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Dedicated contract carriage
Dedicated contract carriage is a carrier assigning trucks and drivers to one customer, lane or service under a multi-year contract, instead of selling loads one at a time. J.B. Hunt's contracts run three to 10 years, about five on average, and are typically priced cost-plus, so its fixed costs are recovered whatever the trucks' utilisation.
Two of the largest, from their 2025 10-Ks
| J.B. Hunt Dedicated Contract Services | Ryder Dedicated Transportation Solutions | |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue, 2025 | $3.38 billion | $2,343 million |
| Fleet | 11,878 company-owned and 761 customer-owned trucks | 6,900 power vehicles |
| Drivers or share | 12,835 drivers; customer retention about 94% | 18% of Ryder's consolidated revenue |
Ryder describes the service as dedicated vehicles, professional drivers, management and administrative support, typically in a limited geographic area for short-haul drives. It takes on driver recruitment and retention, hours-of-service compliance, DOT audits and workers' compensation, and fuel is largely a pass-through to customers.
Dedicated or one-way
In one-way truckload, the carrier picks up at the shipper's dock, takes the load straight to the consignee and then finds the truck its next load; J.B. Hunt's one-way segment earned $734 million in 2025, against $3.38 billion for dedicated. In dedicated, truck and driver stay in the customer's network, and the customer pays for the capacity whether or not it is full.
Worked example: what cost-plus means
10 trucks · fixed cost, say, $10,000 a truck a month → $100,000 recovered whatever the volume · variable cost plus the agreed margin on the miles actually run · a quiet month: fewer miles billed, the $100,000 still paidThe figures are illustrative; the cost-plus structure, with fixed costs recovered regardless of utilisation, is J.B. Hunt's description in its 2025 10-K.
The mistake people make
Comparing a dedicated rate with a spot rate per load. Dedicated pricing recovers the fleet's fixed costs regardless of utilisation, so the cost per load rises when volume falls; the comparison that matters is total cost over the contract against the capacity and service it guarantees.
FAQ
Dedicated contract carriage: common questions
- What is the difference between dedicated and one-way truckload?
- Dedicated assigns trucks and drivers to one customer under a multi-year contract. One-way truckload sells loads one at a time, picking up at the shipper's dock and delivering straight to the consignee.
- How long are dedicated contracts?
- J.B. Hunt's run from three to 10 years, about five on average, and it reported customer retention of about 94% in 2025.
- Who pays for the trucks in dedicated contract carriage?
- Usually the carrier owns them and recovers their fixed cost through cost-plus pricing, whatever the utilisation. Some customers supply trucks themselves: J.B. Hunt ran 761 customer-owned trucks at the end of 2025.