Third-party logistics companies (3PLs) and providers specialize in distribution, warehousing and fulfillment services. The core competency of these companies is logistics, and they do it well. Today, anyone can start an online retailing business from any part of the world and ensure their products are delivered to customers efficiently by using a third-party logistics company. Even Amazon used third-party logistics companies when the company first started, until reaching sufficient scale to have a logistics arm of its own. Today, there are many top 3PL warehousing companies that handle warehousing, fulfillment, logistics and distribution services for companies of all sizes.
Many metrics can be used to determine the top 3PL warehousing companies, such as company revenue, the number of warehouses, total warehouse square footage, etc. This compilation is based on the most currently available company revenue data (between 2018 and 2020) without factoring in any other metric. Revenue data is sourced from the companies’ websites and market research platforms such as Macrotrends.
Read on to learn more about and find examples of the top revenue-earning and largest 3PL warehousing companies in 2020.
1. United Parcel Service (UPS)
UPS is an American parcel company that has been in business for over a century. A behemoth in the logistics industry, UPS has operations in shipping, air freight, trucking, last-mile delivery and drone delivery. The company was started in 1907 as a small messenger service in Seattle with $100 in borrowed capital. Today, UPS maintains more than 35 million square feet of distribution and warehousing facilities at approximately 1,000 sites in 120 countries, serving more than 220 countries and territories.
Revenue: $74.969 billion (12 months ending March 31, 2020), $74.094 billion (2019)
Headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
CEO: Carol Tome
2. Deutsche Post: DHL Group
DHL, though founded in the United States, is a German company today. It started in 1969 as DHL Air Cargo, and by the late 1970s, the company had expanded its operations and offered services throughout the world. Deutsche Post started acquiring shares of the company in 1998 and completed its acquisition of DHL by 2002, expanding the brand ‘DHL’ to its other services. Deutsche Post came into being after the German national mail service was privatized in 1995. As of 2019, DHL manages approximately 430 warehouses comprising 121 million square feet of warehouse space.
Revenue: €63.3 billion/$72.43 billion (December 2019)
Headquarters: Bonn, Germany
CEO: Frank Appel
3. FedEx Corporation
FedEx, previously known as Federal Express, is an American multinational freight company founded in 1971 as a system for urgent deliveries. FedEx is the largest cargo airline in the world in terms of scheduled freight tonne kilometers (FTK), a distinction the company has held since 2014, and it’s the fourth largest in terms of fleet size. FedEx set out to become a global logistics player as a full-service freight operator. Today, FedEx is a pioneer, with operations in more than 220 territories around the globe and more than 35 million square feet of warehouse space under its management.
Revenue: $69.217 billion (12 months ending May 31, 2020), $69.693 billion (2019)
Headquarters: Memphis, Tennessee, USA
CEO: Frederick W. Smith
4. Kuehne + Nagel Inc.
Kuehne + Nagel Inc. started in 1890 in Bremen, Germany as a forwarding commission agency for cotton and other consolidated freight. In the latter half of the 20th century, it transformed into a Swiss holding company with interests in sea freight, air freight, contract logistics and overland businesses, with a focus on IT-based logistics solutions. Today, the company manages more than 75 million square feet of warehouse and logistics space worldwide, spanning more than 65 countries, including 14 million square feet in the United States.
Revenue: $21.054 billion (12 months ending March 31, 2020), $21.231 (2019)
Headquarters: Schindellegi, Switzerland
CEO: Detlef Trefzger
5. Nippon Express
Nippon Express is a Japanese logistics company commonly known in Japan as ‘Nittsu.’ It was established in 1937 with the merger of Kokusai Tsu-un KK, six other competitors and many other small-scale logistics companies in Japan. Additional funding was provided by the Japanese government, making it a semi-governmental organization. The company has operations in more than 40 countries and specializes in integrating different modes of transport in logistics solutions. Nippon Express owns more than 31.7 million square feet of warehouse space in Japan and an additional 25.8 million square feet overseas, maintaining a strong network of 744 branches in 48 countries and regions.
Revenue: ¥ 2,138,501 million/$19.9 billion (fiscal year 2018)
Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan
CEO: Mitsuru Saito
6. DB Schenker Logistics
DB Schenker is the logistics arm of German rail line company Deutsche Bahn AG. In 2000, Deutsche Bahn — with its core operations in Germany — realized it was losing some of its largest customers to competitors that offered international warehousing services, resulting in the acquisition of Schenker-Stinnes in 2002. Today, DB Schenker handles the complex supply chain of multinational companies like Apple, P&G, Dell, BMW and Ford, offering land transport, ocean freight, air freight, contract logistics and supply chain management divisions. The company manages more than 94 million square feet of warehouse space and covers more than 794 locations around 60 countries with its worldwide network.
Revenue: €17 billion/ $19.42 billion (2018)
Headquarters: Essen, Germany
CEO: Jochen Thewes
7. GXO Logistics
GXO Logistics is a transportation and contract logistics management company with more than 1,530 locations in more than 30 countries around the world. It manages the supply chain for 69% of the Fortune 100 companies. GXO Logistics started as Express-1 Expedited Solutions in 1989. It changed the name to GXO Logistics after its acquisition by businessman Bradley S. Jacobs in 2011. GXO has operations in freight brokerage, intermodal and drayage, last-mile delivery and global forwarding. The second-largest contract logistics provider worldwide, GXO Logistics manages more than 202 million square feet of warehouse facility space.
Revenue: $16.392 billion (12 months ending March 31, 2020), $16.648 billion (2019)
Headquarters: Greenwich, Connecticut, USA
CEO: Bradley S. Jacobs
8. DSV Panalpina
DSV Panalpina is a Dutch logistics company with services offering road, rail, sea, and air transport founded in 1976. Formed with the merger of nine independent haulers in 1976, DSV’s latest acquisition is Panalpina Welttransport AG, which it acquired in 2019, integrating the Panalpina name to become DSV Panalpina. The acquisition added nearly 5.4 million square feet of warehouse capacity for more than 7 million square feet of total space and 38 warehouses. DSV Panalpina is one of the five largest third-party logistics companies in the world, with a global workforce of nearly 60,000 employees spanning 90 countries. The strength of DSV Panalpina is the strong network of trucking in Europe, North America and South Africa.
Revenue: $14.2 billion (2019)
Headquarters: Hedehusene, Denmark
CEO: Jens Bjørn Andersen
9. Nippon Yusen (NYK)
Nippon Yusen is a Japanese shipping company that is part of the Mitsubishi group of companies (keiretsu). The history of the company can be traced back to 1870. Tsukumo Shokai Shipping company was founded transporting passengers from Yokohama to Shanghai. Today, the company offers end to end logistics solutions on top of their core business of shipping. The company operates more than 800 shipping vessels, making it one of the largest shipping companies in the world.
Revenue: JP¥ 1,829 billion/ $16.5 billion (2019)
Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan
Chairman: Tadaaki Naito
10. CJ Logistics
CJ Logistics is a Korean logistics company based in Seoul, South Korea. The company was formed in 1930 during the Japanese colonial period in Korea with a single warehouse as Chosun Rice Warehousing Co., Ltd. Later, the company was named Korea Express, and multiple mergers and acquisitions led to its current name. Today, the major business of CJ Logistics is contract logistics, freight forwarding, port logistics, courier and global transportation services. CJ Logistics was acquired in 2012 and integrated as the logistics arm of CJ GLS. In 2020, DSC Logistics, CJ Logistics USA and CJ Logistics Canada joined together as one operating company, with a combined warehousing footprint of approximately 30 million square feet.
Revenue: KRW 16,155 billion/ $13.42 billion (2019)
Headquarters: Seoul, South Korea
CEO: Keun-Hee Park
11. SNCF Logistics
SNCF Logistics is a state-owned subsidiary of SNCF Group, which is the French state-owned railway company. Previously known as SNCF Geodis, SNCF Logistics handles freight transportation and logistics for internal and international clients. The history of the company can be traced back to 1904 when Emile Calberson founded a courier business in Le Havre transferring to and on the rail network. The entity existing today is the result of mergers and acquisitions over a century.
Revenue: €10.2 billion/ $11.65 billion (2019)
Headquarters: Levallois-Perret, France
CEO: Alain Picard
12. Ryder Solutions Inc.
Ryder is an American provider of transportation services and supply chain management products. Their most profitable business is their fleet of rental trucks. They have operations in North America and Europe. Ryder operates in three business segments: fleet management solutions, supply chain solutions and dedicated transportation solutions. Founded in 1933 in Miami as a concrete hauling company with a fleet of one truck, Ryder acquired several companies over the years to expand its business and now operates 319 facilities with 50 million square feet of warehouse space.
Revenue: $8.93 billion (December 2019)
Headquarters: Miami, Florida, USA
CEO: Robert E. Sanchez
13. Toll Group
Toll Group is a multinational transportation and logistics company based in Australia. The company was founded in 1888 as a horse and cart hauling business. The founder of the company was Albert Toll, who is the namesake for the company. During its history, it underwent a slew of mergers and acquisitions. Toll Group consists of three divisions: Global Express, Global Forwarding, and Global Logistics. They have operations in road, rail, sea, air transport and warehousing, including dedicated warehouses, multi-user warehouses and facilities operations services.
Revenue: $8.7 billion (2019)
Headquarters: Melbourne, Australia
Chairman: John Mullen
14. Expeditors International of Washington Inc.
Expeditors International of Washington Inc. started as a single office ocean forwarder in Seattle. John Kaiser was the Chief Executive at the time of its formation. Today, the company serves customers in more than 60 countries around the world, providing supply chain solutions, transportation, compliance solutions and warehousing and distribution services. Expeditors International manages 25 million square feet of warehousing space across 300 facilities located in 50 countries. The company was first traded in public markets in 1984.
Revenue: $8.17 billion (2019)
Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, USA
CEO: Jeffrey S. Musser
15. CEVA Logistics
CEVA Logistics was formed in 2007 by the merger of TNT Logistics and Eagle Global Logistics. The company operates in more than 160 countries in 17 clusters. TNT was founded in 1946 in Australia and EGL was founded in Texas in 1984. The company has operations in air freight, ocean freight, road freight, contract logistics and warehousing, with more than 18.1 million square feet of dry storage space in North America. Recently, CEVA started its expansion in African markets.
Revenue: $7.1 billion (2019)
Headquarters: Baar, Switzerland
CEO: Mathieu Friedberg
16. DACHSER Group SE & Co. KG
DACHSER is a European freight company with headquarters in Germany as a family-owned entity. DACHSER’s current CEO is the grandson of founder Thomas Dachser, who founded the company in 1930 as a transportation service for Allgäu cheese to the Rhineland region. The company is involved in European logistics, air & sea logistics, food logistics and contract logistics, providing transportation, warehousing and other value-added services to its clients. DACHSER’s warehouse network includes 2.4 million pallet spaces across 173 warehouse locations, comprising more than 17.2 million square feet of warehouse space.
Revenue: €5.66 billion/ $6.48 billion (2019)
Headquarters: Kempten, Germany
CEO: Bernhard Simon
17. DAMCO
DAMCO is a global third-party logistics provider specializing in customized freight forwarding and supply chain solutions with operations in more than 100 countries around the world. The company was founded in 1905 when a Dutchman named CWH van Dam purchased a barge boat to transport goods between Germany and Rotterdam along the river Rhine. In 2019, DAMCO became a non-integrated brand of the A.P. Møller Mærsk Group.
Revenue: $6 billion (estimate)
Headquarters: Hague, Netherlands
CEO: Saskia Groen int Woud
18. GEFCO Group
GEFCO Group is an international industrial logistics company with a large multimodal ground transportation network. The company used to be a subsidiary of PSA Group, which is one of the world’s largest automobile manufacturers. GEFCO was founded in 1939 as the logistics subsidiary of PSA Group. The company started to expand beyond Europe in the early 2000s. In 2012, Russian railways acquired 75% of the company for €800 million, separating it from the PSA Group. GEFCO Group offers several value-added warehousing services, including logistics services at GEFCO sites, on-site logistics, dedicated temperature-controlled logistics facilities and dedicated or shared spare parts warehousing.
Revenue: €4.73 billion/ $5.42 billion (December 2019)
Headquarters: Puteaux, France
CEO: Luc Nadal
19. Kintetsu World Express
Kintetsu World Express is a Japanese freight forwarding company which is a subsidiary of the Japanese railway holding company, Kintetsu Group. They provide air and sea freight forwarding services, customs brokerage and warehouse inventory management services. The company started operations in 1948 as a provider of international freight and travel services. First established as Kinki Nippon Railway Co., Ltd, the company changed its name to Kintetsu World Express in 1969 while starting its operations in the USA. Today, Kintetsu has operations in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. In 2015, Kintetsu acquired APL Logistics, which maintained more than 20 million square feet of warehousing space and 110 locations worldwide at the time.
Revenue: JP¥ 544.53 billion/ $5.08 billion (2020)
Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan
CEO: Nobutoshi Torii
20. Agility Logistics
Agility Logistics is a global logistics company based out of Kuwait. They provide freight forwarding, transportation, warehousing and supply chain management solutions to their clients. The company began as a state-owned entity as Public Warehousing Co. in 1979 and was privatized in 1997. After privatization, the company expanded globally and is currently trading on the Kuwait Stock Exchange and Dubai Stock Exchange. Agility Logistics manages nearly 23.7 million square feet of warehousing and distribution space.
Revenue: KD 1.55 billion/ $5.04 billion (2018)
Headquarters: Sulaibiya, Kuwait
CEO: Tarek Sultan
21. Schneider National Inc.
Schneider is an American provider of regional, long-haul, expedited, dedicated, bulk, intermodal, brokerage, cross-dock logistics, pool point distribution, supply chain management and port logistics. The company was founded in 1935 by Al Schneider with one truck. More than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies are clients of Schneider National Inc., which offers several warehousing, distribution and fulfillment services, including public warehousing, value-added services like pick and pack, kitting and light assembly, and transloading, deconsolidation and consolidation services.
Revenue: $4.74 billion (December 2019)
Headquarters: Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA
CEO: Mark Rourke
22. NFI Industries
NFI Industries is a global third-party logistics company serving clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies. The company was started in Vineland, New Jersey as a national hauling company by Israel Brown in 1932. To this day, NFI Industries is privately held by the Brown family. The company has operations in distribution, transportation, global logistics and logistics real estate. They provide fully integrated, multimodal supply chain solutions for their clients. Operating approximately 50 million square feet of warehousing and distribution space, NFI Industries also has a company-owned fleet consisting of more than 3,000 tractors and 12,500 trailers.
Revenue: $3.84 billion (2019)
Headquarters: Camden, New Jersey, USA
CEO: Sid Brown
23. Burris Logistics
Burris Logistics is a pioneer in cold chain logistics that started operating in 1925 by delivering tomatoes from farms in Delaware and Maryland to markets in Philadelphia. Burris logistics remains a family-owned business based in Delaware today. They specialize in designing custom dedicated distribution, fleet management, direct-to-consumer fulfillment, food distribution and temperature-controlled warehousing. The business is operated under various brand names. Burris Logistics manages more than 2.7 million square feet of storage space across 13 facilities.
Revenue: $3 billion (estimate)
Headquarters: Milford, Delaware, USA
CEO: Donnan R. Burris
24. Penske Logistics
Penske Logistics is a diverse transportation company founded in 1969. Penske offers technology-based solutions for supply chain management, freight management, warehousing and distribution for clients in various industries. Penske manages 25.8 million square feet of warehouse space and operates 1,000 facilities across the business. The company’s warehousing and distribution services include warehouse design, warehouse operations and engineering, multi-client warehousing and network design.
Revenue: $32 billion (2019, Penske Group revenue), $2.3 billion (estimate for Penske Logistics)
Headquarters: Bloomfield Township, Michigan, USA
CEO: Roger Penske
25. Americold
Americold has roots back to 1903, when Ernest Woodruff merged three cold storage warehouses, creating a company called Atlantic Ice and Coal Company. Following many mergers and acquisitions over the years, the company first became known by the name Americold in 1997. In 2010, Americold acquired Versacold, making it the largest temperature-controlled warehousing and distribution services provider in the world. Americold owns and operates more than 1 billion cubic square feet of storage spanning more than 178 sites around the world, including 21 warehouse facilities and one managed facility, which the company acquired from Cloverleaf.
Revenue: $1.595 billion (2019)
Headquarters: Atlanta, GA
President & CEO: Fred Boehler
