🎣 C.H. Robinson

FreightCaviar Weekly Recap. From the next round of Amazon layoffs to C.H. Robinson strong Q4 here are this week’s most talked-about freight stories.

TOP LANE MOVERS POWERED BY TRIUMPH

💪 C.H Robinson Q4 Report

C.H. Robinson reported another quarter of outperformance in Q4 2025, according to information shared with FreightCaviar via email.

Here are the Q4 2025 highlights:

• North American Surface Transportation (NAST) volume +1% YoY, including ~3% truckload growth, versus a 7.6% decline in the Cass Freight Shipment Index
• Total revenue -7% YoY, driven by lower ocean rates

CEO Dave Bozeman cited disciplined execution and lean AI productivity gains as key drivers as market pressure persists:

“Changing the culture of a company is hard work. We’ve shifted to a culture of solving problems with speed, and the implementation of a lean operating model has contributed greatly to this change. We certainly encounter challenges along the way…but how we solve them now is different and it’s not easy for others to replicate.”

The stock market has rewarded that execution.

C.H. Robinson shares are up roughly 70% over the past year, even as many logistics and transportation stocks have declined.

Together With LaneSurf

Can you really book a load in 10 minutes? Most brokers can’t, because a rep can handle only one call at a time.

Lanesurf’s AI agents answer every inbound call instantly and make 10s of 100s of outbound calls in parallel, negotiating rates and qualifying carriers at the same time. The result: loads covered in minutes, not hours, while delivering an average of $50–$100 in additional margin per load.

Every carrier is vetted in real time on call using the compliance tools you already trust - Highway, RMIS, and more. Exactly the way a human broker would. This isn’t AI hype. It’s a faster, more controlled way to run carrier sales when margins are tight and time matters.

🦎 Bakersfield Pileup Exposes a Chameleon?

A 43-vehicle pileup on Highway 58 in Bakersfield, California, on Jan 27, injured nine people and shut down the highway for nearly 17 hours, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Investigators cited extremely dense fog, with visibility estimated at 50–60 feet, as a contributing factor.

Rob Carpenter reported that one of the trucks linked to the pileup belonged to Sandhu Express (DOT 1677748), which he says has:

• Multiple out-of-service driver and vehicle violations; six severe violations in the past 36 months
• Driver could not adequately speak/understand English
• Driver could not read traffic signage properly

And to go a step further, Danielle Chaffin, uncovered Sandhu Express is also connected to a slew of other carriers, ones that are also not in good standing.

It is possible another chameleon carrier has been exposed.

🚨 Highway Releases Q4 2025 Freight Fraud Index Report

Highway’s latest data shows theft is no longer coming from obvious fake carriers or hacked inboxes. In many cases, loads are being stolen by carriers that look completely legitimate — with real MCs, real equipment, and clean histories. By the end of 2025, nearly half of all stolen loads came from direct theft, not impersonation.

If your operation assumes trust rather than continuously verifying it, this report explains exactly where the risk now resides.

👉 Download Highway’s free full 20-page Q4 2025 Freight Fraud Index for deeper data, visuals, and prevention best practices.

❄ FreightCaviar Story of the Week: Winter Has Come

Winter Storm Fern strained freight nationwide, with ice, snow, and prolonged cold disrupting capacity, hubs, and recovery timelines.

The impact:

• Ice along the I-40 corridor forced widespread closures and slowed emergency response
• More than one million customers were without power across multiple states
• Cleanup was focused on interstates, which limited secondary road recovery, according to Renny Vandewege of DTN

Spot rates softened ahead of Fern, per DAT Freight & Analytics, with analysts noting the storm’s pricing impact is still emerging.

And FMCSA issued a regional emergency declaration, covering 40 states, which will last until February 6.

Attention now shifts to Winter Storm Gianna, a forecast bomb cyclone expected to hit the East Coast this weekend with heavy snow and strong winds from the Carolinas to New England.

📦 Amazon To Layoff 16,000 Workers

Amazon announced another round of corporate layoffs, cutting about 16,000 roles.

What we know:

• Total corporate cuts in recent rounds: ~30,000 (14,000 in October + 16,000 now)
• Largest layoff since 2023, when Amazon cut 27,000 jobs
• No details provided on impacted business units or locations

What Amazon is saying:

• Beth Galetti, Senior Vice President, said the company is “reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy.”
• U.S.-based employees will get 90 days to find internal roles; others receive severance, benefits, and outplacement support.
• CEO Andy Jassy previously said generative AI is expected to reduce corporate headcount over time, he added cuts are driven by structure and culture, not financial stress.

Amazon’s profit jumped nearly 40% last quarter to about $21 billion on more than $180 billion in revenue.

Is AI the name of the game as large supply chain companies like Amazon continue to use more AI at the expense of reducing human workers?

🎣 THE FREIGHT CAVIAR CORNER

• FreightCaviar Podcast: We sat down with Garrett Allen, Founder of SearchCarriers.com, in which we talked about building a carrier discovery and investigation tool and what’s coming next for the platform. Catch the episode on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.
• Now Hiring: Western Reserve Logistics Group is looking for a remote Logistics Account Manager.

MEME OF THE WEEK