Industry magazine Motor Transport has released its hotly anticipated Top 100 for 2018, highlighting that eight of the top 100 road transport operators in the UK now exceed £1bn turnover.
The top three positions remain unchanged with Royal Mail, DHL and XPO Logistics together accounting for almost £14bn of revenues between them.
The biggest mover in the top 10, according to the table, is the FedEx Corporation which has lept 15 places from nineteenth to fourth, driven by its acquisition of TNT.
The remainder of the top 10 is made up of Wincanton, UPS, Menzies Distirbution, Kuehne + Nagel and Hermes Parcelnet.
Motor Transport reports that there are five new entries in the Top 100 this year, pointing towards the considerable amount of merger and acquisition activity the sector has seen in recent years.
And already looking ahead to next year, the report points to the newly created EV Cargo, which is set to enter the table towards the top, though not quite in the very highest echelons.
The report raises concerns about the increased cost pressure facing the industry. Analysis shows that while 71 percent of the top 100 operators grew turnover, just 41 percent grew their profit. Average pre-tax profits were also down year on year from a little over £8.8m in 2017 to a little under £7.3m this year.
