b'20American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comTOP 50 TRUCKING COMPANIES Three trends shaping trucking in 2026By Greg Arscott, President, The Pete Store, Special to AJOT As fleets look ahead to 2026, the operating environment remainschallenging,buttheoutlookisimproving.Capital costs are elevated, and emissions changes loom on the hori-zon, but freight rates are beginning to show signs of improve-mentassupplyanddemandfindbalancewiththeexitof marginal carriers. The freight recession pushed fleets of all sizes to sharpen their approach to cost control and efficiency. That discipline leaves them entering this next phase leaner, more focused, and better positioned to benefit as market conditions continue to improve.t rend1: a GinGe qUiPmentd riveSm oree nGaGement inXPO uses technology to navigatem aintenance andP artSP lanninGReplacement cycles remain extended, which places greater importance on how fleets plan for maintenance and manage parts a tough freight environment availability. With trucks staying in service longer, reliability and predictability carry more weight in day-to-day operations.XPO has leveraged technology, and specifically AI (Artificial Intel- Partssourcingdecisionsarenowdrivenmorebytotal ligence),toimprovealmosteveryaspectofitsbusiness,fromoperational impact rather than invoice price alone. Fleets con-tinuetobalanceOEand operations to sales. aftermarketoptions,fac-toring in risk, repeat repair By Debra Phillips, AJOT exposure,andthecostof downtime. The objective is The LTL freight market has faced a pro- networkdecisionsthatimproveassetutili- reliability. A lower upfront longedrecession.Acombinationofweakzation and freight flows. These models havecost delivers limited value demand,lowrates,andincreasingoperatingreduced empty miles by 12% and diversionsif it introduces uncertainty costs led to many carriers going out of businessby over 80%, while increasing load factor andinto fleet operations.in 2025. Many of the key drivers of operationallowering re-handles. Additionally,ahigher costs are factors beyond the direct control ofUltimately, XPO is striving to build denser,percentageoffleetsare carriers. Last fall, the American Transportationlonger-haul loads that can move farther throughoutsideofwarrantycov-ResearchInstitute(ATRI)reportedthatcar- the network without being broken down anderage,creatingadditional rier executives are concerned about the risingrebuilt to improve labor productivity and ser- Greg Arscott, President,flexibility in where work is cost of fuel, labor, and insurance. Regulatoryvice quality. Late in 2025, XPO launched anThe Pete Store performedandhowparts requirementscanalsobeadrainoncarrierin-house P & D route optimization solution. are sourced. That flexibility has increased competition among profitability. While most carriers openly sup- Our focus is on providing better route anddealers, independent shops, and OE service networks. In turn, it port the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions,stop sequencing to reduce wasted time for ourplaces greater pressure on service providers to execute well and meeting the strict deadline set by the Environ- local drivers, said Goheen. Early results aredeliver consistent value.mental Protection Agency (EPA) is costly, if notencouraging and have shown improvements inFleets are responding by engaging dealers and service part-impossible, in some cases. stops per hour and a reduction in total milesners earlier and more often. Discussions around parts planning, Several LTL carriers have stated that theydriven.Weplantoexpandthissolutiontoservice capacity, and uptime expectations are becoming more areprioritizingoperationalefficiency,rigor- more locations and ultimately free up capacitystructured and more collaborative. Many fleets now view their ous cost management, and disciplined pricingto support growth when overall market condi- dealernetworksasoperationalpartnersratherthantransac-strategies.However, XPO has taken a stra- tions improve. tional suppliers.tegicapproachtoachievingtheseandotherAs freight conditions continue to improve, the limitations businessgoals.ThecompanyhasleveragedU SinGt echnoloGy toB eneFit , n otr ePlace ,of purely price-driven decisions will become more apparent. technology,andspecificallyAI(Artificiale mPloyeeS Fleets that focus narrowly on unit cost risk increased downtime Intelligence), to improve almost every aspectThe company is using its AI technologyat a point when asset availability matters most. Those that pri-of its business, from operations to sales. Withtomatchlaborasaccuratelyaspossibletooritize long-term value and reliability will be better positioned aproprietarytechstack,XPOisachievingdemand, using an in-house labor planning andto benefit as demand strengthens.quantifiableimprovementsasthecompanyproductivityplatform,XPOSmart.GoheenTrucks produced in recent years have delivered strong uptime continues to explore new uses for AI. said that the system is powered by several AIrelative to prior generations. and optimization models that forecast demand S marterd eciSionSi mProvea SSet for both the short and long-term and is used tot rend2: t echnicianS hortaGem akeSS ervicec aPacity aU tilization andr edUcee mPtym ileS make staffing decisions at the service centerS trateGica dvantaGeErin Goheen, Vice President of Technol- and shift level down to the hour. The technician shortage shows little sign of easing, and ogy, said that the company is leveraging AIBy matching labor to demand on a dailycombined with the growing complexity of modern trucks, its acrosstwomajorpartsofitsoperation,theand hourly basis, we can maintain our high ser- driving a shift where fleets are performing less work in-house linehaul network and pickup & delivery (P &vice standards while remaining fully preparedand relying more heavily on dealers. This transition is being D) city operations. She explained, In our line- fortheupcycle,shesaid.Thisisreflectedfueled by two primary factors:haul network, AI is helping us make smarter(NAVIGATEcontinued on page 22) First, the cost of operating a private shop has increased sig-nificantly. Technician wages, training, technology, and special-ized equipment costs have all risen sharply. For many fleets, it has become nearly impossible to justify a shop as a cost center when the capital required to keep it modern is so high.Second, the nature of the work itself has fundamentally changed. The industry has moved away from a see it, fix it world to one where issues are often invisible without advanced diagnostic software and technical expertise. This has reset the service landscape: the veteran tech is no longer automatically themostknowledgeable.Inmanycases,thatexpertisenow sits with a younger, engineering-minded workforce that brings technical savvy. Asaresult,equipmentdecisionsareincreasinglyinflu-enced by service capacity and dealer coverage. In some cases, fleets are selecting specific equipment or assigning trucks to routes based on the strength of dealer relationships.t rend3: t echnoloGya doPtione volveSAdvanceddriverassistancesystems(ADAS),suchas lane-keeping and intelligent cruise control, are widely accepted in passenger vehicles, yet adoption among fleets has lagged.With a proprietary tech stack, XPO is achieving quantifiable improvements as they continue to explore new uses for AI. (SHAPINGcontinued on page 22)'