Is B2B Distribution Gaining Share of Wallet?

Analysis of truck fleets in top distributors & suppliers

Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving and some well-deserved R&R! 

We wanted to use this week’s newsletter to evaluate another measure for how B2B distribution is faring by analyzing the size of fleets, such as trucks, tractors and trailers - and comparing that data against suppliers’ fleets.

We know B2B distribution has been growing nicely, but is it gaining more share of wallet from suppliers? Or, are suppliers successfully “going direct” and diversifying away from distributors.

We found information on how many trucks (think: box trucks), tractors (the cab that hauls a trailer) and trailers were owned by the top distributors, suppliers and carriers. For distributors and suppliers, we leveraged reports tracking the top 500 private fleets of companies and compared 2019 to 2023 numbers. And, for carriers, we analyzed the top 10 carriers in the US. More on our methodology at the bottom.

Trucks: Who’s winning the last mile? Distributors or Suppliers?

In totality, there were a little over 80,000 trucks that were in service for the top 50 distributors in 2019.