Three major fleet leaders — including Canada’s TFI International — offered a look at how large carriers navigate economic uncertainty, build resilience, and plan for the future during the Truckload Carriers Association’s annual convention in Phoenix, Ariz.

Here are six things discussed during the panel featuring: Joe Beacom, president of Landstar Systems; Dave Williams, senior vice-president of equipment and government relationships at Knight-Swift Transportation; and Steve Brookshaw, senior executive vice-president of TFI International.

While they represented different operating models, all companies said that everything comes down to knowing your fleets’ numbers and sticking to what works, while discipline, data, and flexibility remain important to navigating uncertainty.

Large fleets don’t have it easy

Some said earlier during the conference that bigger carriers have an edge in tough markets compared to small fleets. But the panel pushed back on that idea.

“If you can’t make money with one truck, you can’t make money with 20,000 trucks,” Williams said.

He said big fleets like Knight-Swift may get better deals when buying equipment or negotiating contracts, but they also face other challenges — like higher driver turnover and more difficulty keeping close relationships with customers and employees.

“Those diseconomies of scale include things like driver turnover and knowing the names, the families of your drivers, being able to connect with [all of] them.” He added that building relationships with customers is harder as well.

Revenue and efficiency

TFI International’s focus has shifted from cost-cutting to improving velocity and revenue per asset.

“What we’re doing now is looking at how to improve the velocity of our trucks. Because rates are not good,” said Brookshaw.

To get better freight in front of drivers, TFI is now also investing in a sales force — an area in which it has traditionally been lean. “We’ve been trying to get out and be more in front of our customers and trying to see what’s going on.”

Other panelists echoed similar goals. Landstar, for example, is focusing on niche freight opportunities like over-dimensional, heavy-haul, and HazMat, which ‘has been behaving’ better than general van freight.

Despite inflation, all three carriers emphasized the importance of disciplined cost management — especially during a prolonged downturn. Knight-Swift’s Williams said some business units saw recovery signs in December and January after the 27-month-long freight recession, but conditions quickly changed. “We’re all a little bit flabbergasted on how long this has lasted,” he said.

Brookshaw agreed, adding that to navigate the tough times, TFI has been really focused on asset utilization. “One of our biggest things is revenue per active driver. We do that, and then we also compare that to our revenue per licence plate,” he said. “We’re very capital intensive…Because we’re acquirers, we got to drive free cash flow in order to continue to acquire.”

Acquisitions

TFI has completed around 127 acquisitions since 2008 and focuses on maintaining independent operations while leveraging synergies across its large portfolio. Brookshaw said TFI’s LTL segment now is its biggest, producing about 40% of its revenue, closely followed by truckload (35%).

“We continue to look all the time to grow…we buy lots of different sized companies, and we’re trying to take them and get everybody to understand that we’re better together than we are apart,” said Brookshaw. To make all these companies function as a part of the group, it prioritizes internal integration across its acquired businesses by breaking down silos and encouraging collaboration. The carrier aims to leverage individual customer relationships and operational strengths across its broader network, as the company sees this as key to improving efficiency, unlocking growth opportunities, and ensuring long-term success.

He added that any successful acquisition begins with careful preparation and encouraged business owners considering a sale to first consult with their accountants to fully understand the tax implications of a potential deal. Meanwhile, what TFI looks for as an acquirer, he added, is a company with a consistent operating model that aligns with TFI’s structure — not one that’s made last-minute changes in anticipation of the sale.

Spot vs. contract market

Each fleet is weighing how to balance exposure between spot and contract markets, with flexibility seen as critical in the current economic climate.

“We would subscribe to the idea that shifting between those is healthy,” Williams said. “In a bad market like we are in today, we’re going to be as heavy into contract as we can. But as we look forward and we start to see signs of change, we’re going to shift our thought process to start going into more spot.”

Landstar, on the other hand, remains rooted in the spot market — more than 90% of its business — due to its all-independent contractor model.

“It’s pretty tough for us to enter into the contract market in a big way,” said Beacom, citing the varying risk tolerance among its operators. However, while the spot market has traditionally aligned well with Landstar’s flexible model, prolonged market softness over the past two years has prompted the company to re-evaluate its approach. Beacom says company leaders see untapped potential in the contract freight market and are working to identify solutions that would allow greater participation without disrupting the core structure of the business.

Independent contractor support remains strong

Despite regulatory pressures and market shifts, all three fleets reaffirmed their commitment to supporting independent contractors — though each approaches it differently.

Landstar continues to market freedom and flexibility as key advantages of its business model, appealing to owner-operators seeking greater control over their work-life balance. Operators under the Landstar system self-dispatch using company technology, selecting loads that suit their personal schedules and lifestyle preferences — whether running high mileage or prioritizing family time.

“Freedom and independence is really what we’re selling,” Beacom said. “We take out that complexity of compliance and all those kinds of things. We take that off their plate.”

Knight-Swift also continues to support the model, encouraging drivers and educating them on what it means to be an owner-operator. “It’s an opportunity for our drivers to have a career progression, a step up,” said Williams. “We do as much as we can in terms of assisting them, but at some point you cross the line in terms of doing so much for them that you’re running their business.”

Brookshaw agreed with the approach and said TFI embraces all models: lease-purchase, independent small fleets, and full owner-operators.

Tariff tensions hit cross-border confidence

Uncertainty around tariffs and border policies complicates planning for fleets operating in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico.

TFI moves roughly 3,000 cross-border loads a week, and while it remained unchanged at the time of the discussion, Brookshaw warned that any new unfavorable developments in this trade war could have a ripple effect on the company’s international and domestic freight.

“When they (U.S.) don’t buy our cookies, you don’t deliver your sugar,” he said, referring to a Canadian domestic hauler who delivers sugar to another domestic company producing cookies for export across the border. “Everybody thinks about the final product that crosses. But there’s lots of stuff that goes in.”