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A downturn in international trade combined with geopolitical conflicts and economic uncertainty created a challenging business environment for the world’s largest transportation and logistics providers last year.
An overwhelming majority of the companies that appear on the 2024 Transport Topics Top 50 Global Freight Companies experienced declines in revenue last year, in many cases by wide margins.
This annual ranking, produced in cooperation with SJ Consulting Group, provides an overview of the largest players in freight movement and goods handling throughout the world and across all modes of transportation, including truck, rail, ocean, air and parcel, as well as non-asset-based third-party logistics providers.
The companies that appear on the updated Top 50 list are ranked on the basis of 2023 freight revenue.
Once again, the top spot on the list belongs to the e-commerce fulfillment and logistics business of Amazon.com Inc. The world’s largest online retailer was among the minority of Top 50 companies that managed to grow their freight revenue last year. Amazon reported more than $140 billion in net sales from its third-party seller services in 2023, up from $117 billion a year earlier.
Meanwhile, package delivery and logistics giant FedEx Corp. edged past rival UPS Inc. to claim the No. 2 ranking. FedEx generated more than $93 billion in revenue last year, while UPS Inc. reported just under $91 billion.
The U.S. Postal Service, with $79 billion in revenue, moved up two positions to No. 4, just ahead of Germany-based parcel and warehousing giant DHL Group.
Denmark-based Maersk remains the top ocean carrier on the list at No. 6 despite a steep drop in revenue to just under $49 billion in 2023, compared with $80 billion the prior year.
Two other ocean shipping companies, CMA CGM and Mediterranean Shipping Co., occupy the next two spots on the list, followed by China State Railway Group at No. 9 and freight forwarder Kuehne + Nagel International at No. 10.
A significant change on this year’s list is the debut of Canadian Pacific Kansas City, or CPKC, at No. 32. The railroad company, which formed in 2023 through the merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern, operates a single-line railway connecting Canada, the United States and Mexico.
Another addition to this year’s Top 50 is Miami-based truck leasing and logistics provider Ryder System Inc. The company’s third-party logistics and dedicated transportation operations debut at No. 41 on the list.
As in years past, the largest trucking and third-party logistics businesses in North America also rank among the largest freight transportation companies in the world.
Freight broker C.H. Robinson slipped one position to No. 20 while its annual revenue fell to about $16 billion, down from $23 billion the prior year.
Meanwhile, intermodal and trucking company J.B. Hunt Transport Services moved up a spot to No. 26, even as its revenue declined to $12.8 billion last year, compared with $14.8 billion in 2022.
The downturn was more severe for freight forwarder Expeditors International, whose revenue dropped to $9.3 billion, from $17 billion a year earlier. The company slid to No. 31 on the Top 50 after ranking No. 23 a year ago.
