The Supreme Court just heard arguments in the broker liability case we’ve been tracking. Plus: oil shipping costs explode, trucking insurance is stuck in 1980, regulators brace for a carrier crackdown, and more.
Optimize freight broker operations by fixing payment workflows in Q1. Streamline carrier pay before capacity shifts compress your margins.
Tucker Carlson’s nicotine brand loses 378,000 tins in a cargo theft. Plus: produce rates reset, diesel climbs, and a bill that could pull hundreds of thousands of drivers off the road.
Plus, the largest private fleets of 2024, the Shipper of Choice winners, a hilarious video of a dispatcher selling his truck to a broker, and more.
TGIF. In today's newsletter, we report on several releases, including the top 50 US 3PL Providers by Revenue for 2024 and the Top 500 Private Fleets of 2024. Additionally, we recap day two of the FreightWaves event in Atlanta and discuss the Reliance Partners conference in Nashville.
🤔 Question of the Day: The largest 3PL in 2024 by revenue is ________. Find the answer in our "What's Cookin' in Freight" section.
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*Greenscreens.ai, forecasts real-time truckload buy prices that are suited to each freight brokerage's purchasing power using AI and machine learning. Its engine takes into account over 130 attributes and data points in each rate forecast.
🐔 WHAT’S COOKIN’ IN FREIGHT
🏆 Top 50 US 3PL Providers by Revenue for 2024. Armstrong & Associates, a leading US 3PL consultancy, has released its top 50 US 3PL providers by revenue for 2024. Amazon snagged first place with an impressive $140.1 billion, followed by C.H. Robinson at $16.7 billion, J.B. Hunt at $12.5 billion, UPS Supply Chain Solutions at $11.5 billion, and GXO Logistics at $9.8 billion. The list also includes notable companies like Kuehne + Nagel (Americas), Expeditors, Ryder Supply Chain Solutions, Total Quality Logistics, and DSV (North America) in the top ten.
🚛 Top 10 Private Fleets of 2024. FleetOwner has released its ranking of the Top 500 Private Fleets of 2024, and we're highlighting the top ten. A private fleet is a company's own transportation network of trucks used to transport its goods and services, rather than outsourcing to external carriers. Leading the list is AT&T with 27,794 trucks, followed by Waste Management with 20,497 trucks, and Republic Services with 17,715 trucks. Other notable companies include Quanta Services, PepsiCo, Amazon, Asplundh, MasTec, Verizon, and Waste Connections.
📦 2024 Shipper of Choice Awards. FreightWaves, alongside TriumphPay, revealed the top 25 Shippers of Choice for 2024 at the Future of Supply Chain event. This year, 20 returning winners and five newcomers shined for their commitment to superior logistics partnerships. Winners include returnees like ALDI, Target, and Kroger, plus newcomers Dawn Foods, Albertson's, and Congo Brands. You can view the full list on our blog.
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Here's a quick look at the highlights at day two of the FreightWaves Future of Supply Chain conference in Atlanta:
Tai Software and MyCarrier TMS emerged as the Best-In-Show during the rapid-fire demo sessions.
Ryan Petersen, CEO of Flexport, emphasized AI’s transformative potential in logistics. “In five years, we will be talking about what AI has done... all of a sudden AI can just do it,” Petersen noted.
Megan Orth from C.H. Robinson drew parallels between generative AI and APIs, likening AI to a “summer intern” that needs training but can eventually transform operations. Orth stressed, “You need to keep feeding the model; we’ll deploy new models and then it will work.”
Jordan Graft, CEO of Highway, discussed the rising tide of fraud and cybercrime in trucking. “Fraud is everywhere. They’re trying to get in at every point of access of a freight broker,” Graft warned.
Meanwhile, Andrew Silver, EVP of Mastery Logistics Systems/ former CEO and Founder of MoLo, shared his thoughts before moderating a brokerage panel at the Reliance Partners’ conference in Nashville.
Silver touched on the ongoing pivot of digital brokers away from traditional brokerage models towards selling load board technology to brokers. “DAT will see a big rise in competition as a result,” Silver noted, predicting more bankruptcies and acquisitions in the near future. "This pivot might work for these companies. It’s definitely better than trying to broker freight and sell investors that brokerage revenue should be considered SAAS."
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🌎 AROUND THE FREIGHT WEB
😂 Funny Video of Dispatcher Calling Broker. EO Solutions Inc. out of Elgin, IL, released a humorous video of one of its dispatchers trying to sell a broker on their truck.
🚨 Ozempic Seizure in Cincinnati. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Cincinnati seized 11 shipments of Ozempic valued at $887,000, found in freight coming from Colombia.
💼 ATA’s CEO Chris Spear Under Scrutiny. Despite a contract extension, ATA CEO Chris Spear faces criticism for the association's ineffective legislative lobbying.
⚖️ Seko Logistics Sues CBP. Seko Logistics is suing CBP for suspending its import privileges, claiming a lack of provided evidence for alleged compliance issues.
📈 Old Dominion’s Tonnage Improvement. Old Dominion reports positive tonnage growth for the first time in two years, with revenue per day up by 5.6% year-over-year.
🗳️ Forward Air Shareholders Approve Conversion. Forward Air’s shareholders approved converting Omni’s nonvoting shares to voting stock, granting Omni’s backers a 35% voting bloc.
🎣 THE FREIGHT CAVIAR PODCAST
In this week's The FreightCaviar Podcast, we interviewed Bill Loupée, a produce shipper. Bill shared insights from his career, the effectiveness of freight broker pitches, and challenges in produce logistics. He discussed market trends predicting a 20% uptick in freight rates, the volatility of fragile commodities, and the importance of effective communication.
Listen to the entire interview on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.
FREIGHT MEME OF THE DAY
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Plus: autonomous trucking just raised $113M, California is fighting to keep 20,000 drivers, Arrive's 2026 truckload freight forecast, and more.
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