Transport 50: Steady growth

The growth of North America’s specialized transportation sector is solid and steady. The 2018 ACTTransport50 saw growth in every category except for the number of Modular/Hydraulic Platform Trailers/Dollies, which went down significantly due to a reporting change by one of the companies on the list. Most likely this company moved a significant amount of assets to Europe, where it is based.

As for our ACTTransport50 ranking, Landstar Transportation Logistics kept its long-time Number 1 spot with a fleet size of 13,693, gaining more than 1,000 units. It must be noted that Landstar’s fleet size is due in part to the large number of truck/tractors in its fleet. In terms of capacity of fleet, Landstar again reins with 86,890 U.S. tons.

The top three spots on the ACTTransport50 stayed the same with Landstar, Daseke and ATS Inc. taking their usual positions. After that, things changed a little here and there, with Bennett Motor Express moving up two spots, Maxim Crane Works moving up one spot, Combined Transport moving up one spot, Mammoet Americas moving from four to eight and Barnhart and Bigge swapping places to nine and 10 respectively.

New in the top 20 this year is ML Holdings Group debuting at Number 17. The growing crane conglomerate has been acquiring companies that offer more than just lifting services, giving the company a nice place to land for the first time on the ACTTransport50. Also new this year are Number 28 DD&S Express, Number 30 Totran Transportation Services, Number 31 Contractors Cargo, Number 36 Beyel Brothers and Number 40 Mountain Transport.

Due to mergers and acquisitions, three long-time companies on the list are no longer a part of the ACTTransport50. It appears this trend will continue as the smaller providers are gulped up by the larger ones.

A few highlights this year over 2017 is that employee counts have increased significantly after a drop in 2017. Almost every company on the list increased its fleet size and capacity.

Due to two two-way ties and one three-way tie in fleet sizes, 54 companies made the 2018 ACTTransport50.

Methodology

While most of the major players in the North American transportation sector are on our ACTTransport50 list, there are changes from year to year based on participation. The ACTTransport50 is ranked by fleet size and then by total maximum transport capacity of all relevant trailers and transport systems in a company’s fleet (in U.S. tons).

The ranking is based on information supplied on our ACTTransport50 survey form. While we have worked to produce the most accurate ranking possible, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information supplied.

We rely on the integrity and honesty of those who submit this information to assure our list is accurate and correct.

This year we reached out to more than 400 firms by email, telephone, social media and E-casts. In some cases, when data wasn’t available or updated, we marked these listings as estimates.

As with all our top list databases, we made every effort to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information published but the editors and staff take no responsibility for errors, omissions or incomplete information.