Cardinal Transport

Name

Cardinal Transport

Legal name

Cardinal Transport, Inc.

Website

https://cardinaltransport.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1976

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Coal City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Truck Lease Purchase Program: Provides trucks available for lease purchase to owner operators, generating revenue from lease payments on commercial vehicles.
2. Agent Commission: Competitive commission structure paid to sales agents who bring freight business. Agents receive ongoing commission revenue from their account activity.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Cardinal Transport is an owner-operator trucking company that has operated since 1976, providing Lease, Dispatch, Settlement, and Safety programs to independent truck drivers. It complements these services with a Truck Lease Purchase offering, a commission-based Agent Program that supports freight sales via independent agents backed by a corporate sales force calling on National Accounts, and an Available Freight listing that connects carriers with loads.

Product overview

Cardinal Transport is a trucking company established in 1976 that operates as an owner-operator company. The company offers a unified set of services including an Owner-Operator Program (providing lease, dispatch, settlement, and safety programs), Truck Lease Purchase options, an Agent Program for commission-based agents, and an Available Freight service. These offerings work together to serve the trucking industry by connecting owner-operators with freight opportunities while supporting agents who facilitate these transactions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Owner-Operator Program Bundle of lease, dispatch, settlement, and safety programs for independent owner-operator truck drivers established since 1976, including load matching, fleet fuel discounts, and administrative support.
• Truck Lease Purchase Commercial trucks offered for lease purchase to owner-operators, paired with fleet fuel discounts and the company's owner-operator support programs.
• Agent Program Commission-based partnership program for independent freight sales agents who source shipper freight for Cardinal's owner-operator network, with company sales force support calling on National Accounts, mainframe-based freight management tools, and account protection.
• Available Freight Public listing of available freight loads for carriers and drivers in Cardinal's owner-operator and agent network to view and accept.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Agent NetworkcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCardinal Transport maintains a network of independent sales agents who are vital to the company's operations. Agents receive competitive commission, company sales force support for National Accounts, and internet access to the mainframe computer. The company is always looking for productive agents to join their team and has designed programs to protect agent accounts and support agency growth.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Werner Enterprises: Werner is a large truckload carrier with an active owner-operator program (Werner-owned tractors plus independent contractors), competing directly with Cardinal for owner-operator drivers in similar lanes.
• Schneider National: Schneider is a major asset-based truckload carrier that also operates an owner-operator program and intermodal services; broadly overlaps Cardinal's heavy-haul owner-operator offering while being significantly larger.
• CRST International: CRST is a flatbed and dry van carrier that heavily recruits owner-operators and offers lease-purchase programs, directly comparable to Cardinal's lease-purchase and owner-operator value proposition.
• Landstar System: Landstar is a non-asset-based truckload carrier that operates via an independent agent network and uses owner-operator capacity — the closest analog to Cardinal's agent-plus-owner-operator model, competing directly for the same agent freight.
• Prime Inc. Prime is a privately held truckload carrier with refrigerated, flatbed, and tanker services that actively recruits owner-operators and operates lease-purchase programs — overlapping with Cardinal's heavy-haul, owner-operator focus.
• Heartland Express: Heartland operates irregular route and dry van truckload services with a significant independent contractor base, directly comparable to Cardinal's owner-operator dispatch model on similar Midwest/South freight lanes.
• U.S. Xpress Enterprises: U.S. Xpress (now part of Knight-Swift) operates truckload and dedicated services with a sizeable owner-operator fleet, directly comparable to Cardinal's contract and irregular route capacity model.

Broad incumbents

• Hub Group: Hub Group is an intermodal and logistics provider with a truck brokerage and dedicated capacity that competes for the same agent-channel freight and provides alternative capacity for Cardinal's customers.
• Knight-Swift Transportation: Knight-Swift is the largest U.S. truckload carrier with an extensive owner-operator program across multiple brands (including U.S. Xpress), providing the same owner-operator recruiting and dispatch services as Cardinal at vastly greater scale.
• J.B. Hunt Transport: J.B. Hunt is a large multi-mode carrier (intermodal, dedicated, truckload, brokerage) whose dedicated contract and ICS brokerage services overlap Cardinal's agent-freight model, though significantly larger and broader in scope.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/CardinalTransport/?ref=page_internal
• Instagraminstagram.com/cardinaltransportinc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cardinal-tranpsort

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cardinal Transport