Heartland Express, Inc. (HTLD)

Truckload carrier, 3,630 at January 2026. Read October 20, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025, filed March 3, 2026. Ranked 107 of the 222 Industrials companies read so far, by the share within reach now.

The filing states 3,630 drivers and non-driving personnel at the end of January 2026 against a yearly average of 4,560, in one trucking business, so one truck transportation pattern carries the workforce.

The figures on this page come from the company's own annual report and from BLS staffing patterns for its industries, never from a roster. They are estimates with a stated method. Nothing here says what the company will do: within reach is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.

What follows from the reading

Share of working time within reach of AI, on the long-run pace at four in five: 19% now, 22% at the end of 2027, 23% at the end of 2028, 23% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 23% desk work, 9% people work and 68% body work. These are the site's industry estimates weighted by the shares below: estimates with a stated method and range, not a forecast of what the company will do. By the same patterns, at the end of 2028 about 77% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 17% becomes checking a model's work and 6% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.

Headcount

3,630 employees as of January 31, 2026 (stated). The filing counts no employees by country; its CFI Mexico logistics operations use third-party carriers.

The filing: “As of the end of January 2026 there were approximately 3,630 drivers and non-driving personnel.”

The workforce as industry patterns

What the filing says about the workforce: About 3,630 drivers and non-driving personnel at the end of January 2026, against an average of about 4,560 during 2025 and 5,700 during 2024, which the filing attributes to weak freight demand and its response to right size; independent contractors ran about 2.0% of miles and are not counted; over 16% of driver employees have a million safe miles.

Companies read with the same leading pattern

Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Truck Transportation, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.

• FedEx Freight Holding Company, Inc. (FDXF, 40,000 employees)19% now, 23% by 2028
• Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (KNX, 37,100 employees)19% now, 23% by 2028
• XPO Logistics, Inc. (XPO, 37,000 employees)19% now, 23% by 2028
• J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT, 31,750 employees)19% now, 23% by 2028
• Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (ODFL, 20,591 employees)19% now, 23% by 2028
• Schneider National, Inc. (SNDR, 19,000 employees)20% now, 27% by 2028
• Saia, Inc. (SAIA, 14,500 employees)19% now, 23% by 2028
• ArcBest Corp (ARCB, 14,000 employees)19% now, 23% by 2028

What the filing says about AI

5 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing names AI among the tools bad actors use in cyberattacks and says the adoption of AI and other emerging technologies may become significant to its results.

• “In this Annual Report, statements relating to expected sources of working capital, liquidity and funds for meeting equipment purchase obligations, expected capital expenditures and incurrence of debt, repayments of debt, operating ratio goals, anticipated revenue equipment sales and purchases, including revenue equipment gains, the used equipment market, and the availability of revenue equipmen...”
• “More sophisticated and frequent cyberattacks in recent years have also increased security risks associated with information technology systems and the use of artificial intelligence ("AI") by bad actors may make cyberattacks more difficult to anticipate or control in the future.”
• “Cybersecurity." In addition, the adoption of AI and other emerging technologies may become significant to operating results in the future.”
• “While AI and other technologies may offer substantial benefits, they may also introduce additional risks, including those related to errors or inaccuracies in the work product developed through the use of AI, and privacy, intellectual property, legal, and regulatory risks.”
• “We do not currently use AI in any material capacity, and such lack of use may put us at a competitive disadvantage to any competitors who use AI in a material capacity.”

Its annual reports, year by year

Sentences naming AI in each annual report, counted by one rule, beside the median report in the Index that year. Each count links its filing. Every company, by year and sector

• Fiscal 20210median 0
• Fiscal 20220median 0
• Fiscal 20234median 1
• Fiscal 20244median 4
• Fiscal 20255median 10

Headcount by filing year

As reported in each year's annual report, with the filing. A year marked not read had no figure the reading could take from the report's text.

Limits of this reading

• The collector's 1,000,000 is a count of safe miles; the filing states a 2025 average of 4,560 and a point count of 3,630 at the end of January 2026, and rule 2 takes the dated count with the average in the notes.
• Independent contractor drivers are not counted (rule 8).

Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0000799233-26-000006, the filing. Read by Claude Fable 5.1 under rubric version 1, by the method. A company can write to info@stratussc.com to have its reading checked against its filing.