Ryder System, Inc. traces its origins to 1933, when James A. Ryder began hauling materials around Miami with a single Model A Ford truck and quickly pivoted from local hauling to leasing fleets for businesses. Over the post-war decades the company expanded by acquiring carriers such as Great Southern Trucking, forming Ryder System, Inc. to combine rental and trucking operations, and developing a national presence built around contract leasing and maintenance. That evolution established Ryder as a dedicated provider to business customers rather than a consumer one-way rental brand, a focus it reinforced after exiting the household rental market in the 1990s.
The company organizes its activities into three complementary segments: Fleet Management Solutions, Supply Chain Solutions, and Dedicated Transportation Solutions. Fleet Management covers full-service leasing, preventive and corrective maintenance, and commercial rental, along with used vehicle sales and support services for customer-owned fleets. Supply Chain Solutions provides third-party logistics across warehousing and distribution, transportation management, e-commerce fulfillment, and last-mile delivery, while Dedicated Transportation Solutions offers trucks, drivers, and operations management that function like a private fleet for shippers. Together these offerings let Ryder design, operate, and maintain the equipment, sites, and transportation needed to move goods from intake to final delivery.
Operationally, Ryder runs a large North American footprint with logistics campuses, dedicated fleets, and maintenance facilities positioned along major freight corridors. Its warehousing network spans traditional distribution and multiclient sites with engineered processes and warehouse management systems, while transportation management layers in carrier procurement, routing, and visibility. The company supplements asset-based services with technology platforms such as RyderShare to coordinate real-time execution across shippers, carriers, and facilities. This mix allows customers to outsource discrete functions or end-to-end operations under a single provider.
Ryder’s identity reflects a long-standing role as a business-to-business partner for fleets and logistics, emphasizing contract leasing, maintenance expertise, and integrated 3PL services rather than retail rentals. Industry and company histories consistently highlight the early shift from local hauling to fleet leasing, the mid-century consolidation that created the modern organization, and the later build-out of supply chain and dedicated offerings. Within U.S. transportation and logistics, Ryder is widely recognized for combining equipment management with logistics operations, a focus that has given it a durable place among large North American providers.