5.6.18.5Vertical

Tanker & Liquid Cargo Trailers

Manufacturers of stainless and aluminum tankers for liquid and dry bulk.

Market snapshot

These figures describe Trailers & Transport Equipment (5.6.18), the segment that Tanker & Liquid Cargo Trailers sits within. They are not figures for Tanker & Liquid Cargo Trailers on its own.

Market size
~$17B
Growth
~9.8%CAGR (2017–22, nominal)
Companies
~466 firms
Firms by employee count

50.4% of firms have fewer than 20 employees: 235 micro-businesses, below most mandates.

The investable universe231 firms with 20+ employees
20–99
15768%
100–499
4218%
500+
3214%

Grew nearly 10% a year on the freight boom: capacity was short, carriers ordered heavily, and builders had multi-year backlogs. Freight has since gone into recession and orders with it. This is the most cyclically exposed figure on the page.

NAICS 336212. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Business model & economics

Revenue model

Trailer and transport-equipment sales to fleets

Key economics

Revenue per firm
$36,626,878
Revenue per employee
$377,764
Employees per firm
94.2
Recurring revenue
Low–Moderate

replacement and fleet cycles

EBITDA margin
Cyclical with freight demand
Capex intensity
Moderate

Characteristics

  • Scale-driven: payroll is only 14% of revenue, so the cost base is assets, not headcount
  • Moderate strategic-buyer pool: 32 firms exceed 500 employees, so a scaled asset has buyers, but not many
  • Highly cyclical with freight and trucking activity.
  • Growth driven by 2021–22 freight demand and pricing.
  • Reefer and lightweight trailers higher-value niches.

NAICS 336212. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

M&A deal context

Deal activityModerate

Who’s acquiring

  • Trailer manufacturers
  • Transport-equipment strategics
  • PE-backed platforms

What’s driving deals

  • Consolidation around scaled trailer makers.
  • Freight-cycle and fleet-replacement demand.
  • Reefer and lightweight-trailer value.

Find Tanker & Liquid Cargo Trailers acquisition targets

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