Tennessee is known as the Volunteer State because of the number of soldiers from there who fought in the War of 1812.
Home of numerous trucking companiesIt might also these days be known as the Trucking State as it is home to no fewer than 18 to the top 250 trucking firms in the U.S. and some 10,000 such companies in all.
In a recent opinion piece for the “Memphis Business Blog”, Kevin Burch, president of Jet Express, and co-chair of the American Trucking Associations’ Trucking Moves America Forward program wrote:
“Here in Tennessee, the trucking industry means jobs. It accounts for about 180,900 of them — nearly one out of every 13 jobs in the state and a substantial portion of the nearly 7 million people employed nationwide in trucking jobs. Of Tennessee’s total industry jobs in 2013, truck drivers alone — whether heavy, tractor-trailer or delivery — made up nearly 74,350 jobs.
“In Tennessee, the trucking industry is strengthening small businesses — an ever-important element of our local economy and arguably the most important part of our nation’s long-term economic stability. As of last April, there were more than 10,000 trucking companies located in our state, and most of them are small, locally owned businesses with fleets of 15 trucks or fewer.”
Each year “Commercial Carrier Journal” issues its Top 250 ranking of the leading trucking companies. Here are the ones (name, location, number of drivers and website) located in Tennessee.
2. FedEx. Memphis, 131,117 drivers, www.fedex.com
13. U.S. Express Enterprises, Inc., Chattanooga, 8,300 drivers, www.usexpress.com
23. Averitt Express Inc., Cookeville, 6,297 drivers, www.averittexpress.com
37. Covenant Transportation Group, Inc., Chattanooga, 4,029 drivers, www.covenanttransport.com
48. Hub Group Trucking, Memphis, 2,834 drivers, www.hubgrouptrucking.com
56. Western Express, Nashville, 2,502 drivers, www.westernexp.com
58 Forward Air Corp., Greeneville, 2,333 drivers, www.forwardair.com
69. FirstFleet Inc., Murfreesboro, 2,137 drivers, www.firstfleetinc.com
97. Quickway Distribution Service, Nashville, 1,209 drivers, www.quickwaycarriers.com
142. Ozark Motor Lines, Memphis, 684 drivers, www.ozark.com
155. Venture Express, La Vergne, 755 drivers, www.ventureexpress.com
158. Tennessee Steel Haulers, Nashville, 675 drivers, www.tenh.com
210 Titan Transfer, Shelbyville, 475 drivers, www.titantransferinc.com
212. Big G Express, Shelbyville, 451 drivers, www.biggexpress.com
224. TLD Logistics Services Inc., Knoxville, 467 drivers, www.tldlogistics.com
244. Landair, Greeneville, 418 drivers, www.landair.com
246. IMC Companies, Memphis, 420 drivers, www.imccompanies.com
250. Danny Herman Trucking Inc., Mountain City, 458 drivers, www.dannyherman.com
