Editorial: Trucking Transforms the Economy

We are proud to bring you, in this issue, our annual Top 100 For-Hire list of U.S. and Canadian trucking companies.

Most names on it are familiar, but some are new.

What keeps this endeavor from being yet one more list for a list-happy nation is the reporting by Daniel P. Bearth and others that details the intense activity going on beneath the industry’s veneer.

Fleets still want (in no particular order) trucks, drivers and shippers, but efforts by executives are evolving rapidly to reorganize freight transportation into a more effective industry.

The good news is that trucking is profitable. That’s important, because the work is tough and talented people certainly won’t do it out of mere whimsy.

The better news is that the most clever fleet leaders are using the opportunities those profits afford to improve their companies. Driver recruitment efforts are more sophisticated and include real improvements in facilities for people who operate trucks — as well as well-deserved raises.

Carriers are in close consultation with their best shipping customers, working on ways to ship more freight more quickly and at reasonable cost. A smooth, efficient shipment can be highly profitable, even if it doesn’t bring in more revenue.

Truckers also are scouting out capacity beyond their own power units to get freight moved when in-house vehicles are not available.

Even if this is done to further dreams of grandeur and business empires rather than pure altruism, it still makes the economy work better, and that’s more than satisfactory.

Flatbed entrepreneur Don Daseke has studied the ways of Warren Buffett and expects $750 million in revenue this year, and he has his eyes on being the biggest and best company in his sector. Right now, Landstar System is the largest open-deck and heavy-haul transporter.

Kevin Knight, a founder and chairman of Knight Transportation, has stepped down as CEO but only because he first created a company culture for a business that can thrive without him by taking advantage of new opportunities and operational techniques.

We are impressed with the resourcefulness, experimentation and discipline on display. Fuel is relatively cheap now but could soar again on a moment’s notice. New trucks are both wonders of technology and incredibly costly. People keep striving because no one wants to be ambushed.

If only the federal government were clever enough to produce a modern highway network. Just think what would happen then.

Enjoy the read.