Private fleets show uneven growth across sectors in 2026

Private carrier fleet expansion in 2026 has been uneven across industries, with some sectors thriving while others stagnate or shrink. Beverage, food service, agriculture, and retail fleets generally grew, while several other sectors saw little to no change or even contraction. The Top 100 Private Carriers list, compiled annually, reveals sector-specific trends and major investments by leading companies. Veritiv Corp. remains the largest private fleet in the paper and office products sector with 608 tractors. In beverage distribution, PepsiCo Beverages North America led the sector again, while Southern Glazer’s and Swire Coca-Cola USA expanded their fleets by 278 and 179 tractors, respectively. The food service sector’s top five fleets remained unchanged, with Sysco Corp. still on top, but Performance Foodservice made the biggest splash by adding over 1,000 trucks, a 27% increase. Agriculture and food processing fleets also saw growth, with Tyson Foods adding 363 power units to maintain its lead over Nutrien, which reported no change. Walmart, the overall leader on the Top 100 Private Carriers list, expanded its fleet by 7% year over year. In the grocery sector, C&S Wholesale Grocers moved into the top five after acquiring SpartanNash, which ranked eighth last year. The building materials sector saw expansion at four of the top six companies, with The Quikrete Cos. leading and CRH Americas moving up to third after a 5.3% fleet increase. Equipment rental providers showed mixed results: United Rentals retained its top spot despite a slight downsizing, while Herc Holdings and EquipmentShare added significantly to their fleets. Construction saw Quanta Services debut at the top with 877 tractors, followed by Knife River and MasTec Inc. In industrial gases, Air Liquide USA led despite a slight decline, while Nippon Sanso Matheson showed the most growth. The petroleum and chemical industries were split, with Halliburton maintaining its lead at 3,233 tractors, but Patterson-UTI Energy reducing its fleet by 531 units. Waste management leader Clean Harbors expanded by 220 tractors, and the newly combined Burrtec Waste Industries and Edco Disposal debuted at second place with 788 tractors. Medline Inc. retained its top spot in healthcare with 1,427 tractors, while UniFirst Corp. and NBCUniversal led uniform rental and media & entertainment sectors, respectively.