How to stay on top?Īccording to Darren Hawkins, president and CEO of YRC Worldwide, parent of the 4th- and 7th-largest LTL carriers, says that the best carriers are the ones who “obsess” over customer service in delivering on-time nearly all the time. Let’s look at what’s keeping the top carriers on top. Or it can be that precisely blending operational excellence with a stable and visionary executive team.
Other times, it’s precisely managing capacity to take advantage of the best lanes of freight in the marketplace. So what else makes the Top 50 stand out from the rest? Sometimes it’s merely performing the basics better than their competition. That explains why a carrier such as Old Dominion Freight Line can routinely post operating ratios in the low 80s-and once in awhile even in the 70s-while enjoying double-digit revenue growth rates at the same time. The best carriers manage their freight volumes to their equipment and personnel and get paid for doing it. The other key is correctly pricing for freight services-including accessorials such as inside deliveries to retail stores, specialized equipment and weekend or night services.
“Old Dominion, Saia, XPO, for example, all get full productivity from their people. “With such a high level of fixed costs, you must have a very well-oiled operational machine,” explains Jindel. Equipment and labor account for about 70% of a typical trucking company’s costs-and that’s even a higher percentage for LTL carriers because of their hub-and-spoke terminal networks. Indeed, mastering those basics is essential because of trucking’s high fixed costs. “While it’s not rocket science, there are essential basics that some carriers often lose sight of,” says Satish Jindel, principal of trucking analyst firm SJ Consulting. They say that while trucking appears to be a simple business-pick it up, deliver, don’t break it, get paid-it’s amazing how few carriers actually perform those basics consistently well over time to earn ranking in the LM Top 50. Planning on doing.” 2019 TOP 25 LESS-THAN-TRUCKLOAD CARRIERS: 2018 REVENUESĢ019 TOP 25 TRUCKLOAD CARRIERS: 2018 REVENUESĪnalysts agree. So, I don’t see them doing anything that we’re not doing or “But mostly everybody is building on the same tools, whether it’s management, strategy or operations. Landstar’s truckload revenue for 2019 hit $2.057 billion, which would rank 5th among the top TL carriers. “I pay attention to the big guys, and if somebody comes out with a better mousetrap that we don’t have, we copy it,” says Jim Gattoni, Landstar’s president and CEO.
In fact, our Top 50 is an annual compilation of the carriers with the top management, best vision, continued operational excellence and, perhaps most importantly, the best blocking and tackling on the front lines of execution. Logistics Management’s (LM) annual listing of the Top 25 less-than-truckload (LTL) and Top 25 truckload (TL) carriers are the exceptions.
Truckers consistently face peaks and valleys in demand, equipment, driver availability, rules and regulations and thousands of other small details-the reason that hundreds of trucking companies have ceased operations since economic deregulation in 1980. While this sounds easy in theory, it’s extremely difficult in real-world conditions. In the trucking world it’s called “blocking and tackling,” or executing the basics of the business as well as possible at all times and in all conditions.