One of the United States Postal Service’s largest highway contractors, 10 Roads Express, is shutting down after nearly 50 years on the road. With more than 2,400 trucks and over 2,600 drivers being phased out by early 2026, this is the biggest trucking shutdown since Yellow and a loud warning about concentration risk, postal network redesign, and the fragility of U.S. mail logistics.
Introduction: A Quiet Giant Leaves the Highway
For decades, 10 Roads Express was one of those companies most people never heard of, but everybody relied on. The Carter Lake, Iowa–based carrier built its business hauling mail for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), running thousands of night-time linehaul routes between processing centers, regional hubs, and local facilities across the country.
In late 2025, the company notified USPS and its workforce that it will wind down all operations and terminate postal contracts by the end of January 2026. All employees will be laid off and the fleet will be taken off the road. Industry observers are already calling it the largest trucking shutdown since Yellow’s collapse in 2023.
The immediate trigger was a steep revenue collapse as USPS restructured its surface network, shifted work to brokers, and insourced more transportation under its “Delivering for America” 10-year plan. When your primary customer pulls out that much volume, even a large carrier can’t survive.
