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For-hire carriers across segments saw revenues slide and margins tighten in 2023, but some industry sectors fared better than others.

Soft market conditions in 2023 placed financial strain on many of the largest for-hire trucking companies in North America. 

Since coming to the U.S. from Sudan in 1999, Lual Akoon has built a new life for himself — as a trucker and an advocate, meeting with legislators and representing drivers nationwide.

The largest for-hire carriers have persevered through a down market with care for their customers and close attention to controlling costs.

Find out how your trucking business stacks up by submitting data for the 2024 Transport Topics Top 100 For-Hire Carriers publication.

Across the major logistics market segments, 2023 brought a spate of challenges including compressed margins, rising labor costs and inflationary pressures, ensuring a down year for many.

2023 was a generally downtrodden year for 3PLs, with plummeting transportation rates and shippers focused on right-sizing inventories and reducing logistics costs.

A freight market recession, compressed broker margins and major acquisitions in 2023 have markedly altered the landscape of North America’s largest third-party logistics providers.

Stubbornly weak freight market conditions have placed financial strain on 3PLs in recent years with an oversupply of truck capacity driving down rates and squeezing brokers’ margins.

Forward Air on Jan. 25 announced the completion of its long-pending acquisition of Omni Logistics, with both companies’ leaders touting the benefits of the merger.