Universal Logistics Holdings, I ULH

Competitive advantage analysis · industrials

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
30/100
Developing

Ranked against 16 peers in Trucking

About Universal Logistics Holdings, I

Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. provides customized transportation and logistics solutions in the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Colombia. It operates through three segments: Contract Logistics, Intermodal, and Trucking. The Contract Logistics segment offers value-added or dedicated transportation services to support in-bound logistics to industrial customers and retailers, including material handling, consolidation, sequencing, sub-assembly, cross-dock services, kitting, repacking, warehousing and returnable … Full ULH analysis →

Key risks

  • ROIC Below WACC or Peers ROIC at 21.4th percentile suggests inefficient capital deployment.
  • Scale Without Profitability Despite scale, profitability lags peers (score 0.32), suggesting limited competitive advantage.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Weak
23
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Signals, strengths and risks for Pricing Power

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Signals, strengths and risks for Cost Advantage

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Signals, strengths and risks for Customer Stickiness

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Signals, strengths and risks for Capital Efficiency

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Signals, strengths and risks for Resilience

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Signals, strengths and risks for Scale & Market Position

Where ULH ranks in Trucking

Universal Logistics Holdings, I ranks #12 of 17 scored companies in Trucking by moat score — the top 71%. The widest moat in the group is Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (ODFL) at 91/100.

# Company Moat score Rating
8 Knight-Swift Transportation Hol KNX 51/100 Moderate
9 Werner Enterprises, Inc. WERN 49/100 Developing
10 Covenant Logistics Group, Inc. CVLG 43/100 Developing
11 RXO, Inc. RXO 42/100 Developing
12 Universal Logistics Holdings, I ULH 30/100 Developing
13 Heartland Express, Inc. HTLD 23/100 Weak
14 Toppoint Holdings Inc. TOPP 21/100 Weak
15 PAMT CORP PAMT 19/100 Weak
16 BEST Inc. BEST 0/100 Weak

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How ULH scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 23 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 43 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 42 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 12 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 34 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 38 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding ULH's moat

What is Universal Logistics Holdings, I's moat score?

Universal Logistics Holdings, I (ULH) scores 30 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as developing. It ranks #12 of 17 scored companies in Trucking, the top 71%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 16 companies in Trucking. Its strongest defense is Cost Advantage (43/100) and its weakest is Capital Efficiency (12/100).

How does Universal Logistics Holdings, I compare with other Trucking companies?

Universal Logistics Holdings, I ranks #12 of 17 scored companies in Trucking by moat score. The widest moat in Trucking is Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (ODFL) at 91/100. The companies ranked closest are RXO, Inc. (RXO) at 42 just above it and Heartland Express, Inc. (HTLD) at 23 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 16 companies in Trucking. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Universal Logistics Holdings, I scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Universal Logistics Holdings, I?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and ULH scores: Pricing Power (23), Cost Advantage (43), Customer Stickiness (42), Capital Efficiency (12), Resilience (34), Scale & Market Position (38). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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