Is it time to sell your trucking business?

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By Shefali Kapadia | for The Inside Lane

Buying or selling a company is a careful balancing act — taking into consideration the right company, right time and right price.

There's a good chance that mergers and acquisitions in the trucking industry will pick up steam this year, according to Peter Stefanovich, president of Left Lane Associates, a supply chain M&A advisory firm. We caught up with Stefanovich to hear his predictions for M&A and advice for any fleet thinking it might be time to seal a deal. - Shefali Kapadia

The answers below have been edited for brevity. 

What's one big prediction you have for M&A in the trucking industry in 2025?

A rise in transaction volume and value in the U.S. trucking industry in 2025. As the industry continues to recover from the freight recession, business owners seeking to sell their trucking operations are beginning to re-enter the market in greater numbers, equipped with greater clarity of the current and future financial performance of their respective businesses. For strategic acquirers and investors in the industry, increasingly favorable economic conditions provide optimism for the growth prospects of potential acquisition targets

Is consolidation among trucking carriers typically helpful or harmful to other fleets?

I would argue that consolidation provides a long-term benefit to the trucking industry and the carriers operating within it. In an industry where the vast majority of U.S. carriers are considered “small” or “very small” carriers — operating a fleet of fewer than 20 tractors — larger consolidated fleets possess the necessary resources to innovate and provide more comprehensive service offerings to niche markets, which smaller carriers may lack. Although a consolidated carrier may pose a short-term threat to smaller carriers, its investment in technology and improved services ultimately enhances the industry's ability to meet driver, employee and customer needs over time.

 For a trucking carrier considering selling, what's your top piece of advice?

Get a team around you to help you along the sale process. This means internally and externally. You want to have key management onboard who will help you, as an owner, get the information needed when the time comes to present it to your investment banking team and the potential buyers. Externally, it’s vital to bring in outside help to assist in selling your business. That will include your accounting team (who also have a background in mergers and acquisitions), your legal team (again, having a background in M&A) and an investment banking team who knows the industry. Having someone with industry knowledge and the right players to reach out to can mean a difference of millions and millions of dollars.

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The Inside Lane is curated and written by Shefali Kapadia and edited by Bianca Prieto.