Walmart Overtakes PepsiCo on Top 100 Private Carriers List
[Stay on top of transportation news: Get TTNews in your inbox.]
The world’s largest retailer is now the largest private motor carrier in North America. Walmart Inc.’s latest initiatives to strengthen its in-house trucking operations have elevated it to No. 1 on this year’s updated Transport Topics Top 100 Private Carriers list, which ranks companies based on the number of tractors deployed in their private fleets.
The retail giant has expanded its fleet to 12,663 power units, an increase of about 1,300 from a year ago. That was more than enough to overtake longtime industry leader PepsiCo Inc. for the top spot.
While adding new equipment, Walmart also has invested in its drivers. In recent years, the company has boosted driver pay and established a training program for in-store and warehouse employees to transition into professional driving jobs. The first graduates of that driver training program hit the road last year.
Walmart is perhaps the most prominent example of the many shippers that have continued to ramp up investments in their private fleets, even while for-hire freight market conditions have been in their favor due to an overabundance of truck capacity. More than half of this year’s Top 100 private carriers grew their tractor fleets during the past year.
It’s been more than two decades, but Walmart previously held the No. 1 ranking in 2002, when Transport Topics published its first Top 100 Private Carriers list. A year later, however, Walmart dropped to No. 3 after selling its food service distribution subsidiary McLane Co. to Berkshire Hathaway.
Clevenger
In the years since, McLane has remained a major private fleet operator in its own right and currently ranks No. 8 on the Top 100.
Walmart’s return to No. 1 on this year’s list marks the end of a 14-year run at the top by PepsiCo. The soft drink and snack food company began its long reign in 2010 after reacquiring two large, publicly traded bottling companies it had spun off a decade earlier. The merger of those bottling companies and their private fleet operations into PepsiCo made it the largest private carrier in North America at the time, a distinction the company maintained until this year.
Before PepsiCo’s long tenure at No. 1, food service distributor Sysco Corp. and former beverage supplier Coca-Cola Enterprises each had runs of their own as the industry’s largest private carrier.
Beyond the change at the very top of this year’s Top 100, the updated list also reflects several recent acquisitions and includes some notable newcomers.
NexTier Oilfield Solutions, a major private fleet operator in the energy sector, merged with Patterson-UTI Energy last September to create one of the largest drilling and well completion service providers in the United States. The combined company now ranks No. 16 on the Top 100.
See the 2024 Top 100 rankings
►Sector Lists Reflect Fleet Growth
Sector Rankings
Food Service | Grocery | Beverage
Petroleum/Chemical | Industrial Gases
Wholesale/Retail | Manufacturing
Equipment Rental | Building Materials
Waste Management | Construction
Paper/Office Products | Health Care
Uniform Rental | Media & Entertainment
Meanwhile, home improvement retailer The Home Depot joins the list at No. 50 after its June acquisition of SRS Distribution, a distributor of roofing materials and building supplies. SRS ranked No. 89 on last year’s list before the acquisition.
Another new addition to the Top 100 this year is Dollar General, which debuts at No. 18. The discount general store chain said it expanded its private fleet to more than 2,000 tractors by the end of 2023 to optimize costs and gain more control over its supply chain.
Canadian fertilizer and agricultural services company Nutrien rejoins the Top 100 this year at No. 10, while Select Water Solutions, a Houston-based provider of water management services to the oil and gas industry, joins the list at No. 38.
Other Top 100 newcomers include regional soft drink distributor Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages at No. 55, Midwestern convenience store operator Kwik Trip at No. 73, industrial gases firm Matheson Tri-Gas at No. 81, Florida-based food service distributor Cheney Brothers at No. 83 and equipment rental firm H&E Equipment Services at No. 94. Also joining the list this year are No. 97 UFP Industries, a provider of building materials and packaging services, and auto part retailer AutoZone Inc. at No. 99.
Transport Topics produces its Top 100 Private Carriers list and accompanying industry sector lists based on responses to an annual fleet survey, correspondence with company management and public carrier registration data filed with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Want more news? Listen to today's daily briefing below or go here for more info:
