Short answer
New Jersey had 4,868 trucking establishments with paid employees in 2023, employing 45,566 people on a $2.77 billion payroll (Census County Business Patterns), 11th among states. Its 998 less-than-truckload establishments are second only to California's. Middlesex, Hudson, Bergen, Union and Essex counties lead. FMCSA's register lists 46,320 active carriers in the state; NFI, based in Camden, runs the largest registered for-hire fleet. Check any carrier's USDOT record, authority and insurance before you book.
- New Jersey has 4,868 trucking establishments and 45,566 employees (Census, 2023), 2.86% of the US total.
- 998 less-than-truckload establishments, 9.3% of the US total and second to California, average 10 employees each.
- Hudson, Union and Essex counties, around the port, hold 1,583 establishments, a third of the state's.
- FMCSA lists 46,320 active carriers in New Jersey; 57.5% of those reporting trucks run exactly one.
- 2,397 New Jersey registrations list intermodal containers, led by Middlesex and Union counties.
On this page
This report is for shippers, importers and 3PLs looking for a New Jersey carrier, drivers comparing employers, and B2B sellers whose customers are trucking companies: insurers, chassis and trailer providers, fuel and software vendors, and truck dealers.
Two counts of New Jersey trucking companies
| Source | Count | What it counts |
|---|---|---|
| Census County Business Patterns, 2023 | 4,868 establishments | Locations with paid employees whose main business is trucking (NAICS 484) |
| FMCSA Company Census File, October 2026 | 46,320 active carriers | Every USDOT registration with a New Jersey address: owner-operators, private fleets, bus operators included |
Use the Census figure to size the market of real trucking employers and the FMCSA file to find names. The register holds 9.5 entries per Census establishment, and its fleet and cargo fields are self-reported on form MCS-150.
Census figures
| Measure (2023) | New Jersey |
|---|---|
| Establishments | 4,868 |
| Employees (week of March 12) | 45,566 |
| Annual payroll | $2,774,108,000 |
| Average employees per establishment | 9.4 |
| Average annual pay | $60,881 |
| Share of US establishments | 2.86% of 170,286 |
| Rank among states by establishments | 11th |
A state of small LTL and local carriers
| Type of trucking (NAICS) | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Local general freight (484110) | 1,737 | 12,720 |
| Less-than-truckload (484122) | 998 | 9,951 |
| Long-distance truckload (484121) | 934 | 10,294 |
| Specialized local (484220) | 679 | 4,821 |
| Household and office moving (484210) | 352 | 3,140 |
| Specialized long-distance (484230) | 168 | 4,640 |
Two things stand out. Local general freight is the biggest segment, at 1,737 establishments (seventh among states). And New Jersey's 998 less-than-truckload establishments are 9.3% of the US total, second to California's 1,059, yet they average just 10 employees. National LTL networks run big terminals; New Jersey's numbers point instead to small consolidators and regional carriers combining shipments from importers and warehouses for multi-stop delivery.
Counties: the port ring and the turnpike
| County | Establishments | Employees | LTL establishments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middlesex | 808 | 9,620 | 173 |
| Hudson | 580 | 6,642 | 137 |
| Bergen | 535 | 4,200 | 116 |
| Union | 502 | 3,799 | 109 |
| Essex | 501 | 4,080 | 123 |
| Passaic | 309 | 1,993 | 69 |
| Morris | 232 | 1,714 | 46 |
| Burlington | 217 | 3,764 | 46 |
| Monmouth | 190 | 1,143 | 24 |
| Camden | 179 | 1,398 | 27 |
Hudson, Union and Essex counties surround the container terminals at Port Newark and Elizabeth and hold 1,583 establishments, 32.5% of the state's. Middlesex, along the New Jersey Turnpike, is the largest single county at 16.6%. Burlington has fewer carriers but bigger ones, 17.3 employees per establishment.
Fleet sizes
| Employees per establishment | Establishments |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 3,510 |
| 5 to 9 | 502 |
| 10 to 19 | 355 |
| 20 to 49 | 304 |
| 50 to 99 | 119 |
| 100 to 249 | 65 |
| 250 to 499 | 10 |
| 500 to 999 | Not published |
| 1,000 or more | Not published |
The Census Bureau withholds the two largest classes to protect confidentiality. In broader bands, 4,367 establishments have 1 to 19 employees, 423 have 20 to 99 and 78 have 100 or more (the total less the smaller bands). These are establishments with paid employees, not companies; owner-operators without staff aren't counted, and private fleets count in their owners' industries.
Who the register says is biggest
For-hire freight carriers with a New Jersey address in the 29 October 2026 Company Census File, with a 2024 or later MCS-150 update and a driver count consistent with the fleet; waste and environmental haulers are left out.
| Carrier (legal name, trade name) | City | Power units | Drivers |
|---|---|---|---|
| NFI Interactive Logistics (NFI Transportation) | Camden | 3,294 | 4,212 |
| Maersk Logistics & Services USA (Performance Team, Hudd Transportation, Pilot Freight Services) | Florham Park | 1,239 | 1,385 |
| Langum Transport | Blackwood | 900 | 950 |
| Magic Trans Services | Union | 502 | 804 |
| Freight Express | Woodcliff Lake | 345 | 367 |
| Food Haulers | Elizabeth | 337 | 410 |
| Keystone Freight Corp | Lyndhurst | 319 | 260 |
| National Retail Transportation (NRT) | Lyndhurst | 319 | 260 |
| Safeway Trucking Corporation (Safeway Logistics Solutions) | Elizabeth | 315 | 305 |
Across all registrations, 57.5% of those reporting trucks report one, 52.6% are interstate and 59.3% declare for-hire work. Newark (1,926), Elizabeth (1,344), Paterson (1,165) and Jersey City (900) have the most. The largest private fleets belong to Suburban Propane (2,088 power units, Whippany) and Mondelez Global (633, East Hanover). No SEC-listed company in the trucking SIC codes is headquartered in New Jersey.
Vetting a New Jersey carrier
- Identity first. Look up the USDOT and MC numbers in FMCSA's SAFER Company Snapshot and confirm the name, address and phone match the person you're dealing with.
- Authority and insurance. In FMCSA's Licensing and Insurance search, check that operating authority is active and insurance is on file: at least $750,000 for general freight, more for hazmat (49 CFR 387.9).
- Port work. Anyone needing unescorted access to the secure areas of a regulated marine terminal must hold a TWIC (33 CFR 101.514), so ask how many of the carrier's drivers carry one, and how it sources chassis.
- Freshness. Carriers must update their MCS-150 every 24 months or lose the USDOT number (49 CFR 390.19); an old date on a small carrier is a warning sign.
- Fit. Ask an LTL consolidator for its delivery zones and cut-off times, and a drayage carrier for its average turn times and per diem policy.
Prospecting New Jersey carriers
| Segment | Where to look | Typical buyer | What they buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drayage and intermodal | Union, Hudson, Essex, Middlesex | Owner or operations manager | Chassis, insurance, dispatch, factoring |
| LTL consolidators | Middlesex, Hudson, Bergen | Owner, terminal manager | Dock equipment, routing, liftgate trucks |
| Local delivery | Statewide, near warehouses | Owner, fleet manager | Box trucks, telematics, recruiting |
| Movers (352 establishments) | Bergen, Essex, Middlesex | Owner, general manager | Storage, crating, lead generation |
For the people at each company, see how to find decision makers.
Illustrative example. The seller and its conversion rates are invented; the counts are from the FMCSA file.
Garden State Cargo Cover (gscargo.example) brokers cargo and physical damage insurance for small drayage fleets. In the register, 1,211 carriers in Middlesex (356), Union (345), Hudson (257) and Essex (253) counties list intermodal containers; 566 of them report two or more power units, the fleets whose premiums are worth shopping. Cargo types are self-reported by carriers, and FMCSA's open-data file doesn't always match a carrier's own SAFER record, so treat these counts as indicative. The broker contacts each owner about a month before the policy anniversary. At a 6% reply rate, 566 carriers give about 34 conversations a year, and if one in five asks for a quote, about 7 quotes. Bebop can find carriers matching that description and research each one first.
Hi [first name], I work with drayage carriers in [county] on cargo and chassis damage cover. Most fleets your size tell me their renewal jumped last year. If yours renews in the next few months, I'd be glad to run a side-by-side quote, no obligation.
New Jersey sources
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| FMCSA Company Census File | Every USDOT registration, filterable by state, county and cargo |
| SAFER Company Snapshot | One carrier's identity, fleet, inspections and crashes |
| Census CBP datasets | County and industry detail for the Census tables |
Next step: across the Hudson, see the report on trucking companies in New York City.
Sources
- County Business Patterns (CBP), 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- County Business Patterns datasets, 2023 (state and county files), US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Company Census File, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (data.transportation.gov), updated 29 October 2026, accessed 30 October 2026
- Company Snapshot, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (SAFER), accessed 30 October 2026
- Licensing and Insurance carrier search, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, accessed 30 October 2026
- 33 CFR 101.514, TWIC requirement, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, accessed 30 October 2026
- 49 CFR 387.9, Financial responsibility, minimum levels, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, accessed 30 October 2026
- 49 CFR 390.19, Motor carrier identification reports, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, accessed 30 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many trucking companies are in New Jersey?
Census County Business Patterns counted 4,868 trucking establishments with paid employees in New Jersey in 2023, employing 45,566 people, 11th among states. FMCSA's register lists 46,320 active carriers with a New Jersey address in its October 2026 file, a much larger number because it includes owner-operators without employees, private fleets and carriers that rarely operate.
What is the largest trucking company in New Jersey?
By power units in FMCSA's register, the largest for-hire fleet with a New Jersey address is NFI Interactive Logistics, trading as NFI Transportation, in Camden, with 3,294 power units and 4,212 drivers. Maersk Logistics & Services USA in Florham Park follows with 1,239. Carriers report these figures themselves, and no SEC-listed trucking company is headquartered in the state.
Where are most trucking companies in New Jersey?
Middlesex County has the most trucking establishments, 808 in 2023 with 9,620 employees. Hudson (580), Bergen (535), Union (502) and Essex (501) follow. Hudson, Union and Essex, the counties around the container terminals at Port Newark and Elizabeth, hold 1,583 establishments between them, a third of the state's, according to Census County Business Patterns.
Why does New Jersey have so many LTL trucking companies?
New Jersey had 998 less-than-truckload establishments in 2023, second only to California and 9.3% of the US total. Most are small, averaging 10 employees, against about 47 in Ohio, which points to regional consolidators combining freight from importers and warehouses near the port and the Turnpike rather than big national terminals.
Do New Jersey port truck drivers need a TWIC card?
Yes, for unescorted access. Under 33 CFR 101.514, anyone who needs unescorted access to the secure areas of a regulated marine facility must hold a Transportation Worker Identification Credential. Shippers using a drayage carrier for container moves should ask how many of its drivers carry one, along with its chassis arrangements and turn times.