The American economy moves forward because of the logistics industry. The economy will be in a standstill if raw materials and supplies fail to be moved into factories and finished products will not be transported to the market to be purchased by the end-users. An efficient freight system is essential to the growth of businesses and such need is provided by a great number of carrier services, big and small, in the country.
The following are some of the big carriers in the US trucking industry:
- Arkansas Best Freight – A subsidiary of ArcBest Corporation, Arkansas Best Freight (ABF) is a local hauler that started in 1923. The company has an infrastructure that handles regional and national less-than-truckload (LTL) transport of almost all types of commodities. ABF operates a fleet that consists of around 3,800 tractors and 19,000 trailers from 275 terminals in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The company employs around 10,000 workers and has annual revenue of almost $2billion.
- Old Dominion Freight Line – the Company, founded by Earl and Lillian Congdon in 1934, has its headquarters in Thomasville, North Carolina. It employs more than 19,000 workers with over $2 billion annual revenue. The company specializes in less-than-truckload cargo shipping. They serve the entire United States through a network of 200 distribution centers. The company has global services to the Caribbean, Europe, Central America, South America, and the Far East.
- FedEx Freight – FedEx Freight is a unit of the FedEx Corporation, a multinational courier delivery services company with headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee. FedEx Corporation is known for overnight shipping service and is the pioneer in the tracking and providing real-time package location, a feature that is now the norm in the carrier services. FedEx Freight is the largest less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier in the US that generates an annual $4.5 billion in revenue.
- Pitt Ohio Express – Founded in 1978 by the Hammel brothers, Pitt Ohio is a carrier service that offers less-than-truckload (LTL), truckload, supply chain solutions, and ground services in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest states of the US. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pitt Ohio Express has more than 2,300 employees.
There are plenty more carrier services in the US that offer exceptional services to companies whose cargo needs to be moved but these companies are noted for their size, performance, and revenue.