Whether you’re just sending a package to a loved one or coordinating the shipping operations of a massive company, choosing the right transportation and logistics company is important. The right one should be able to meet your delivery needs on time at a fair price. That isn’t always easy, but luckily, the US has several great options to pick from. This post goes over the five best companies operating in the country today.
Osage Specialized Transport
Kicking things off is Osage Specialized Transport, a leader in specialized trucking in Denver, CO. This company focuses on heavy hauling services and shipping specialized equipment. With headquarters located in Denver, Colorado, and McKinney, Texas, the company’s services reach across the United States and into Canada. Osage boasts more than four decades of experience in the field and has worked with a wide variety of carriers.
The firm often collaborates with businesses like construction companies, due to Osage’s emphasis on moving heavy equipment. The firm offers services ranging from moving single pieces of equipment to relocating entire job sites. Osage also works to serve the transportation needs of companies in the oil, mining, manufacturing, and farming industries. The company has moved massive pieces of equipment such as bulldozers, forklifts, tractors, and earthmovers. It has also handled items such as bridge beams, preassembled homes, conveyors, and grinders.
To help handle these jobs, Osage’s fleet includes several types of equipment designed for heavy loads. For example, it has normal and stretch variants of both flatbed and deck trailers.
The firm also offers logistical support to make jobs go as smoothly as possible. For instance, Osage provides internal dispatchers and tracking capabilities to help clients monitor the status of their shipments. The company also uses a transportation management system to keep shipments on schedule.
United Parcel Service
Known for its ubiquitous brown trucks, the United Parcel Service (UPS) is one of the most visible transportation logistics companies. It was originally founded in 1907, and today it works with clients from around the world. It is the world’s largest package delivery company and employs about 481,000 people. In 2018, the company handled 5.2 billion packages and documents. The UPS fleet is absolutely enormous, including roughly 123,000 vehicles alongside hundreds of aircraft.
Aside from its raw delivery capabilities, the company also offers logistics services. It can handle freight forwarding, tracking, and international trade situations. UPS has also made inroads when it comes to working with specific industries that have somewhat complicated needs. For example, UPS regularly works with aerospace and defense companies to help ensure the success of their supply chains.
Additionally, the company delivers aircraft parts and handles quality control, working with various government agencies, health-care providers, and companies from the automotive and retail industries. All in all, UPS works with shippers of every size, ranging from individual people to enormous companies.
FedEx
Like UPS, FedEx is a shipping and logistics corporation with a very broad reach that touches more than 220 countries and territories. FedEx is the umbrella under which several operating companies fall, including FedEx Freight and FedEx Logistics. FedEx Freight focuses on business and residential deliveries that are augmented by tracking features. The company handles shipments that need to arrive at a precise date and time as well as discounted larger-volume shipments. It also handles freight shipments from the mainland United States to locations such as Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and Alaska. Additionally, FedEx Freight provides some services in Canada and Mexico. Meanwhile, the FedEx Logistics arm supports companies in need of supply chain support, customs management, and other services.
Two other relevant parts of the corporation are FedEx Ground and FedEx Express. FedEx Ground focuses on deliveries between businesses and to homes. On average, it handles more than 9 million packages per day. It is staffed by more than 150,000 employees, and its fleet consists of more than 70,000 vehicles. Meanwhile, FedEx Express focuses largely on air-ground deliveries that are time-sensitive. It makes use of more than 650 airports across the globe, as well as nearly 700 aircraft and more than 85,000 ground vehicles.
Schneider National
Schneider National is another elite shipping and logistics operation, focusing largely on business clients. This firm specializes in intermodal transportation, meaning transportation that uses more than one type of vehicle to move freight. In this case, those vehicles are trucks and trains, as Schneider has a healthy partnership with the rail carrier CSX.
Aside from intermodal transportation, Schneider handles some specific needs for the businesses it works with, including shipping goods from the United States into Mexico and Canada. The company also provides a service for time-sensitive freight, which is handled by special driving teams that can average 1,000 miles per day by road.
Additionally, Schneider builds and operates equipment designed for particular industries, including agriculture, manufacturing, construction, and health care. The company has expertise in the operation of flatbeds and shipping temperature-controlled freight. For businesses that face seasonal peaks in demand, Schneider provides a service that delivers surges of higher freight capacity. This allows said companies to keep up with temporary business booms without spending money to maintain a full-sized fleet year-round. On the logistics side of matters, Schneider has a department dedicated to supply chain management.
Roadway Express
Rounding out this list is Roadway Express, which was founded in 1930. This company specializes in less-than-full-load shipping: that is, the transportation of freight loads that are relatively small. In 1997, Roadway Express acquired another company, Reimer Express, and this allowed Roadway to begin crossing the borders into Canada and Mexico. In 2009, the company merged with Yellow Transportation and became a member of the YRC Freight corporation. Roadway Express handles cargo from individual customers as well as companies in the industrial and retail sectors.
Roadway Express puts a particular emphasis on time-sensitive deliveries, meeting requirements as stringent as delivery within a specific hour on a certain day. Additionally, the company is notable for its highly successful tracking system: to keep tabs on shipments, this system uses cellular and satellite technology. Customers can access it through YRC Freight’s website.
