Running a FedEx Ground linehaul (TSP) business
How the contract model works, where the money comes from and goes, and the systems that separate profitable fleets from busy ones.
A Transportation Service Provider (TSP) is an independent business that contracts with FedEx Ground to run linehaul freight — the tractor-trailer legs between hubs and stations, as opposed to P&D (pickup and delivery) routes. FedEx has used several names for the same idea over the years (linehaul contractor, CSP, TSP); the work is the same: you own the trucks, employ the drivers, and get paid by the settlement.
This guide is the map. Each chapter links to a deeper guide on that topic.
How a linehaul business earns: the weekly settlement
Everything financial in a linehaul operation flows from the weekly settlement statement published in FedEx’s MyBizAccount (MBA) portal. It lists every dispatched trip, the linehaul revenue for each, fuel surcharges and supplements, accessorial pay, and any adjustments or chargebacks. Forward Air contractors receive an equivalent weekly statement.
Treat the settlement as your system of record: driver pay, profitability analysis, and dispute evidence should all be built from it, not from memory or a separate spreadsheet that drifts out of sync. Deep dive: How to read your settlement, line by line.
What it costs to run: know your cost per mile
Revenue per mile is set largely by your contract; costs per mile are where operators win or lose. The big five: driver pay, fuel, equipment (payments or depreciation), maintenance, and insurance. Profitable fleets know their all-in cost per mile and compare it against the revenue of every run they accept.
Deep dive: Linehaul cost per mile: how to calculate yours — or use the cost-per-mile calculator.
Drivers: the pay plan is the retention plan
Linehaul drivers are paid from settlement activity — per mile, a percentage of trip revenue, flat per run, or tiered spot rates, often with per diem and drop & hook pay layered in. Two things keep drivers: competitive rates and pay transparency. A driver who can see the math behind every check disputes less and stays longer.
Deep dive: How linehaul contractors pay drivers.
The compliance calendar
| Obligation | Cadence | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| IVMR | Weekly (per contract) | Individual Vehicle Mileage Record — each tractor’s miles by state. Guide |
| MMR | Monthly | Monthly Maintenance Report documenting fleet maintenance compliance. Guide |
| IFTA | Quarterly | Fuel-tax filing built from the same state-by-state miles as the IVMR. |
| DOT / FMCSA | Continuous | Driver qualification files, drug & alcohol program, hours of service, inspections, BASIC scores. |
Miss the paperwork and the contract is at risk no matter how good your service is. The pattern that works: capture the data once, at the source (ELD odometers, driver inspections), and generate the reports from it — instead of reconstructing every deadline by hand.
Scaling from a few trucks to a fleet
The jump from 3 trucks to 10 to 30 fails in the back office before it fails on the road. What breaks, in order: the payroll spreadsheet, maintenance tracking, compliance paperwork, and hiring pipeline. Each added truck multiplies weekly admin unless the settlement→payroll→compliance loop is automated.
Operators who scale successfully standardize three things early: one system of record (the settlement), one pay plan structure (documented rates per driver), and one weekly rhythm (settlement lands → pay approved → exceptions worked).
A Transportation Service Provider — an independent company contracted by FedEx Ground to run linehaul (hub-to-hub tractor-trailer) freight. TSPs own their equipment, employ their drivers, and are paid through a weekly settlement.
Linehaul runs trailers between hubs and stations over long distances, paid primarily by mileage and trip revenue. P&D (pickup and delivery) runs local routes to homes and businesses, paid primarily per stop and per package. They are separate contract types with different economics.
Through a weekly settlement statement in MyBizAccount (MBA) listing each dispatched trip’s revenue, fuel surcharges and supplements, accessorials, and adjustments. Most operators then pay drivers from that settlement data.
The recurring set: IVMRs (per-vehicle state mileage, typically weekly), the MMR (monthly maintenance report), quarterly IFTA fuel-tax filings, and ongoing DOT/FMCSA obligations like driver qualification files and hours-of-service compliance.
Purpose-built platforms like FAST handle the loop generic trucking software misses: automatic settlement import, settlement-driven driver payroll, IVMR/IFTA automation from the ELD, MMR generation, dispatch, and a driver app — priced per tractor.