Assuming U.S. operations, there are really three businesses to compare:
- Your own for-hire trucking company hauling freight for shippers and brokers.
- FedEx linehaul, using tractors to move FedEx-owned trailers between terminals.
- FedEx pickup and delivery, or P&D, using vans and step trucks for local package routes.
FedEx linehaul is the closest comparison to a traditional trucking company. FedEx P&D is closer to operating a large local delivery and staffing business.
Note, if you want to model these businesses out (#1 or #3 above), I have a useful financial model template for trucking / delivery startups here. You can also hire me for custom builds here.
Side-by-side comparison
| Issue | Independent trucking company | FedEx linehaul fleet | FedEx P&D fleet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary customer | Multiple shippers and brokers | FedEx | FedEx |
| Freight sales | You find and price the freight | FedEx supplies the network work | FedEx supplies package volume |
| Equipment | Usually tractors and trailers | You provide tractors; FedEx provides trailers | You provide vans or delivery trucks |
| Revenue | Per load, mile, hour or dedicated contract | Contracted mileage and related terms | Stops, packages, volume and contract terms |
| Collections | Often wait for shippers/brokers or use factoring | Weekly settlement | Weekly settlement |
| Pricing control | Relatively high | Limited by FedEx agreement | Limited by FedEx agreement |
| Customer concentration | Can be diversified | Extremely concentrated | Extremely concentrated |
| Geographic freedom | Choose markets and lanes | Runs assigned or contracted through the network | Defined contracted service area |
| Main difficulty | Sales, freight planning and cash flow | CDL drivers, tractors, safety and contract performance | Recruiting, attendance and daily route execution |
| Scaling ceiling | Highest theoretical ceiling | Limited by available runs and contracts | Limited by volume and contracted areas |
FedEx officially describes P&D and linehaul as independent businesses that purchase or lease their own vehicles, employ and train their own personnel, and manage daily operations. Linehaul contractors move FedEx-owned trailers; P&D contractors serve designated geographic areas.
1. Starting your own trucking company
An independent trucking company is a complete transportation business. You are responsible not only for trucks and drivers but also for generating revenue.
What must be built
You generally need:
- A legal business entity
- USDOT registration
- Interstate operating authority, commonly called an MC number, when hauling regulated freight owned by others for compensation
- Insurance filings
- State registrations and applicable fuel, vehicle and apportioned-registration accounts
- Driver qualification, safety, drug-testing and hours-of-service systems
- Trucks, trailers, electronic logs and transportation-management software
- Dispatch, billing, collections, maintenance and claims management
FMCSA requires most interstate for-hire carriers to obtain operating authority in addition to a USDOT number. Insurance must be filed before authority becomes active, and new carriers enter FMCSA’s New Entrant Safety Assurance Program.
I've seen owners enter this space by acquiring an existing trucking fleet instead of starting from scratch.
The biggest challenge: finding profitable freight
Buying trucks is easier than keeping them profitably loaded. An independent company must develop some combination of:
- Direct shipper contracts
- Dedicated routes
- Broker relationships
- Load-board freight
- Power-only or drop-and-hook accounts
- Regional backhauls that reduce empty miles
The company’s real product is not the truck. It is reliable transportation capacity on profitable lanes.
Starting with 20 trucks but no committed freight can be far more dangerous than starting with three trucks and a good dedicated account. Truck payments, insurance and payroll continue even when equipment is sitting.
Cash-flow requirements
An independent carrier often pays drivers, fuel, tolls and repairs before collecting from the customer. Therefore, startup capital should include substantially more than truck down payments.
A sensible capitalization model includes:
Equipment capital + insurance deposits + several payroll cycles + fuel float + maintenance reserve + deductibles + office and compliance costs.
Factoring can accelerate collections, but it reduces margin and does not solve unprofitable unit economics.
How it scales
A conventional carrier scales by:
- Adding profitable customers and lanes
- Improving loaded-mile percentage
- Negotiating fuel surcharges and accessorial charges
- Building a trailer pool
- Adding terminals or dedicated operations
- Purchasing smaller carriers
- Developing centralized recruiting, safety and maintenance systems
The major advantage is that you can diversify customers. Losing one customer does not have to destroy the company.
The disadvantage is that every additional truck requires additional freight. A 50-truck carrier with work for only 42 trucks can rapidly lose money.
2. Starting a FedEx linehaul fleet
FedEx linehaul is structurally similar to a tractor fleet but commercially much simpler.
You provide tractors and drivers, while FedEx supplies the trailers and network work. Official FedEx materials describe weekly settlement for loaded and empty miles, variable mileage rates, drop-and-hook freight and optional spot or seasonal opportunities.
What FedEx removes from the equation
You generally do not need to:
- Sell freight to outside shippers
- Negotiate every individual load
- Purchase a large trailer fleet
- Build a conventional customer-service department
- Chase numerous customers for payment
That removes a large portion of the sales, trailer and receivables complexity.
What remains your responsibility
You still have to manage:
- CDL driver recruiting and retention
- Dispatch and coverage
- Tractor acquisition and replacement
- Fuel and maintenance
- Breakdowns and substitute tractors
- Payroll, taxes and workers’ compensation
- Safety performance
- Insurance required under the agreement
- On-time movement of every scheduled run
FedEx requires service providers to be established as for-profit corporations; the official standards state that FedEx does not contract directly with LLCs, LLPs, sole proprietorships or partnerships. Service providers employ their drivers, maintain their vehicles and bear normal employer expenses.
The exact allocation of motor-carrier authority and insurance obligations should be verified in the specific agreement. FedEx’s FAQ identifies FedEx as the federally regulated carrier while also requiring service providers to maintain agreed insurance coverage, including vehicle liability and workers’ compensation.
How linehaul scales
A linehaul operator grows by adding:
- Additional scheduled runs
- Spot or supplemental work
- Team-driver runs
- Tractors at additional terminals
- Acquisitions of existing service-provider businesses
The limitation is that you cannot simply purchase another ten tractors and find unrelated freight for them inside the FedEx contract. Growth depends on FedEx opportunities, awarded work and acceptable performance.
Linehaul is generally the better FedEx model for someone who already understands tractors, CDL drivers, maintenance, DOT safety and fuel management.
3. Starting a FedEx P&D fleet
P&D is a different type of operation. It is less about long-distance trucking and more about managing a large daily workforce.
FedEx assigns the service provider a contracted service area consisting of ZIP codes, partial ZIP codes or address ranges. The operator decides how to design routes, sequence deliveries, staff the operation and select the number and type of vehicles needed to complete service.
Daily operating reality
A P&D operation may need to manage:
- Driver callouts every morning
- Route loading and dispatch
- Residential and commercial deliveries
- Pickup windows
- Vehicle breakdowns
- Seasonal volume spikes
- Overtime and wage compliance
- Customer complaints and missed deliveries
- Backup drivers and spare vehicles
A profitable P&D fleet usually needs more vehicles than scheduled routes because one breakdown cannot be allowed to stop package service.
How P&D scales
P&D can grow through:
- Higher package density inside the service area
- Additional daily routes
- Better route design
- Acquiring a larger contracted area
- Entering another FedEx station
- Purchasing another service-provider business
FedEx currently allows a maximum of one contracted service area per service provider per station. Growth across multiple stations or through acquisitions is therefore important for operators seeking substantial scale.
P&D is usually best suited to someone strong in recruiting, scheduling, local operations and frontline employee management—not necessarily someone whose main experience is over-the-road trucking.
FedEx is not a franchise
A FedEx contracted fleet is not a franchise, and the service area or linehaul runs are not property you own permanently. Your company owns its vehicles and business assets, while its right to perform FedEx work comes from its contract.
FedEx may connect qualified buyers and existing service providers through its Assignee Marketplace, but FedEx is not a party to the business sale. Buying the seller’s trucks or corporation does not independently guarantee continuation or assignment of the FedEx agreement.
That makes contract review and FedEx eligibility crucial before closing an acquisition.
Comparing the Economics of Each Business
Independent tractor fleet
A basic weekly calculation per tractor is:
Freight revenue
minus driver compensation and payroll burden
minus fuel and tolls
minus maintenance and tires
minus tractor and trailer cost
minus insurance, permits and technology
minus deadhead and unpaid delays
equals contribution toward management and profit.
The most important variables are usually rate, loaded utilization, driver cost, fuel efficiency, empty miles and maintenance.
FedEx linehaul
The calculation is similar, except the revenue is derived primarily from contracted runs or miles, and FedEx supplies the trailers:
FedEx settlement revenue
minus driver compensation
minus fuel
minus tractor payment and depreciation
minus maintenance and tires
minus insurance and management
equals operating profit.
The absence of trailer investment and outside freight sales can make the operation simpler. But nearly all revenue depends on one contractual relationship.
FedEx P&D
P&D economics are driven more heavily by labor:
FedEx settlement revenue
minus driver wages, overtime and payroll burden
minus vehicle payments and maintenance
minus fuel
minus backup drivers and spare vehicles
minus workers’ compensation and insurance
minus operations management
equals operating profit.
A seller may claim high “cash flow” because the owner dispatches, recruits and covers routes without paying themselves a market salary. Always subtract the cost of replacing the owner’s labor before valuing the business.
Which has better scaling potential?
Independent trucking company: greater long-term ceiling
An independent carrier can become regional, national or specialized, add multiple customers and create its own brand. It can build enterprise value through:
- Diversified customer contracts
- Dedicated lanes
- A good safety record
- Experienced management
- Recruiting capability
- Terminals, shops and trailer pools
- Specialized expertise such as refrigerated, flatbed or hazardous-material transportation
The ceiling is much higher, but the commercial and financial risk is also higher.
FedEx fleet: easier commercial scaling, but narrower control
FedEx gives you an established freight network and weekly settlements. You can focus primarily on execution instead of selling freight.
However, the growth ceiling is affected by:
- Available FedEx opportunities
- Contract terms
- Network redesign
- Station decisions
- Service performance
- Whether acquisitions or additional work are approved
FedEx is also continuing its Network 2.0 redesign. As of February 28, 2026, FedEx reported implementation in approximately 390 U.S. and Canadian locations. FedEx stated that service providers will perform pickup and delivery in some markets while employee couriers will do so in others, with U.S. implementation expected to continue through the end of 2027.
That makes the station’s future operating model an essential part of due diligence.
The main risk tradeoff
Your own trucking company has market risk. You must find freight, negotiate rates, manage empty miles and collect payment.
A FedEx fleet has concentration risk. FedEx provides nearly all the revenue, so contract or network changes can materially affect the entire company.
FedEx makes customer acquisition easier but does not eliminate operating risk. Independent trucking gives you greater freedom and diversification but requires a much stronger sales and freight-planning organization.
Best fit
Choose an independent trucking company when you have anchor customers, lane knowledge, transportation sales ability and enough working capital to survive rate and freight fluctuations.
Choose FedEx linehaul when you are good at managing tractors, CDL drivers, maintenance and safety but do not want to build a freight-sales organization.
Choose FedEx P&D when your strength is high-volume local staffing, scheduling and route execution.
For a first-time operator, the highest-risk strategy is purchasing a large greenfield fleet before securing work. The more defensible approaches are either:
- Secure dedicated freight and add trucks gradually.
- Acquire an established carrier with verified customers, safety records and truck-level profitability.
- Acquire a FedEx operation only after normalizing owner labor, replacement costs, payroll, loss history and the future status of the relevant station.
