In this article, we will be taking a look at the 10 biggest courier companies in the world. To skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to see the 5 biggest courier companies in the world.
The courier industry is one of the most important industries in the world right now, and is one of the few industries where demand has actually increased significantly when the pandemic hit. While most countries went into lockdown and businesses came to a standstill, the demand for courier companies increased as people preferred deliveries directly to their homes rather than venturing out and risking catching the coronavirus.
Experts are in agreement that this rocketing demand will continue to increase over the next several years. The courier industry has different segments within, including courier, express and parcel. Another way to segment the courier division is to segment it based on consumer-to-consumer, business-to-business or business-to-consumer. The market growth is driven by higher demand from customers based on online delivery which allows for much greater convenience and flexibility, and courier companies are only too happy to fill this demand.
There was a time when you would have to wait for a week or even more to receive a parcel. Nowadays, on most occasions, you can receive the parcel the next day or even the same day if you pay extra for faster delivery. The improvement in technology in the courier industry has allowed delivery times to be reduced significantly. Crowd-sourcing is one method employed by courier companies to improve delivery times, where locals or travelers are hired by such companies to deliver parcels using their own vehicles and are rewarded for it. Companies such as DHL are already implementing this though it remains to be seen what the impact will be in the long run.
Another improvement in technology is location-based tracking and delivery. Just a few years ago, if you sent a parcel for delivery, you wouldn't know where it was until you received it, with no way to track progress in between. Now, you can get updates whenever the location changes and in many cases, even track the location quite accurately. GPS trackers are often used on delivery vehicles as well to track their drivers, which improves efficiency. Further, in many European cities, which aren't that large in size and easily traversable cities with proper cycle paths, delivery riders are making use of regular cycles, e-bikes and electric scooters, which allows for a wider pool of delivery riders and allows them to go through narrow paths and can also be faster than public transport. In addition, they are also eco-friendly which is a big deal in a world grappling with the effects of climate change, which are only bound to get worse.
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However, it's not all roses for the courier industry right now. FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX), easily among the biggest courier companies in the world, recently revealed that it missed its earnings expectations and is engaging in major cost-cutting, which is a bleak signal especially with the holiday season on the horizon. The company's CEO predicted a worldwide recession, as he mainly blamed external factors for the underperformance, though this is undercut by the fact that some of the biggest courier companies in the world have not delivered the same underperformance as FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX), which you would expect if everyone was facing the same negative external circumstances.
To determine the biggest courier companies in the world, we initially only considered the companies which are listed on their respective stock exchanges, and then determined their revenue, profits, assets, number of employees and of course market cap. We assigned the highest weightage to revenue and market cap at 30%, 20% weight for profits and 10% weight to each of assets and the number of employees. The information is either taken from annual reports, company websites or Fortune 500 but our primary source is Yahoo Finance. We have also only considered pure courier companies, which is why we've excluded the like of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), which may be one of the biggest courier companies out there, but that is only a secondary business to being a retailer, with no way to distinguish metrics between the two. So, without further ado, let's take a look at the companies which are going to dominate the courier industry for years to come, starting with number 10:
10. ZTO Express
Total market cap of the company (in billions of dollars): 2.9
Total revenue of the company (in millions of dollars): 4,257
Total assets of the company (in millions of dollars): 8,788
Total profits of the company (in millions of dollars): 666
Total employees of the company: 23,865
Founded in 2002, ZTO Express is among the biggest courier companies in China, and claims to have a market share of more than 20% in the country. It is the delivery partner for some of the biggest e-commerce companies in the country, including PDD and Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)
Total market cap of the company (in billions of dollars): 8.5
Total revenue of the company (in millions of dollars): 7,220
Total assets of the company (in millions of dollars): 5,753
Total profits of the company (in millions of dollars): 664
Total employees of the company: 29,539
TFI International Inc. (NYSE:TFII) is the largest courier company in Canada, and operates in Canada, Mexico and the United States. The four segments TFI International Inc. (NYSE:TFII) operates in are less than truckload, package and courier, truckload and logistics. TFI International Inc. (NYSE:TFII) owns a considerable trucking fleet which includes more than 14,000 company-owned power units, 10,000 owner-operator tractors and over 50,000 trailers.
8. Yamato Holdings
Total market cap of the company (in billions of dollars): 5.3
Total revenue of the company (in millions of dollars): 12,376
Total assets of the company (in millions of dollars): 7,499
Total profits of the company (in millions of dollars): 386
Total employees of the company: 171,888
Yamato Holdings is Japan's largest door to door delivery services, boasting a 41% market share in the industry. Founded over a century ago, Yamato Holdings has adapted to the times to remain at the top of its game.
7. DSV
Total market cap of the company (in billions of dollars): 26.4
Total revenue of the company (in millions of dollars): 28,988
Total assets of the company (in millions of dollars): 24,678
Total profits of the company (in millions of dollars): 1,782
Total employees of the company: 77,958
DSV is a Danish courier company, and among the biggest in the country. DSV provides transportation services through road, sea, train and air, growing over the past fifty years by making major strategic acquisitions. DSV has offices in more than 80 countries and is considered to be one of the most frequently traded stocks in the Denmark stock exchange. Considered to be an exception among the biggest courier companies in the world, DSV does not own any ships or airplanes, and only a small number of trucks and trailers in order to remain agile and maintain an asset-light financial strategy.
6. SF Express
Total market cap of the company (in billions of dollars): 32.8
Total revenue of the company (in millions of dollars): 29,006
Total assets of the company (in millions of dollars): 29,386
Total profits of the company (in millions of dollars): 598
Total employees of the company: 177,129
SF Express is the largest listed courier company in China, which is headquartered in Guangdong. The company maintains a fleet of 69 cargo aircraft, providing both domestic and international goods delivery services. Since its operations began in 2009, the company has delivered more than 2 million tons of cargo.