Transport Topics 2025 Top 100: What the Top Carriers Signal About the Road Ahead

What the Top 100 For-Hire Carriers list reveals about the shifts in the freight landscape, LTL resilience and TL headwinds, and movements in Q3.

Transport Topics 2025 Top 100: What the Top Carriers Signal About the Road Ahead

Transport Topics has released its 2025 Top 100 For-Hire Carriers list, offering a snapshot of who is in a solid position despite the freight recession and who is losing a bit of ground. The top five remain dominant, but the shuffle in ranks 6 through 10 tells a deeper story about strategic pivots, macroeconomic strain, and shifting freight dynamics. We touched on it briefly, but this is about taking a deeper dive into these companies and trends.

🎣 2025’s Top 10 Carriers
Plus: Strait of Hormuz tensions, Senate pushes English tests for CDL drivers, Craig Fuller slams FourKites’ CEO, and more in today’s newsletter.

LTL vs. TL: A Defining Divide

A clear trend in the 2025 rankings is the resilience of less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers compared to their truckload (TL) counterparts. LTL operators have generally weathered the downturn with more stability, benefiting from pricing power and flexibility as shippers seek more precise service options.

LTL rates projected to keep rising y/y in Q2, TL rates to stay ‘at the bottom’
The TD Cowen/AFS Freight Index showed recent trends in truckload and less-than-truckload pricing will continue for another quarter.

This structural divide is possibly reflected in the rankings: XPO, Estes Express, and Old Dominion have held ground or risen, while TL-heavy carriers like TFI International and Schneider saw earnings pressure and positional declines.

Here is a closer look at the top five carriers, plus three key movers to watch.

Top 5 For-Hire Carriers in 2025

Image Source: Automatykab2b

1. UPS

  • Freight drag: A 24% drop in West Coast imports in May, driven by tariff hikes on Chinese goods, is pressuring UPS’s international freight flows. Temporary tariff relief may lift volumes short-term, but long-term trade risks remain.
  • Cost discipline: The company is targeting $3.5 billion in savings by 2026 with aims to raise its U.S. operating margin to reach at least 12% by 2026, according to the company’s report.
  • Market outlook: Network reshaping is the name of the game for CEO Carol Tomé:
“As a trusted leader in global logistics… the actions we are taking to reconfigure our network and reduce cost across our business could not be timelier,” Tomé said in a Q1 2025 conference call.

In addition to this, he added:

“Our network reconfiguration… will enable us to expand our U.S. Domestic operating margin and increase profitability.”

2. FedEx

  • Preparing for Spinoff: FedEx is actively preparing its LTL division for independence ahead of its planned June 2026 spinoff. One step in this direction has been naming John Smith as CEO and Brad Martin as chairman.
  • Margins under strain, but stabilizing: The operating ratio flattened at around 15.3% through three quarters. This is significantly higher than the 19% seen in the two prior years. FedEx executives continue to expect margins to improve in Q4 of fiscal year 2025 and beyond.
  • Exercising caution: With a turbulent market still being impacted by tariffs and other policies, FedEx will actively match capacity with demands evolves according to CEO Raj Subramaniam.
“The global demand environment remains volatile. We’re staying close to our customers to help them plan and adapt as they navigate trade policy changes,” Subramaniam said on the company’s earning call on June 24.

3. J.B. Hunt

  • Cross-border expansion: "Quantum de México" was launched in partnership with BNSF and GMXT to strengthen intermodal services into Mexico.
  • Sustainability: Opened a solar facility in Gentry, AK, powering up to 80% of its HQ operations in Lowell, AK. This ties into companies within the industry doing what they can to be as green as possible.
  • Volume challenges: Intermodal grew in Q1, but yields remain compressed due to losing business to competitors.
J.B. Hunt’s intermodal bid season delivers mixed results
J.B. Hunt Transport Services said it’s remaining rate-disciplined on the intermodal front, allowing some business to walk as it works to improve yields and margins in the segment.

4. TFI International

  • Earnings slip: Operating income dropped roughly 40% YoY in Q1 as truckload volumes weakened, according to TFI’s earning press release.
  • M&A on pause: CEO Alain Bédard halted major acquisitions for 2025 due to the current trade wars.
“We have one transaction that we really liked, but because of all this uncertainty on tariffs, we had to walk away from that deal,” CEO Alain Bédard told analysts on a conference call.

He later stated that M&A in 2025 is “going to be minimal,” but will take a look at it down the road once better clarity is present.

  • Domicile reversal: Scrapped plans to relocate corporate HQ to the U.S. after shareholder opposition.
TFI scraps plan to redomicile to the US
The reversal was based on shareholder feedback, the Canada-based trucking giant said.

5. XPO

  • LTL focus pays off: Despite a 1% drop in revenue, Q1 EPS hit $0.73 thanks to improved pricing and productivity according to CEO Mario Harik in their earnings report. Q2 is obviously pending, with hope to see revenue to see a slight increase.
  • Investor support: $750 million stock buyback was authorized. Clearly investors are support the moves of XPO and are hoping this will increase demand for XPO’s stocks, which of course could lead to more business and revenue for all parties involved.
  • Credit outlook adjusted: Despite the buyback, S&P Global downgraded XPO’s credit rating outlook from BB+ to BB, citing prolonged freight market weakness and margin pressure despite XPO’s operational improvements.

Movers to Watch: Shifting Positions in the LTL-TL Divide

Estes Express Lines climbed into the top 10, rising from 11 to 8 a testament to the strength of LTL carriers despite the ongoing market issues. The company capitalized on Yellow Corp’s exit by acquiring terminals and expanding its network.

Furthermore, Estes has been awarded numerous times, being named a 2024 Carrier of the Year by Newell Brands, J.B Hunt and Uber Freight.

Estes Awarded 2024 LTL Carrier Of The Year By J.B. Hunt | Estes

In contrast, Old Dominion Freight Line slipped to #9, despite strong yield management and pricing discipline. Its operating ratio worsened, and daily revenues declined, reflecting the challenges across TL fleets. Schneider National, which fell to #10, managed growth in its intermodal segment, especially in Mexico, but saw flat overall revenue.

The trend aligns with the current TL market data showing persistent rate softness, excess capacity, and muted demand across long-haul lanes. According to FreightWaves, the U.S. trucking market remains oversupplied, with contract and spot volumes staying flat or declining after the first half of 2025. Both carriers are working through to what has been one of the most turbulent moments in recent history.

What Comes Next?

The 2025 rankings reflect more than just mere revenue scale. LTL operators like XPO and Estes Express are leveraging pricing power and targeted expansion, while FedEx’s spinoff strategy suggests a reshaping of freight portfolios to unlock value. In contrast, TL-heavy firms such as Schneider and TFI International are contending with weak spot markets and capacity overhang.

The industry prepares for the back half of the year, adaptability and margin management are emerging as the clearest paths to resilience. Even if there are setbacks. As the late FedEx’s Fredrick W. Smith said one time:

“I’m not afraid to take a swing and miss.”

Hopefully in Q3 and beyond, the industry can get back to hitting home runs.

Want to know about the top Freight Brokers in 2025, you can take a look at this information here:

🎣 Top Freight Brokerages 2025
Plus, Trump’s tariff pause, comments flood in re: DOT reform, TIA updates, and more.

Source: Transport Topics


Great! You’ve successfully signed up.

Welcome back! You've successfully signed in.

You've successfully subscribed to FreightCaviar.

Success! Check your email for magic link to sign-in.

Success! Your billing info has been updated.

Your billing was not updated.