Trucking & Freight Carriers

Trucking & Freight Carriers covers the trucks that carry the overwhelming majority of U.S. domestic freight — over 70% of tonnage — across truckload (TL), less-than-truckload (LTL), and specialized/flatbed operations. At roughly $403 billion across ~165,000 establishments, it is a massive, foundational, but intensely fragmented industry where most carriers are small fleets or owner-operators and even the largest hold tiny market shares.

It is highly cyclical with the freight cycle: the 2021–22 boom sent rates soaring (inflating these figures), followed by a brutal 2023–24 freight recession. LTL is the more consolidated and attractive segment (network-based, higher-barrier, and reshaped by Yellow's 2023 collapse, which redistributed share). Structural forces include the chronic driver shortage and turnover, the long-promised but slow-arriving autonomous-truck transition, EV trucks, and digital brokerage.