Trucking companies in Texas: where they are, how big they are, and how to vet one

This report is for shippers and freight managers looking for a Texas carrier, drivers comparing employers, and B2B sellers whose customers are trucking companies, from fuel and tire suppliers to insurers, software vendors and truck dealers.

Texas trucking by the numbers

County Business Patterns 2023 covers NAICS 484 (Truck Transportation) for the state of Texas.

The same data puts California (24,075) and Illinois (15,020) ahead on establishments, but Texas first on employment. Its carriers are bigger: 11.8 employees per establishment against 5.8 in Illinois.

Specialized local and long-distance freight (tankers, flatbeds, dump trucks, heavy haul and oilfield hauling) employs 47,809 people in 3,550 establishments and pays more than general freight.

Where Texas trucking companies are

County figures from the same 2023 data:

Dallas County's 23.8 employees per establishment, against 11.5 in Harris, points to larger terminals and fleets.

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics counts inbound truck crossings by port, from US Customs and Border Protection data. For 2025:

Laredo alone took 38.8% of the border's inbound truck crossings, about 8,070 a day, and more than the next four Texas ports combined.

Fleet sizes

In broader bands: 12,509 establishments have 1 to 19 employees, 1,372 have 20 to 99 and 296 have 100 or more. Small carriers still dominate (69% have fewer than five employees), but Texas has 1,668 establishments with 20 or more, a real mid-market.

These are establishments with paid employees, not companies: a carrier with terminals in Houston, Dallas and Laredo counts three times. Owner-operators without employees are excluded because the self-employed aren't counted, and private fleets that haul their own goods sit in their owners' industries. A carrier's head office can be classified outside trucking. Employment is one week in March 2023.

How to check a Texas carrier

Texas adds a state layer on top of the federal one. Under TxDMV's rules, a motor carrier running vehicles within Texas needs a TxDMV number if it operates:

• a commercial vehicle or combination rated over 26,000 pounds
• placarded hazardous materials
• a vehicle designed for more than 15 passengers, including the driver
• household goods moves for pay, whatever the vehicle weight

Most private or for-hire carriers over 26,000 pounds must carry at least $500,000 of liability insurance; placarded hazmat carriers need up to $5,000,000. Check any carrier in TxDMV's Motor Carrier Lookup.

1. Run the TxDMV lookup for intrastate work, and confirm the registration is current.
2. Check the USDOT number in FMCSA's SAFER Company Snapshot for any carrier crossing state lines: safety rating, out-of-service inspections and crashes.
3. Match the equipment to the load. A tanker, flatbed or reefer carrier is a different business from a dry-van one; ask for the trailer list.
4. Get a certificate of insurance that names you and meets the TxDMV minimum for the cargo.
5. For cross-border freight, ask who handles the Mexican leg and the customs broker, and test with one lane before you commit volume.

Selling to Texas trucking companies

At small carriers the owner decides. At 20 to 99 employees, a safety or operations manager joins the decision, and fleets with 100 or more have directors of safety, maintenance and procurement.

Illustrative example. The seller and its assumptions are invented; the counts are Census 2023 and BTS 2025 data.

Rio Bravo Trailer Track (riobravo.example) sells GPS trailer tracking against cargo theft. Its market is the border: Webb, El Paso and Hidalgo counties have 1,810 trucking establishments with 18,289 employees. If the statewide share applies (11.8% of establishments have 20 or more employees), about 213 border carriers are big enough to run their own trailer pool. Two contacts each (owner or general manager, and the safety manager) gives 426 people; at a 5% reply rate, 21 conversations, and if one in four agrees to a trial on ten trailers, 5 trials. The best opener is lane-specific: a carrier running Laredo's bridges is among about 8,070 trucks a day there. Bebop can find border carriers that match a description and research each one first. To reach the right person, see how to find decision makers.

Subject: Trailers waiting at [yard or bridge]

Hi [first name],

[Company] runs [number] power units out of [city], and I'd guess a good share of your trailers sit in yards near the bridge waiting to cross.

That waiting time is when trailers go missing. We put a tracker on each trailer and alert you if one moves outside its yard or lane.

Would a trial on ten trailers be worth a 15-minute call on [day]?

[Your name]

Sources for names and checks

Next step: compare Texas with a market of much smaller carriers in the report on trucking companies in Chicago.