Private Fleets Remain Alive and Well as They Tighten Control Over the Supply Chain
Private fleets continue to grow, expand their operations and exert greater control over their supply chains, even as much of the trucking market faced challenges. According to the National Private Truck Council’s 2026 Benchmarking Survey, private fleets increased shipments by 7.8%, freight volume by 9.1% and the value of freight hauled by 8.2%, extending a run of year-over-year growth that dates back more than a dozen years.
“The overarching theme that we have in this year’s report is that private fleets are alive and well. They are growing. They are expanding their operations, and, most importantly, private fleets continue to exercise their strength and control over the supply chain,” said Tom Moore, executive vice president of the National Private Truck Council.
Private fleets handled 72% of outbound freight moves, up from 70% last year and the second-highest level in the history of the survey. “I feel like we’ve reached a new and higher level in terms of the market share of the outbound transportation,” Moore said.
On the inbound side, private fleets captured 42% of freight movements, the second-highest share in the survey’s history. Vendors, many of whom run their own private fleets, captured 22%, for a combined 64% total private fleet control “over the inbound side of the fence,” Moore said, calling it “significant in terms of control of that supply chain.”
Tim Eckhardt, senior director of safety for Dot Transportation, the private fleet for Dot Foods, said control is at the heart of value private fleets provide. “For us, the more we can control our supply chain, the more we can control our service level, the more we can control our cost and the overall efficiency, and that’s where the benefit is to us,” he said.
Moore presented the results of the 2026 NPTC Benchmarking Survey on Sept. 16. He was joined by Eckhardt, Kevin Mattimore, senior vice president of sales for Penske Truck Leasing, Marley Bebout, director of outbound transportation and customer satisfaction for AutoZone, and Gary Petty, NPTC president and CEO.
This year’s report, which is sponsored by Penske Truck Leasing, tracks key performance indicators across private fleet operations and includes data from nearly 90 companies representing 31,581 drivers, 23,932 heavy-duty power units and 59,550 trailers.
Moving Closer to the Customer
Private fleets reported that they are moving closer to their customers. Respondents reported operating out of an average of 48 locations, down slightly from last year’s record 49 but still the second-highest number in the survey’s history. Annual mileage for heavy-duty equipment averaged 80,750, in line with last year’s record low of 80,400, and the average length of haul for outbound retail deliveries was 228 miles.
“As we continue to move closer to customers, it’s fewer miles to get to our customer and back,” Eckhardt said. “Ultimately you want to be closer to your customer to be able to provide better service.”
Fleets are also focusing on utilization and getting more out of their equipment. The average power unit is in use 13.1 hours a day, an all-time high, and fleets average 1.3 drivers per power unit.
Maximizing resources is a priority for AutoZone. “We do slip seating so that we can better utilize our tractors,” Bebout said. “We do some of our deliveries at night, and that helps us even further utilize our tractors and trailers as well.”
Lease, Own or a Combination
This year, the percentage of fleets leasing 90% or more of their heavy-duty power units increased significantly to 42%, up from 28% in each of the two previous years, while 34% reported owning most of their units, down from 45%. The remaining 24% use a combination of leasing and ownership.
For the first time, the survey looked at the mix of Class 8 equipment purchased and found that 69% were day cabs and 31% were sleepers. Mattimore said Penske has seen demand for day cabs continue to rise. “We've seen that move as customers try to be more efficient and get closer to the customer,” he explained.
The share of fleets renting heavy-duty equipment dipped slightly from 23% to 22%, but the average rental commitment doubled from 12 to 24 units. “Our rental fleet is a leading indicator of what’s going on with our contractual customers,” Mattimore said.
Penske has also seen several customers converting from ownership to leasing. “We've been spinning out a lot of them over the last few years as customers look to be more efficient and gain productivity as they ramp back up and right size to today's demand,” Mattimore added.
When fleets convert from ownership to leasing, Mattimore said the trigger is usually a combination of factors, but “maintenance is more often than not the first pain point that a customer feels.”
Faster Trade Cycles
Heavy-duty trade cycles accelerated to 6.2 years and 549,000 miles, down from 6.6 years and the lowest mileage at replacement in the survey’s history. When fleets that lease most of their equipment are removed, trade cycles average 6.6 years and 567,000 miles, down from 7.4 years and 605,840 miles last year. The average age of heavy-duty equipment is 4.4 years.
Fleets are also turning to AI to help drive equipment decisions, and Eckhardt AI-based analysis puts total cost of ownership at a fleet manager’s fingertips. “You can look at the individual cost of a vehicle, and you can trade the lemons, the ones that are costing you extremely more, so much earlier, and get them out of the fleet,” he said.
AutoZone tends to keep its vehicles longer, and focuses on maintenance to keep equipment running smoothly. “We invest in the maintenance side of it to be able to extend the life of our vehicles,” Bebout said.
Maintenance strategies are shifting as well. The share of fleets outsourcing nearly all maintenance fell to 35% from 41%, while 22% handle all or nearly all maintenance in-house, up from 17%. The remaining 43% use a combination, the largest share ever for that strategy. When fleets do outsource, full-service lessors capture 43% of the business, followed by OEM dealers at 34% and independent facilities at 21%.
Data is also changing how equipment is maintained. Mattimore said Penske’s preventive maintenance program has evolved as vehicle data has become available. “We realize that a vehicle early on doesn’t need as many checks, but the vehicle at the end-of-life cycle needs a heck of a lot more,” he said.
Drawing on data can help maintenance programs get more predictive. “We’ve got the technology now to know that an alternator is going to last 400,000 miles, and you change it instead of having that driver sitting on the road and the expense of a road breakdown,” Bebout said.
Keeping Drivers on Board
Driver turnover continued to improve, falling to 17.1% from 18.4% last year. Average driver tenure dropped to 7.4 years from 8.7, due in part to the number of drivers retiring. The leading reasons drivers leave are taking another driving job, discipline and retirement. The average driver age held steady at 49.4.
Average heavy-duty driver compensation reached a record $93,528, up from $91,081 last year. Moore said rising pay is a sign of what may be ahead. “To me, this is a testimony to the fact that we’re starting to see the driver shortage potentially as kind of the warning clouds on the horizon,” he explained.
Eckhardt said compensation is directly related to turnover, and Dot Transportation has worked to give drivers more options. “We’ve worked hard to create what we call a buffet of jobs,” he said, explaining that the buffet allows drivers to a choose specific schedule and job type based on where they are in their life. “Drivers know exactly when they start, and they know exactly what days they’re off, and they’re able to plan their life around it.”
Safety Takes Top Priority
Safety jumped to the No. 1 challenge facing private fleets, cited by 73% of respondents, up from 48% last year. Cost ranked second at 61%, followed by driver-related issues.
The DOT recordable accident rate rose to 0.65 per million miles from 0.49 last year, although fleets were found at fault in just 29% of those accidents. “It’s still three times safer than the industry at large,” Moore said. The lost time injury rate was 3.1 per 200,000 hours worked, the second-lowest level in the history of the survey.
Bebout said AutoZone saw a significant reduction in preventable collisions this year. “However, we saw an increase in being hit by third parties, specifically while moving,” she said. “I personally believe that we’re seeing even more distracted driving, which I don’t think surprises anyone.”
Dot Transportation has seen the same pattern. “Our preventable rate has continued to decrease, but the DOT recordable we’ve seen an increase, just like Marley has, on struck by accidents,” Eckhardt explained.
Private fleets continue to invest in active safety technologies. All respondents use automated transmissions, and nine out of 10 use lane departure warning, disc brakes, collision warning, adaptive cruise control and in-cab cameras. AutoZone recently outfitted its delivery trailers with 360-degree and reverse-activated cameras to help drivers maneuver in tight store lots.
Moore said technology and AI are giving fleets better tools to prevent accidents before they happen. “I’m not sure it’s younger drivers that are the culprit,” he said. “I think the headwinds are there, but I think we also have some tailwinds with the use of some of these technologies and getting better, more actionable intelligence before the accidents happen.”
Private Fleets Anticipate Continued Growth
Looking five years out, 71% of respondents said they expect their fleets to grow by adding equipment or handling more of their company’s freight, while 20% expect no change and only 9% expect to shrink.
Moore said many NPTC members are now taking on the tougher freight themselves. “I’m hearing a lot from our members that we’re doing more reverse cherry picking now, in the sense that we are actually looking to handle the more challenging customers that we have out there, the longer distance customers, the ones that need more frequent handholding,” he said.
Fleets are also leaning on technology to manage rising fuel and operating costs. Bebout noted that as a shipper, AutoZone has no fuel surcharge to offset rising fuel costs. “It’s purely cost,” she said.
Eckhardt said AI is helping Dot Transportation find efficiencies. “AI is not going to solve every problem for us, but…a lot of small wins equal one large one,” he said.
For the year ahead, Moore expects driver retention to be a key focus. “We’re seeing the driver shortage starting to come back into play, and I think the focus is going to be on really protecting our own drivers from being encroached by others,” he said.
By “Move Ahead” Staff