Walmart, the world's largest company by revenue, has more than 150 distribution centers and a fleet of 6,100 tractors, 61,000 trailers, and more than 7,800 drivers. By maintaining its own private fleet—which covers 700 million miles annually—the retailer is able to cut its costs by not only eliminating middleman fees, but also taking charge of reducing the "empty miles" driven and improving overall efficiency. Walmart has also been recently expanding its control though a pilot program in which it uses its own intermodal containers, instead of going through a third-party rail company. This may lead to increased patent activity in the sector.
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