The CCJ Top 250 is the industry’s most comprehensive ranking of the largest for-hire carriers in North America with U.S. operating authority. The ranking system uses revenues, equipment counts and driver numbers to generate a blended score for each carrier. The 2022 CCJ Top 250 is sponsored by Tenstreet.
With the global economy still grappling with the pandemic in 2021, the North American trucking industry persevered – and in many cases prospered – through a roller coaster year. A retail industry fueled by consumers with fistfuls of stimulus money, record-low inventory levels in the beginning of the year, global supply chain issues and surging manufacturing output in the fourth quarter combined to send contract and spot rates surging throughout the year. The top for-hire carriers that make up the 2022 CCJ Top 250 rankings managed to post impressive revenue gains despite a capacity crunch caused by shortages of equipment, drivers and general laborers.
Overall, revenues were up 17.6% among carriers in the CCJ Top 250 that reported revenue in both 2020 and 2021. A whopping 67.3% reported revenue gains of at least 10% compared to the stagnant business environment the previous year, including 41.2% who reported revenue increases of 20% or more. Just 7.8% of carriers in that group turned in year-over-year revenue declines.
Compared to last year’s ranking that saw six of the nine primary operation segments post revenue losses for 2020, every segment in the CCJ Top 250 turned in revenue gains last year. The intermodal segment led the way with 29.2% revenue growth, thanks in large part to a resurgence in import activity.
[Click here to access the interactive 2022 CCJ Top 250 ranking]
Carriers in the general freight segment reported a 28.4% revenue increase, thanks to a particularly strong business conditions for parts of 2021. A healthy increase in housing starts in 2021 helped carriers in the flatbed/specialized/heavy haul segment turn in a 21.9% revenue increase compared to 2020, good enough for the third-best spot among all primary operation segments.
While significant revenue gains in 2021 compared to a turbulent 2020 should be expected from fleets in the CCJ Top 250, it is impressive that carriers managed to do so without the addition of power units or drivers. The 2022 CCJ Top 250 statistics reveal a 2.6% reduction in driver count compared to last year’s ranking, from 866,983 to 844,112.
