebounds

Truckload represented 40% of TFI’s overall revenue. (TFI International)

Key performance metrics at TFI International’s truckload division are set to accelerate in the coming quarters, and the unit again drove results at the Montreal-based carrier in the second quarter of 2026 as the freight market rebounded.

The division’s operating ratio improved to 86.1 in the most recent quarter from 90.1 in the year-ago period. A carrier’s OR provides insight on how well a company is balancing its costs and revenue generation. The lower the ratio, the better a company’s performance.

“We’re very proud of what our truckload guys have been able to accomplish. If you [also] look back at our Q1 OR in our truckload division, we were above 90,” CEO Alain Bédard told analysts during the company’s Q2 earnings call after the market closed on July 27.

“Are we going to do better than that in 2027? Can we get to, let us say, an 80 to an 82 OR, 83 OR? I think so. If market stays about the same, if the supply is not changing, I think so,” said the company’s top executive, who has often told analysts of his 80 OR ambitions in past quarters.

Acquisitions inked during the freight downturn, plus a slowdown in rolling stock spending followed by disposals, boosted TFI International’s overall and truckload results in Q2, executives said during the call.

Over the past couple of years, TFI carried out a buying spree in the truckload sector, adding both major players like Daseke and a plethora of tuck-in acquisitions. The company has made only one deal so far in 2026 and promised no major acquisitions for the rest of the year.

TFI ranks No. 6 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America. Its truckload unit ranks No. 3 in the segment.

TFI’s truckload division saw a 6.8% increase in revenue before fuel surcharge to $760.8 million from $712.3 million in the same period 12 months earlier.

Overall, TFI’s second-quarter net income increased 39% to $136.2 million from $98.2 million in Q2 2025, while revenue rose 12.4% to $2.29 billion in the most recent quarter from $2.04 billion in the year-ago period.

Truckload represented 40% of TFI’s overall revenue. The unit’s revenue per truck per week (excluding fuel) rose 13% year over year to $4,942 in Q2 from $4,374. Revenue per truck per week (including fuel) jumped 21.6% to $6,151 in the most recent quarter from $5,059 in Q2 2025.

“The investment we made during the recent slowdown, both in internal operation and strategic M&A, are beginning to benefit our performance. We now have a balanced and diverse portfolio of operating companies in attractive end markets, which we continue to serve while always maintaining our focus on efficiency and related operating principles,” Bédard said. “This goes back to the saying, ‘do more with less instead of doing less with more.’ ”

Breaking the improvement in truckload market dynamics down by month, Chief Financial Officer David Saperstein said April saw an 11.1% increase in revenue per truck per week year over year, May rose 13.3% and June climbed 14.4%.

“The world of truckload has changed tremendously over the last six to nine months,” said Bédard, noting capacity reductions in the United States in particular due to federal enforcement initiatives.

But executives also said targeted initiatives by TFI units had seen an increase in demand in specific markets, although Canadian steel and lumber continue to lag due to the fluidity of U.S. tariff policy.

“These are [flatbed] sectors like the aerospace, the wind, the data center, OK, that we see a lot of opportunities. Steel, too,” Bédard said.

Bédard cited successes at SPD, TSH and Lone Star, tied respectively to Boeing work, steel and heavy-haul wind projects, and data center contracts.