Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (KNX)

Knight-Swift reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of $2.2 billion, up 14.2 percent, and net income attributable to the company of $118.3 million on 21 October 2026 1. A year earlier that net income was $7.9 million 1.

Truckload pricing drove the change, with revenue per loaded mile up 9.7 percent 1. The segment's adjusted operating ratio, which measures costs as a share of revenue before fuel surcharges, improved to 89.2 percent from 96.2 percent 1.

Chief executive Adam Miller said industry capacity remains under pressure and that further meaningful rate growth in 2027 is needed to repair margins 1. At an industry event on 27 October, Transport Topics reported, Miller said contract truckload rates are set to rise by at least the mid-teens in 2027 7.

The company guided fourth-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $0.78 to $0.84 1.

The company says it has grown since 1966 through organic growth and the acquisition of twenty-five companies 4. It took its present form on 8 September 2017, when Knight Transportation and Swift Transportation merged 4.

The annual report describes 2017 to 2019 as a strong cycle driven by a record pricing climate through 2018 4. Extra capacity then led to an oversupply during 2019, lower spot rates and pressure on contract rates 4.

The pandemic years brought weak freight early, then a rebound in the second half of 2020 4. Tight capacity followed through 2021 and into 2022, as congestion at ports and rail terminals and strong demand for goods strained supply 4.

In 2021 the company entered less-than-truckload (LTL) freight, which ships many customers' loads together in one trailer 4. Its LTL segment was established in 2021 by the ACT and MME acquisitions and expanded with the DHE acquisition in 2024 4.

On 1 July 2023 it acquired U.S. Xpress of Chattanooga, Tennessee, one of the largest asset-based truckload carriers in the United States 4. The purchase price was $630.0 million, of which $454.4 million was cash 4.

On 30 July 2024 it bought the operating assets of the regional LTL division of Dependable Highway Express in Los Angeles for $185.0 million 4. The company funded the price by borrowing on its revolving credit line 4.

From 2023 the freight market entered a prolonged downcycle, with softer consumer demand, inventory overhangs and pressured pricing 4. In 2025 revenue edged up 0.8 percent to $7.5 billion, but net income attributable to the company fell 43.9 percent to $65.9 million 4.

Impairments, which are non-cash write-downs, explained much of the drop 4. They included $52.9 million tied to Abilene Motor Express, which the company decided to combine into its Swift business 4. They also included $28.8 million for LTL tradenames retired when MME and DHE were rebranded under AAA Cooper 4.

In 2025 Truckload revenue before fuel surcharges fell 2.8 percent, while LTL revenue before fuel surcharges rose 20.6 percent 4.

On 8 May 2026 the company completed a private offering of $1.5 billion of convertible senior notes 3. It used part of the money to repay $300.0 million of one term loan, $436.0 million of another and $620.0 million on its revolving credit line 3.

Truckload

Truckload is the core business: irregular route, dedicated, refrigerated, expedited, flatbed and cross-border operations, with about 14,500 irregular route tractors and nearly 5,900 dedicated tractors 1. Dedicated service assigns particular drivers and equipment to set routes under multi-year agreements 4.

Third-quarter Truckload revenue was $1.41 billion and operating income was $123.1 million, against $35.9 million a year earlier 1. Average revenue per tractor was $56,419, up 10.9 percent, on 4.0 percent fewer tractors 2.

Transport Topics ranks Knight-Swift No. 1 among truckload and dedicated carriers 7. FreightWaves reported that U.S. Xpress ran at a low-90s adjusted operating ratio while the legacy Knight and Swift brands ran at 88 percent 8.

Less-than-truckload

LTL carriers move many customers' shipments through a network of service centers 4. Third-quarter LTL revenue before fuel surcharges was $341.7 million, up 0.4 percent, and its adjusted operating ratio was 91.4 percent 1.

The segment runs 179 service centers, and daily tonnage grew 3.3 percent 21. The company added 59 service centers through organic expansion, 12 of them in 2025, toward forty-eight contiguous state coverage 4.

Logistics, Intermodal and other businesses

Logistics matches customers' freight with third-party carriers and rail providers 4. Its third-quarter revenue fell 1.0 percent as revenue per load rose 46.7 percent and load count fell 32.6 percent 1.

Intermodal pairs trucks with agreements with most major North American railroads 4. Its third-quarter revenue grew 30.6 percent, and load count rose 13.3 percent to the highest level in over five years 1.

Other businesses, mainly warehousing and services to independent contractors, grew third-quarter revenue 41.8 percent 2.

Customers and rivals

The largest customer produced 13.1 percent of 2025 revenue, and the ten largest produced 34.8 percent 4. The company competes with thousands of truckload carriers, most with significantly smaller fleets, and with national, regional and inter-regional LTL carriers 4.

People and places

At 31 December 2025 the company had 37,100 full-time employees, including 26,200 company drivers and driver trainees 4. About 1,600 Trans-Mex drivers in Mexico were union members 4.

Adam Miller is chief executive 1. Kevin Knight, a founder of Knight Transportation and its chief executive from 1994 to 2014, resigned as executive chairman on 3 June 2026 56. The board named David Vander Ploeg chair 6.

The Knight and Swift headquarters in Phoenix cover about 200 acres, and the company had 378 properties, 219 owned and 159 leased 4.

Current problems

Most legal claims involve bodily injury, property damage, cargo and workers' compensation, and the company had accrued about $7.4 million for them at 30 September 2026 3. Early in 2026 an adverse arbitration ruling on a 2022 claim added $18.0 million of LTL claims expense 3.

The umbrella, in words

The properties table lists the brands Knight, Swift, U.S. Xpress, ACT (AAA Cooper), Barr-Nunn Transportation and Abilene Motor Express 4. Abilene is being combined into Swift 4.

Exhibit 21.1 lists 24 subsidiaries, including Swift Transportation Co., LLC, Trans-Mex, AAA Cooper Transportation and U.S. Xpress Enterprises, and says smaller ones are omitted 9. Mohave and Red Rock are wholly owned captive insurance subsidiaries 4.

Since 2003 the company has put money into private equity partnerships run by Transportation Resource Partners, with interests of 14.9 percent in TRP V and 15.1 percent in TRP VI at 31 December 2025 4. It also bought 21.0 percent of an unnamed transportation company in 2020 4.

Schedule 13G filings show Vanguard Capital Management reporting 5.08 percent of the common stock 11. SteelMill Master Fund and its PointState affiliates reported about 9.35 million shares, 5.7 percent 10.

For the fourth quarter the company expects Truckload revenue before fuel surcharges up a low double-digit percent and its adjusted operating ratio improving 650 to 750 basis points from a year earlier 1.

It expects LTL revenue before fuel surcharges up high single to low double digits, and Intermodal revenue up 25 to 30 percent 1.

The company expects net cash capital spending of $600 million to $625 million for 2026, down from a prior range of $600 million to $650 million 1.

Miller said the company has more peak season project arrangements than at any time since the pandemic 1. He told an industry event that U.S. Xpress margins in 2027 will be close to those at Knight and Swift 7.

The 2031 convertible notes pay interest at 1.00 percent a year, first payable on 15 November 2026, and mature on 15 November 2031 3. The company says it continues to seek organic and inorganic ways to expand its LTL footprint 1.