Top 100 Private Carriers Tap Brakes on Growth
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The largest private carriers in North America have been navigating unpredictable markets and shifting freight patterns this year as tariffs and trade negotiations shake up the status quo for international supply chains.
While operating conditions vary from one segment of the economy to the next, all the companies that appear on the 2025 Transport Topics Top 100 Private Carriers list have been adapting to a changing business landscape in their own way.
Despite the supply chain upheaval, this annual ranking of private fleet operators has remained relatively stable with the top six companies retaining their same rankings as a year ago.
Retail giant Walmart Inc. claims the No. 1 position for a second straight year after slightly expanding its tractor fleet to 12,696 power units and extending its lead over No. 2 PepsiCo Inc., which it overtook last year for the top spot. Prior to that, the soft drink and snack food company had topped this list for the previous 14 years.
While Walmart continued to grow its fleet last year, albeit at a slower pace, many other large private carriers hit the pause button. A narrow majority of companies on this year’s Top 100 list either trimmed the size of their in-house truck fleets or maintained the same tractor count as a year ago.
Clevenger
That shift may indicate a slowdown in the investments that many shippers have made in their own private fleets in recent years, even at a time when for-hire truck capacity has been abundant and available at favorable rates.
Many companies also have delayed major decisions due to a lack of clarity on global trade and an uncertain economic outlook.
Meanwhile, mergers and acquisitions continued to reshape the business landscape for private fleet operators, but the biggest development on that front was a proposed merger in the grocery sector that did not move forward.
More than two years after No. 31 The Kroger Co. and No. 48 Albertsons Cos. announced plans to combine their businesses, Albertsons formally terminated the agreement in December after federal and state courts blocked the deal due to antitrust concerns.
Meanwhile, the possibility of a blockbuster merger in the food service sector has attracted significant attention in recent months. US Foods has approached rival Performance Food Group to explore the benefits of a potential combination, but to date, PFG has declined to do so, US Foods CEO Dave Flitman confirmed on the company’s Aug. 7 earnings call. If such a merger were to materialize, the combined business would become the biggest U.S. food distributor while uniting two of the five largest private fleet operators in North America.
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See the 2025 Top 100 rankings
â–ºShippers Pause Fleet Expansion
â–ºSector Lists Reflect Uncertainty
â–ºFleets Invest in Sustainability
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Sector Rankings
Food Service | GroceryÌý|ÌýBeverageÌý
Petroleum/ChemicalÌý|ÌýIndustrial Gases
Wholesale/RetailÌý|ÌýManufacturing
Equipment RentalÌý|ÌýBuilding MaterialsÌý
Waste ManagementÌý|ÌýConstruction
Paper/Office ProductsÌý|ÌýHealth Care
Uniform RentalÌý|ÌýMedia & Entertainment
Separately, PFG, which ranks No. 4 on the Top 100, in October of Cheney Brothers, a food service distributor in Florida and North Carolina that had ranked No. 83 on last year’s list.
Looking ahead, C&S Wholesale Grocers in June announced an agreement to acquire grocery distributor SpartanNash, whose private fleet ranks No. 77 this year. The companies expect the merger to close in late 2025.
Further consolidation also is taking hold in the equipment rental industry. In June, No. 36 Herc Rentals acquired H&E Equipment Services, which ranked No. 94 on this list a year ago.
Medical waste disposal firm Stericycle, which ranks No. 87 this year, in November.
In addition to the many familiar names on the list, this year’s Top 100 also includes some prominent newcomers.
After several years’ absence, beverage company Keurig Dr Pepper rejoins the list at No. 12 due to the availability of upÂdated equipment data. The Frisco, Texas-based business operates 2,591 tractors in its private fleet.
Other additions this year include No. 19 Dairy Farmers of America, a dairy cooperative that produces and distributes milk through a network of more than 5,000 family farms across the United States, and No. 60 EquipmentShare, a construction equipment rental firm with locations in 44 states.
Debuting at No. 70 is building products supplier QXO Inc., which completed its acquisition of Beacon Roofing Supply in April and replaces that company on this year’s Top 100 list.
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QXO is the latest venture of serial entrepreneur Brad Jacobs, who previously formed less-than-truckload carrier XPO and its recent spin-offs, contract logistics provider GXO and freight brokerage RXO. Prior to that, Jacobs founded construction equipment supplier United Rentals, which ranks No. 13 on this list, and United Waste Systems, which is now part of Waste Management.
Another newcomer this year is No. 89 Pepsi Bottling Ventures, an independent Pepsi-Cola bottler and distributor based in Raleigh, N.C.
Further down the list, beverage distributor Columbia Distributing returns at No. 98 after dropping out of the Top 100 for one year.
Clayton °®¶¹´«Ã½s, a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary that builds manufactured housing and modular homes, cracks the list for the first time at No. 99.
Transport Topics produces its Top 100 Private Carriers list and accompanying industry sector lists based on companies’ responses to an annual fleet survey, correspondence with company management and public carrier registration data filed with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
