Trucking News · Nationwide · October 28, 2026

Truckers Hauling for Landstar See Carrier List Fall to Nearly 68,000 as Claims Rise

By Big Rig Daily Staff · Updated Oct 29, 2026, 8:13 a.m. PT

Landstar System has trimmed the pool of carriers it works with by about a third since 2022, and truckers who haul for it may notice. The company said on its third-quarter call Tuesday, Oct. 27, that its approved carrier list fell from more than 100,000 in 2022 to nearly 68,000 in the latest quarter, FreightWaves reported.

Why the list shrank

Most of the reductions came in 2023 and into 2024 to combat cargo theft, FreightWaves reported. The decline also reflected weak truckload market conditions, especially for owner-operators. The list rose 5% from the second quarter to the third.

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Strong demand, but a claims hit

"You can look down the P&L and if you skip one line known as insurance and claims, you'd have a lot of good news to write home about," said Landstar President and CEO Frank Lonegro.

Third-quarter earnings per share were $1.42, 24 cents below the consensus estimate. FreightWaves attributed the miss to $13 million in adverse adjustments to claims reserves and $8 million in unfavorable developments on two prior-year claims. Insurance and claims expense rose $22.3 million from a year earlier to $55.3 million, or 9.4% of owner-operator revenue.

Landstar said accident frequency improved again, to 0.57 DOT-reportable accidents per million miles through the first nine months of the year.

Revenue and rates

• Consolidated revenue rose 25% from a year earlier to $1.51 billion.
• Truck revenue rose 29% to $1.41 billion, with loads up 3% and revenue per load up 25%. Higher diesel prices and better truckload pricing drove the yield increase.
• Dry van loads were up 6% and flatbed loads up 4%. Landstar noted elevated heavy-haul demand.
• In October, truck loads were up 7% and revenue per load 29% higher than a year earlier.

Owner-operators

Landstar's business capacity owners, who are owner-operators hauling almost exclusively for the company, supplied 8,709 trucks, up 165 from the second quarter. FreightWaves said that was the largest sequential increase since the third quarter of 2021. Their turnover rate improved to 26.6%. Revenue per mile excluding fuel surcharges was up 23% on dry van and 19% on flatbed.

Quick facts

• Approved carrier list: from over 100,000 (2022) to nearly 68,000.
• Third-quarter revenue: $1.51 billion, up 25%.
• Owner-operator trucks: 8,709, up 165 from the prior quarter.
• Insurance and claims expense: $55.3 million, up $22.3 million.

Big Rig Daily has also covered how contract rates reset 13% higher, cargo thieves taking AI equipment and the Knight-Swift brokerage carrier cut of about 70%. To weigh your own numbers, try the owner-operator profit calculator.

A question for readers

Have you seen carrier vetting get stricter where you haul, and has it changed your loads?

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