Financial Performance Analysis of the Ten Largest U.S. Trucking Companies, according to Demotech, Inc.

COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Recent visualization of data from the financial statements of the ten largest trucking companies in the U.S. over the last five years uncovers three key findings. First, profitability has decreased dramatically. Second, total operating expenses have tracked changes in revenue. Third, insurance spending has increased disproportionately relative to both revenue and expenses. These trends indicate that growing insurance costs are becoming an increasingly key factor affecting the financial performance of U.S. transportation companies.

All financial data was sourced from the SEC's Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system. The ten companies selected were the largest by market capitalization:

Old Dominion Freight Line Inc.
JB Hunt Transport Services Inc.
XPO Logistics Inc.
Saia Inc.
Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc.
RXO Inc.
Schneider National Inc.
ArcBest Corp.
Werner Enterprises Inc.
Heartland Express Inc.

Information was gathered from the 10-Ks for 2021 to 2025 for each firm. Revenue, overall expenses, pre-tax profit, net profit, taxes, and insurance costs were the key data points examined. The individual companies' trends were analyzed alongside the aggregate results for all ten companies.

When net profits are combined across all the companies, a clear trend emerges. From 2021 to 2025, combined net profits fell from 4.2B to 2.2B, as illustrated in the graph below. This is approximately a 46.9 percent decrease over the five years. Also, in 2025, three out of these ten companies had a negative net profit. This is a dramatic shift from none of these firms having a negative net income in 2021. Profits have diminished dramatically. This decline occurred despite relatively stable revenues (actually, revenues have slightly increased over the period). This suggests that lower earnings resulted from cost pressures, not decreased demand. Trucking companies have been less successful at converting revenue into profit.

Aggregate revenues and expenses have increased modestly over the last five years. Both figures rose sharply in 2022 but have since stabilized and shown less rapid change (across the five years, revenues, expenses, and profits peaked in 2022). Expenses have grown moderately faster than revenues (9.95% vs. 15.16%). But when plotted as a line graph, as shown below, the changes in expenses closely track those in revenue. Both lines are in the same shape. This indicates that most operating expenses appear to fluctuate with revenue, but expenses did grow more rapidly overall. The data shows that increasing costs were not completely offset by revenue growth.

The figures indicate that insurance and claim expenses are one of the factors resulting in increasing costs. Aggregate insurance spending across the ten firms has risen from 992M to 1.53B dollars in the last five years, as shown in the figure below. This 54.4 percent increase dwarfs the increases in both revenue and expenses over the same period (9.95% and 15.16%, respectively). Seven out of the ten companies examined had insurance costs rise faster than inflation over the five-year period. One of the firms even saw insurance expenses rise by over 100 percent from 2021 to 2025. This pattern indicates that insurance and claims costs have become a more consequential financial burden for trucking companies. Because insurance costs have grown faster than revenue and overall expenses, they are likely contributing to declining profitability.

In conclusion, the financial statements of the ten largest trucking companies in the US from 2021 to 2025 communicate a few key trends in the industry. Profitability has diminished despite relatively stable revenues and expenses. Expenses have increased moderately faster than revenues, but they largely track earnings. Insurance spending has increased by over 50%, indicating that insurance and claim costs are a growing contributor to increasing costs and shrinking profits. Managing these costs will be key for trucking companies to improve profitability in slower-growth environments.

Established in 1985, Demotech, Inc. is a financial analysis firm located in Columbus, Ohio. Demotech has served the insurance industry by providing objective and independent Financial Stability Ratings^® (FSRs) for Property & Casualty insurance companies, Life & Health insurance companies, and Title underwriters, among others. As the first company to have its rating process formally reviewed and accepted by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and HUD, Demotech has been leveling the playing field by offering FSRs to insurers of all sizes. As of July 11, 2022, Demotech is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) in the class of ratings for insurance companies.

The latest FSRs of all entities reviewed and rated by Demotech, Inc. can be found at www.demotech.com. Information on the procedures and methodologies we utilized to determine and assign credit ratings can be found at https://www.demotech.com/wp-content/uploads/Ex2.pdf. 

SOURCE Demotech, Inc.