Refrigerated Goods Trucking Market Report 2025

This Refrigerated Goods Trucking market report provides a comprehensive analysis of the market’s characteristics, size, and growth, including segmentation, regional and country-level breakdowns, competitive landscape, market shares, trends, and strategies. It also tracks historical and forecasted market growth across various geographies.

The refrigerated goods trucking market size has grown rapidly in recent years. It will grow from $68.58 billion in 2024 to $75.55 billion in 2025 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.2%. The growth in the historic period can be attributed to increasing demand for perishable foods, strong economic growth in emerging markets, low oil prices and taxation.

The refrigerated goods trucking market size is expected to see rapid growth in the next few years. It will grow to $110.77 billion in 2029 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10%. The growth in the forecast period can be attributed to growth in the forecast period resulted from increase in food export, technological advances, growth in organic foods, rapid urbanization and increasing demand from healthcare industry. Major trends in the forecast period include adopting connected trucking, investments in technological innovations, advanced robots for picking, loading, unloading, and packing of shipments, collision mitigation systems for safer travel, demand pricing strategy to make better use of assets and handle capacities, big data and artificial intelligence.

The growing demand for perishable foods, including ready-to-eat items, milk and dairy products, and fruits and vegetables, is anticipated to contribute to the growth of the refrigerated goods trucking market. The rising demand for frozen food items is prompting suppliers to enhance their refrigerated units with multi-temperature systems, computer controls, and thermal liners to maintain the required temperatures. For instance, in April 2024, the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), a US-based trade association, reported that total industry foodservice sales constituted 26.9% of in-store sales in 2023, up from 25.6% in 2022. Additionally, prepared food sales increased by 12.2% per store per month, making it the leading in-store category. Therefore, the increasing demand for refrigerated food products is expected to drive growth in the refrigerated goods trucking market during the forecast period.

The expansion of international trade is expected to drive the growth of the refrigerated goods trucking market in the future. International trade involves the exchange of goods and services between countries, including the import and export of products across borders to achieve mutual economic benefits and enhance global interdependence. Refrigerated goods trucking plays a crucial role in facilitating the global transportation of perishable commodities, ensuring the preservation of temperature-sensitive products during international trade. For instance, in October 2022, the World Trade Organization (WTO), a Switzerland-based international agency, reported that trade volumes grew by 3.5% in 2022 compared to 2021 and were projected to grow by an additional 1% in 2023. Therefore, the growth of international trade is driving the expansion of the refrigerated goods trucking market.

Major companies in the refrigerated goods trucking market are actively investing in new solutions such as cloud computing and IoT technologies, which enable real-time tracking to enhance accountability, visibility, and performance in refrigerated storage and transport. Real-time tracking refers to the ability to monitor the location and movement of people, vehicles, or assets using GPS or other tracking technologies. For example, in June 2024, GreenPower Motor Company, a Canada-based manufacturer of electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, launched the EV Star ReeferX, an all-electric refrigerated medium-duty delivery truck. Built on the EV Star Cab & Chassis platform, the ReeferX features a lighter body for increased payload capacity and is fully customizable. It is designed for mid- to last-mile refrigerated deliveries, targeting industries such as fresh and frozen foods, flowers, and pharmaceuticals.

Major players in the refrigerated goods trucking market are concentrating on establishing strategic partnerships to drive revenues. Strategic partnerships enable refrigerated goods trucking companies to optimize their logistics, expand market reach, and enhance fleet efficiency through collaborative agreements with suppliers, distributors, or technology providers. In May 2023, Aurora Innovation Inc., a US-based self-driving vehicle technology company, formed a partnership with Hirschbach Motor Lines Inc., a US-based provider of trucking transportation services, to expand commercial operations and test autonomous trucking for refrigerated cargo. The partnership's objective is to autonomously transport perishable goods between Dallas and Houston, introducing a new trailer type into Aurora's operations. This collaboration allows Aurora to contribute to the transportation of crucial, time-sensitive refrigerated products and expand its network of carriers and shippers benefiting from its autonomous trucking service.

In June 2023, Dupré Logistics, a Louisiana-based privately held transportation company, acquired Interstate Transport for an undisclosed amount. This acquisition aligns with Dupré's strategy to expand its operations on the East Coast and enhance its carrier network, particularly within the refrigerated goods trucking sector, while improving its service offerings in Florida. Interstate Transport, a US-based company, specializes in temperature-controlled food and beverage logistics, thereby strengthening Dupré’s capabilities in this vital area.

Refrigerated goods trucking involves the transportation of temperature-sensitive cargoes using specialized trucks equipped with integrated refrigeration systems. These systems maintain controlled temperatures throughout the shipping process, ensuring the preservation of refrigerated goods during over-the-road transportation.

The primary vehicle types in the refrigerated goods trucking market include light commercial vehicles, medium-heavy commercial vehicles, and heavy commercial vehicles. Light commercial vehicles, defined as those with a gross vehicle weight exceeding 7,500 kilograms, are utilized for transporting various items such as fruits, vegetables, white goods, beverages, and more. The market is further segmented based on temperature control into single temperature and multi-temperature categories. Additionally, applications in the refrigerated goods trucking market include transporting food products, poultry, meat, seafood, dairy and beverages, bakery and confectionery items, pharmaceuticals, and other related goods.

The refrigerated goods trucking market research report is one of a series of new reports that provides refrigerated goods trucking market statistics, including refrigerated goods trucking industry global market size, regional shares, competitors with a refrigerated goods trucking market share, detailed refrigerated goods trucking market segments, market trends and opportunities, and any further data you may need to thrive in the refrigerated goods trucking industry. This refrigerated goods trucking market research report delivers a complete perspective of everything you need, with an in-depth analysis of the current and future scenario of the industry.

Major companies operating in the refrigerated goods trucking market include Prime Inc., Stevens Transport, Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc., C.R. England, Marten Transport Ltd., China International Marine Containers, Great Dane, Schmitz Cargobull AG, Shaffer Trucking, KLLM Transport Services, Deutsche Post DHL, Nippon Express, Yamato Transport Co. Ltd (Japan), Yusen Logistics & TASCO, Sinchai Cold Storage, Tiong Nam Logistics, Jentec Storage Inc, Kogel Trailer GmbH & Co, SNCF Deodis, GERCO S.A, STEF, HSF Logistics, Algarverpania Refrigeration, Krone, Gibon Logistics, CEE Logistics, GEFCO, Kuehne-Nagel, Hyundai Translead Inc., Wabash National, JSL S. A, Transportes Bertolini Ltda, Braspress Logistics, DHL Global Forwarding, CEVA logistics, ATS Dubai, Mashaweer, ADSO, HST Logistics LLC, Carrier Global Corporation, Daikin Industries, Ltd., Denso Corporation, Klinge Corporation, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Subros Limited, Songz Automobile Air Conditioning Co., Ltd., Thermo King (Trane Technologies), Webasto Thermo & Comfort.

North America was the largest region in the refrigerated goods trucking market in 2024. Western Europe was the second largest region in the global refrigerated goods trucking market share. The regions covered in the refrigerated goods trucking market report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, Africa. The countries covered in the refrigerated goods trucking market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK, USA, Italy, Canada, Spain.

The refrigerated goods trucking market includes revenue generated by entities that provide transportation services for products that must be kept at a specific temperature in order to maintain product shelf life and reduce the possibility of degradation. The market value includes the value of related goods sold by the service provider or included within the service offering. Only goods and services traded between entities or sold to end consumers are included.

The market value is defined as the revenues that enterprises gain from the sale of goods and/or services within the specified market and geography through sales, grants, or donations in terms of the currency (in USD, unless otherwise specified).

The revenues for a specified geography are consumption values that are revenues generated by organizations in the specified geography within the market, irrespective of where they are produced. It does not include revenues from resales along the supply chain, either further along the supply chain or as part of other products.

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