Royal Mail parcel postbox

Eight road transport and logistics businesses now have an annual turnover in excess of £1bn.

They are: Royal Mail; DHL; XPO Logistics; FedEx Corporation (comprising FedEx and TNT); DPD Group UK; UPS; Wincanton and Menzies Distribution.

The billionaires dominate the Motor Transport Top 100. Collectively they are responsible for 71% of all people employed by the Top 100 businesses in road transport, 63% of all turnover and 70% of all pre-tax profit generated.

MT Top 100

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.

Kinaxia, which has just purchased its 11th haulier Fresh Freight, makes its first appearance in the Top 100 – and will rise many places higher than its current spot at 41 once AKW Group is bedded in.

The bar for entry continues to rise as well, so commiserations to Neill & Brown Global Logistics Group, ranked 101st with a turnover of £24.1m.

However, while some 71 of the 100 businesses demonstrated turnover growth only, less than half (42) saw pre-tax profit climb layin bare the increasing cost pressure road transport businesses face.