🎣 Big Fish Consolidate

Happy Hump Day. WiseTech Global, Australia’s logistics tech heavyweight, is going all in on the U.S. market. It just acquired Texas-based e2open for $2.1 billion. We break it down in today's feature.

Plus:

• 📊 Small Freight Brokers See Volume Gains
• 🤖 $27M to Automate Freight Ops
• 📦 China–U.S. Rates Spike
• ... and more.

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🐔 WHAT’S COOKIN’ IN FREIGHT

📊 Small Freight Brokers See Volume Gains. New Q1 2025 data from the TIA shows freight brokers continue to face tightening margins despite varied performance by size. Small brokers (<$16M) grew shipments 30.8% and revenue 12.6%, but saw gross margins fall 4.7%. Mid-sized brokers posted modest volume growth but suffered the steepest margin decline at 11.6%. Large brokers faced volume and revenue drops, with only slight improvement in invoice pricing. Overall, industry revenue is down 11% year-over-year. “Margins will continue to slide further over the next 10 to 20 years as technology (AI?) nibbles them away,” said Tim Higham, CEO of AscendTMS.

🤖 Pallet Raises $27M to Automate Freight Ops. Pallet just raised a $27M Series B to scale CoPallet, its AI tool built to handle repetitive logistics tasks like order entry, quoting, and updating portals. One midsize carrier cut 25 admin roles after adopting it. The round was led by General Catalyst, with Bain, Bessemer, and Activant also in. That brings Pallet’s total funding to $50M. Pallet joins a growing wave of companies building AI for freight operations, as the battle to automate back offices and cut costs heats up across the industry.

📦 China–U.S. Rates Spike. Container rates from China to the U.S. are spiking fast. After the U.S. and China hit pause on new tariffs, trans-Pacific lanes saw double-digit jumps. Shanghai to New York shot up 19% ($4,350/FEU), and Shanghai to LA rose 16% ($3,136/FEU), according to Drewry. The surge is driven by a squeeze on capacity. Meanwhile, rates on most Europe lanes stayed flat or dipped slightly. Drewry expects more gains next week, but even with this bump, rates are still 78% below pandemic highs.

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WiseTech Drops $2.1B to Buy U.S. Supply Chain Giant

WiseTech Global, Australia’s logistics tech heavyweight, is going all in on the U.S. market. It just acquired Texas-based e2open for $2.1 billion in cash.

Who’s who:

• WiseTech builds software that powers freight forwarders and logistics providers worldwide. Think of it as the infrastructure behind global shipping.
• e2open offers cloud-based supply chain software that helps manufacturers, distributors, and logistics providers manage shipments with real-time visibility and collaboration.

The big picture: This acquisition makes WiseTech a much more serious player in the end-to-end global supply chain space. Offering both execution and visibility in one stack.

As Cambridge Capital CEO Benjamin Gordon pointed out on X:

"This $2.1 billion deal vaults WiseTech into the biggest global logistics market: the US."

Meanwhile, Charley Dehoney, a veteran in the space, had this to say:

"This is a landmark moment in freight tech... Massive respect to the teams at both companies. This deal highlights what’s possible when long-term vision meets operational discipline."

The $2.1 billion deal, adjusted for debt, is a bold move that sent E2open’s shares soaring 26.85%.

Still, skepticism remains about the sustainability of WiseTech’s aggressive expansion.

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🌎 AROUND THE FREIGHT WEB

⚠️ Amazon Warehouse Study. Spending 37 minutes outside an Amazon warehouse, @maybedanielleee uncovered recycled DOTs, fake company names, and shockingly high out-of-service rates. Raising serious questions about safety and oversight at Amazon. Read the full thread here.

📝 FMCSA Wants to Cut the Red Tape. FMCSA just proposed 18 rule changes to cut red tape and modernize compliance for truckers and carriers. It is now open for public comment now.

🇮🇳 Apple Grows in India. Apple is expanding its manufacturing operations in India despite pushback from President Trump. Foxconn, the company which builds most of Apple’s phones, is investing $1.5 billion in a new plant near Chennai.

🔍 TuSimple Trade Secrets Leak. A Wall Street Journal investigation explores the allegations against self-driving truck startup TuSimple, which claim the company revealed U.S. trade secrets to Chinese firms.

😯 Cross-Border Freight Dilemma. Cross-border trucking faces new disruptions as tariffs and a proposed language requirement for commercial drivers could cause delays at the border and increase operational costs for shippers relying on Mexican carriers, according to Jordan Dewart, President of Redwood Mexico.

🏛️ Senate Blocks California Truck Rule. The U.S. Senate voted to overturn California’s stricter truck emissions standards (ACT and CARB). ATA President Chris Spear applauded the move citing that California is a “breeding ground of all bad public policy” and emphasizing that California doesn’t control the United States.

🎣 THE FREIGHT CAVIAR CORNER

We’re Sponsoring the Nashville Transportation Club’s Golf Tournament

On Monday, June 2nd, we’re sponsoring the 5th Annual Charity Golf Tournament hosted by the Nashville Transportation Club at Franklin Bridge Golf Club.

FreightCaviarPaul-Bernard Jaroslawski

• Nashville Transportation Golf Club Tournament. On June 2nd, FreightCaviar is sponsoring the 5th Annual Charity Golf Tournament hosted by the Nashville Transportation Club at Franklin Bridge Golf Club. Sign up here.
• The FreightCaviar Podcast. In this week’s episode of the, we sat down with Adán Capuchino Monrreal, México Branch Director, and Sergio I Martinez Hinojosa, Operations Supervisor, at Little John Transportation Services, Inc. They discuss the advantages of being a Landstar agent, the future of nearshoring in Mexico, and the impact tariffs are currently having on businesses. Listen to the entire interview on Apple Podcasts,  Spotify, or watch it on our YouTube Channel.
• FreightCaviar Forum: Now Live! A space built for brokers, carriers, dispatchers, and freight tech to connect, share, and learn from one another. Sign up now here.

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