Updated July 2026
Best Trucking Companies in Knoxville, Tennessee (July 2026)
Knoxville, Tennessee, July 2026: 365 active W2 trucking carriers. LAWRENCE TRANSPORTATION COMPANY leads with an average weekly pay of $1,680. Forest Brook Trucking LLC follows at $1,600/week. Knoxville sits at the I-40 / I-75 junction in eastern Tennessee, with Oak Ridge National Laboratory logistics, TVA industrial supply chains, and manufacturing distribution in the Tennessee River corridor feeding regional freight.
What changed in July 2026
We just started tracking monthly changes for this view. Check back next month to see how rankings have shifted.
Where CDL pay is strongest in Knoxville, Tennessee this month
The top of the list is LAWRENCE TRANSPORTATION COMPANY at $1,680/week. A few names below the top earn more on a weekly-pay basis but rank lower on the composite.
#1LAWRENCE TRANSPORTATION COMPANY — $1,680/wk
LAWRENCE TRANSPORTATION COMPANY leads the Knoxville, Tennessee market on combined pay and ranking score this month. Strongest FMCSA dimension is driver fitness — 91st percentile. LAWRENCE TRANSPORTATION COMPANY tracks as a responsive employer on application-response data.
#2Forest Brook Trucking LLC — $1,600/wk
Forest Brook Trucking LLC's top FMCSA dimension is hours-of-service compliance, in the 97th percentile. The carrier tracks as a responsive employer on Lanefinder's data.
#3True Transport Inc. — $2,250/wk
True Transport Inc. pays above the 91st percentile on weekly pay for the Knoxville, Tennessee market. True Transport Inc. ranks in the 99th percentile for unsafe-driving avoidance on FMCSA SAFER data.
Despite ranking below #1, True Transport Inc. outpays the leader on weekly average — $2,250/week.
Also in the top 10: #4 JK MOVING & STORAGE INC at $2,200/wk, #5 Covenant Transport Inc at $1,762/wk, #6 South East Carriers INC at $1,600/wk, #7 Clean Recompression LLC at $2,000/wk, #8 PRAIRIE FIELD SERVICES LLC at $1,750/wk, #9 ECM ENERGY SERVICES INC at $1,950/wk, #10 Diaz Stone & Pallet Inc. at $1,750/wk.
Lane mix and benefits across Knoxville, Tennessee
21% of Knoxville, Tennessee's active CDL postings are regional and 76% are OTR; local plus semi-local accounts for the rest (3%).
Guaranteed pay is on offer at 3% of Knoxville, Tennessee postings; dedicated routes at 24%; take-truck-home at 81%. Pet-friendly policies appear at 68% and riders-allowed at 68%.
How Knoxville, Tennessee compares to Tennessee
| Knoxville, Tennessee | Tennessee top 50 | Delta | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riders-allowed policies | 76% | 67% | +9 pt |
| Dedicated routes | 27% | 33% | -6 pt |
| Take-truck-home | 92% | 86% | +6 pt |
Source: Lanefinder index, July 2026
Knoxville, Tennessee's biggest divergence from Tennessee is on riders-allowed policies, 9 points above the state baseline.
Driving CDL in Tennessee
Tennessee is a critical national freight crossroads: Memphis hosts the FedEx Express World Hub — one of the world's largest air cargo hubs by tonnage — and a major trucking interchange on I-40 / I-55, with the nightly sort cycle generating enormous regional dispatch demand. Nashville-area automotive (Nissan Smyrna) and manufacturing drive dense I-65 / I-24 lane activity. Cost of living is below the national average; Tennessee has no state income tax on wages. East TN (Chattanooga, Knoxville) is mountain-adjacent — I-40 east through the Smokies and I-24 across Monteagle pass have real winter weight.
Related guides
- Best owner-operator companies in Knoxville, Tennessee
- CDL driver salary in Knoxville, Tennessee
- Best trucking companies in Tennessee
How we compile these rankings
Composite-score formula: compensation × 0.30, FMCSA safety × 0.25, benefits × 0.25, operational performance × 0.20. Compensation is anchored on pay percentile and lifted by sign-on bonus tier and guaranteed-pay availability. Operational performance is built mostly from driver-application response data in Lanefinder's platform, with fleet-scale percentile contributing a smaller portion. Updated July 2026.