Landstar System (CCJ Top 250, No. 11) posted improved first quarter results, with CEO Frank Lonegro said the freight market showed encouraging signs, attributed to a strengthening rate environment.
The Jacksonville, Florida-based company reported total revenue of $1.171 billion in Q1 2026, a 1.6% increase from $1.153 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Net income was posted at $39.4 million, up from $29.8 million a year ago.
Truck revenue was up 3% at $1,082 million, compared to Q1 2025 at $1,050 million. Truck revenue per load was up roughly 6% in the first quarter of 2026, while the number of loads hauled via truck decreased approximately 2%.
Truck transportation revenue hauled by independent business capacity owners (BCOs) and truck brokerage carriers was 92% of revenue in Q1 2026, compared to 91% of revenue in the same period last year.
A highlight in the company’s financial result is its unsided/platform equipment, Lonegro pointed out. It posted an 8% increase year-over-year revenue, driven by the performance of Landstar’s heavy-haul service offering. Heavy haul generated approximately $134 million revenue in Q1 2026, up 18% from Q1 2025. Volume in that segment rose 6% while revenue per load climbed 12%, driven by data centers, energy infrastructure, government projects, machinery, and aerospace and defense industries.
[RELATED: Carriers flag tightening capacity and rising rates after sluggish Q1]
Owner-operator network strengthens
Landstar’s BCO network—the company’s independent owner-operators who haul exclusively for Landstar—showed strong retention and performance. BCO revenue was up 11% year over year to $475 million, with loads up 7%.
The BCO truck count stood at 8,476 at the end of Q1, down 2% year over year and down just 38 units from Q4 2024—an improvement from the average sequential decline of 365 trucks from the last three years.
BCO turnover also improved, with the trailing 12-month rate falling to 29.5% from 31.4% at year-end 2025. Truck utilization also rose 9% year over year to nearly 25 loads per truck.
In contrast, Landstar’s third-party carrier count fell 19% year over year in Q1. Lonegro noted the company doesn’t have “non-domiciled CDL challenges… But at the end of the day, there is capacity coming out of the environment. It is generally what I believe is coming out of the lower end of the environment.”
AI integration
Artificial intelligence deployment to the business was highlighted as a priority in the company's earnings call, with Lonegro noting how the company is encouraged by the engagement from agents and BCOs in beta programs.
There’s already some “tangible progress” across several workflows, including customer quoting, carrier negotiations, dispatch decision making, automated tracking, appointment scheduling, network modeling, and bid optimization. Feedback from initiatives include time savings, higher shipment life cycle throughout, and improved visibility across the network.
Lonegro added the company is advancing several AI-driven efficiency initiatives, including its Tier 1 ERP modernization, proprietary fraud prevention and detection capabilities, service center workflows, BCO retention models, and subservice analytics for operations and customer management.
The first quarter also saw lower insurance and claim expense compared to the prior year, which dropped to $35.6 million from $39.9 million a year ago. Lonegro attributed the drop to the company’s efforts to address strategic cargo theft. Not only did it decrease the frequency of cargo claims incidents but also decreased the severity of cargo-related incidents.
Management said they’re monitoring risks from the geopolitical conflict in the Middle East and the related volatility in energy and diesel prices, as well as trade relations developments among the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
