MIAMI BEACH — Miami International Airport has signed with Kalé Logistics Systems to set up the world’s first AI-based air cargo community system designed to streamline data exchange and communication between supply chain stakeholders on a centralized platform, with the goal of eliminating time-consuming paper-based transactions and manual scheduling that contributes to truck congestion.
Kalé offers cargo community systems and cargo management systems for ground handling companies at more than 125 airports and also runs single digital ecosystems at more than 75 maritime ports.
The air cargo community system combines various modules designed to simplify various tasks such as scheduling truck pick up and delivery at airport terminals, transmitting electronic delivery orders, electronic payments and filing customs documents. The idea is for airlines, logistics companies, motor carriers, customs brokers, warehouse operators and regulators to exchange data on a common platform that automatically routes the information to the correct party rather than relying on fragmented manual processes and systems, each with their own unique procedures.
Existing systems are credited with simplifying management of landside operations, providing granular insights into cargo flows, facilitating regulatory processes and improving end-to-end shipment visibility.
“This is about making Miami International Airport more future-ready: simplifying and expediting the movement of goods through our global gateway, supporting the businesses and jobs that depend on international trade, and ensuring that our airport remains an industry leader not just in cargo volume, but also in efficiency and sustainability,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava in a news release announcing the project.
The mayor also spoke about the benefits of the air cargo community system during a press conference on Tuesday at The International Air Cargo Association’s biannual convention here.
Miami International Airport handled a record 3.4 million tons of freight in 2025, up 9.4% since 2024. It is has surpassed Chicago and Los Angeles as the busiest non-express cargo airport in the continental United States and the largest in the world for international capacity, excluding narrow-body aircraft.
MIA’s cargo traffic is made possible by about 190 cargo-only flights per day and more than 1,600 daily truck trips. Airport and country officials say that coordinating truck trips so that truckers don’t arrive unannounced and create long queues while they sort out paperwork and payments will significantly improve efficiency and carbon emissions.
Atlanta-based Kalé will hold community workshops starting in January to gather input about stakeholder requirements and expectations and then implement the system over a period of 18 months, CEO Amar More told FreightWaves.
Some airports only deploy a handful of modules, but MIA plans to implement the whole cargo community system, starting with electronic document sharing and truck traffic management, he said.
Kalé’s system will sit on the front end and have application programming interfaces, or middleware, that connect to each entity involved in moving cargo through MIA.
Why It Matters: Cargo trucks traditionally arrive at airports with limited information about the load and its availability for pickup, causing congestion at busy times. The new platform is expected to improve information sharing, advanced planning and truck scheduling, and help reduce waiting times at MIA. It will also allow MIA to connect with other airports for better planning of international imports and exports.
“Today, as a freight forwarder or a trucking company in Miami, you’re accessing one system at a time. A truck that goes and drops off at Worldwide Flight Services can’t easily coordinate its next move to pick up cargo at the Swissport ground handling facility,” More said in an interview.
Artificial intelligence will guide the parties through their workflows. Using traffic pattern prediction and wait time data, it will tell truckers, for example, how much time they can expect to spend unloading at their first destination and when to optimally schedule an appointment at the next ground handling facility for pick up, he explained. Truckers can query a generative chatbot in English or Spanish, to get information, such as whether a shipment is ready for pick up.
AI will also help terminal operators identify trade flows and patterns, perhaps alerting them in September to expect an influx of electronic shipments because a technology company is launching a new product.
In another AI use case, a documentation agent will allow users to upload a PDF copy of a document and it will convert the information into the format the receiver’s system can accept.
Kalé systems are currently operating at airports in Atlanta, Boston and at the Worldwide Flight Services facility at JFK New York, with implementation underway in Philadelphia and at Chicago-Rockford.
Some of the most established air cargo community systems are in Europe. Brussels airport was one of the first to implement such a system, powered by Nallian. It requires companies doing business at the airport to connect to its shared platform.
Participation in the United States, so far, is voluntary. More said the adoption rate is about 90% at the WFS facility in New York, with other locations at about 60% to 70% participation levels.
“The best community systems in the world have 98% to 99% adoption and that’s where the airport actually takes leadership and says, ‘Look, this is good for the overall community. If you have any concerns, let’s address those concerns. But, let’s get this done for everybody’. It’s a little bit of pain for 10 or 15 days, but then it falls in place,” More said.
Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.
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Double Nickel has launched an artificial intelligence agent to automate employment verifications for trucking companies, targeting a time-consuming part of driver recruiting and regulatory compliance.
The New York-based company said Thursday, Oct. 22, that its Vera agent completed 40% of employment verifications autonomously during beta testing. Two trucking carriers with more than 500 trucks between them tested the product over the last 30 days. During that period, Vera attempted about 250 verifications and autonomously completed more than 100, according to the company.
Verifications completed by Vera took an average of one day, compared with four days for manual verifications handled through Double Nickel’s applicant tracking system, according to the company. Vera costs $7 per verified employment experience, Double Nickel said. The company charges customers only when a verification is completed.
The agent identifies contacts at a driver’s previous employers, sends verification requests and follows up by phone and email. It also records and transcribes calls and logs its attempts. Double Nickel said Vera identifies itself as a virtual assistant and informs call recipients that the line is recorded. The company said consent to recording is collected during the application process through its applicant tracking system, where Vera operates.
Obtaining the information can require recruiting or safety staff to locate the right contact at a former employer, send requests and follow up when responses are delayed. If contact information is missing, Vera can call the former employer to obtain it and save the details for future requests, Double Nickel said.
When Vera cannot complete a verification, it helps carriers document their attempts to contact the previous employer, according to the company. Vera may be unable to complete a verification automatically if a former employer has closed, does not respond to its requests or uses a third-party platform the agent does not yet support, Double Nickel said. In those cases, carriers may need to handle the verification themselves or document their attempts to obtain the information. The company said it is working to support additional platforms.
Vera is now available to all Double Nickel customers.
Federal rules
The launch addresses a process governed by federal regulations requiring motor carriers to investigate the safety performance histories of prospective drivers who worked for other Department of Transportation-regulated employers during the previous three years.
Under 49 CFR 391.23, carriers must investigate a driver’s employment history and safety performance, including relevant crash records and certain drug and alcohol violations. Carriers generally must obtain the required information or document their good-faith efforts within 30 days of the driver’s first day of service. The records must be maintained as part of the driver’s qualification file.
The federal Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, which launched in January 2020, has centralized records of drug and alcohol violations for commercial driver’s license holders. Since January 2023, employers have been required to query the Clearinghouse as part of pre-employment checks rather than relying on previous employers for those records. However, carriers must still investigate other required aspects of a driver’s employment and safety history, including applicable crash records and safety performance information.
“Fleets we talk to consistently tell us that employment verifications remain one of the most manual, time-consuming parts of the driver hiring process,” Francisco López Roualdes, CEO and co-founder of Double Nickel said.
Carriers remain responsible for meeting federal driver investigation and recordkeeping requirements when using outside services. The FMCSA says motor carriers must retain safety performance history records for the duration of a driver’s employment and three years afterward.
Why this matters
Driver employment verifications can delay hiring as carriers wait for former employers to provide records. Automating the process could reduce administrative workloads and help carriers move drivers through recruiting faster, though Vera’s 40% autonomous completion rate suggests human involvement remains necessary for many verifications. Carriers also remain responsible for meeting federal requirements when using automated tools.
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Chattanooga–The Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) was quick out of the box earlier this year after two key court decisions that didn’t favor the brokerage community, asking the federal government for some sort of guidance for 3PLs: tell us what sort of carrier hiring practices would protect us.
Chris Burroughs is the head of TIA and he told an audience at the FreightWaves Broker Compliance Symposium here on Monday that what the TIA is seeking through its request for a federal rulemaking would take a long time to arrive, earlier efforts having stalled out.
“It’s no secret that carrier selection has been problematic for a very long time,” Burroughs said in an interview at the FreightWaves Broker Compliance Symposium here. (Full disclosure: the author of this article conducted the on-stage interview with Burroughs). “I’ve been at TIA for 15 years, and we were having these arguments when I first started that hey, we’ve got to figure out and provide more clarity and eliminate the confusion that exists in the carrier selection process.”
The issue is now more stark than ever. While Montgomery vs. Caribe stripped the brokerage community of the liability and negligence protection that had (mostly) been afforded under the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (F4A), it became an even bigger issue not that many weeks later when C.H. Robinson was hit with a more than $600 million nuclear verdict–now at more than $700 million–as a result of a jury award involving a carrier hired by C.H. Robinson (NASDAQ: CHRW) that had a Satisfactory rating from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
The TIA’s request for a federal rulemaking on the issue occurred between the Montgomery decision and the nuclear verdict in the case of Lipe vs. Lupus Superior.
A long history of efforts
Burroughs recapped a long list of efforts on the legislative and regulatory side to get some sort of guidance on carrier selection that could be used as part of a courtroom defense. He described negotiations with the association of trial lawyers that would constantly get sidetracked by their opposition as being like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown.
The launch of Commercial, Safety, Accountability scores in 2010 was seen as a way to advance guidance on carrier selection, Burroughs said. “That was supposed to be the answer to tie a data-driven product to a safety rating,” Burroughs said. “Ultimately, that never happened.”
Chris Burroughs (l) and John Kingston at FreightWaves’ F3 Broker Compliance Symposium
Even the brokerage industry’s desire for changes softened somewhat when the industry began winning some cases through the protection of F4A, Burroughs said.
Behind the recent petition for a federal rulemaking, Burroughs said, is saying to FMCSA “hey, you are the federal agency that’s in charge of providing safety ratings to motor carriers. We want you to put forward a federal standard, taking it out of Congress’ hands because of the dysfunction and putting it back in the agency’s hands, where we believe it belongs.”
But he added, “rulemaking takes a long time.”
Guidance would be a help
A more short-term answer might be for FMCSA to issue guidance, Burroughs said. The guidance might say, according to Burroughs, “hey, these are the five or six things, whatever they come up, that should be checked prior to selecting a trucking company, and that would serve as kind of a pseudo carrier selection standard.”
FMCSA has a private document of high-risk carriers, Burroughs said. One of the requests TIA has made of the agency is to publish that list as well
The brokerage community is also the target of lawsuits filed by plaintiffs who are funded by venture capital companies. (It was discussed how Paul Clement, who represented Shawn Montgomery before the Supreme Court, is the “Michael Jordan” of attorneys who argue before the high court. Burroughs declined with a smile to estimate on what Clement was getting paid by the hour).
“They’re seeing blood in the water,” Burroughs said.
Tough choices to be made
The quandary that C.H. Robinson now faces in Lipe vs. Lupus Superior is that the ruling was not only expensive. It also involved a finding that the driver in the crash, who was killed, was essentially a C.H. Robinson employee. That sort of ruling, if it established a precedent, would open the door to even greater litigation hitting brokers.
But the clock is ticking at an annual rate of more than 6% interest on the now $700-million judgement which began at $603 million. A settlement would end the process but leave the finding about the driver’s relationship to C.H. Robinson intact.
Burroughs said C.H. Robinson’s strategy is clear: it is going to fight the verdict and not settle the case, which came out of a Dallas County courthouse.
“I’ve talked to (C.H. Robinson CEO) Dave Bozeman and (chief legal officer) Dorothy Capers,” Burroughs said. “They’re clearly going through the appeal process. They’re not going to settle the case.” He also expressed confidence based on those conversations that C.H. Robinson can win on appeal.
Better news on insurance
One of the potential negative impacts from the dual hits of Montgomery and Lipe was expected to be seen in insurance rates paid by brokers.
Burroughs said soon after the decision, “there was a two to four week period where rates were extremely high in terms of renewal.” Much of that was timing, he added; TIA members who renewed just before that period “hit the lottery.”
But that trend has calmed, according to Burroughts. “We’re not seeing any sort of massive, drastic increase in terms of insurance rates at double digits,” he said.
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This Range Energy whitepaper compares different ways fleets can cut diesel use.
The evaluated options: do nothing, purchase an electric tractor, or purchase a Range eTrailer. Record high diesel prices are making fleets look closely at these options – especially refrigerated fleets, which face additional pressure burning diesel in two engines (TRU and truck engine).
Much of the discussion focuses on the decision a fleet can make today: to start building out charging infrastructure (which can be a multi-year endeavor) and get in the queue for a Tesla Semi, or to put in orders for a Range eTrailer, which starts serial production in late 2027.
Download the whitepaper and make more informed decisions that reduce diesel reliance and enable a more rapid impact to your bottom line.
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Earnings and volume gains, led by AI-related air freight demand and ongoing cost controls, spurred strong third-quarter results for Kuehne+Nagel, beating analysts’ estimates for profit and volumes.
Revenue increased 22% to $8.97 billion and pre-tax earnings were $527 million, up 53% year over year, the Swiss logistics giant reported last week.
The air and ocean forwarding business outperformed by picking up more business from Chinese retail marketplaces and hyperscalers, taking away market share from competitors in the process. Management also said that its cost savings initiative is moving faster than originally anticipated, with annualized savings of $242 million by year’s end. Better productivity has helped turn increased gross profits into operating profit at a rate of 18.2%, up from 13.4% a year ago.
Based on the nine-month results, Kuehne+Nagel (SWX: KNIN) raised its full-year outlook for earnings before interest and taxes to $1.88 billion at the midpoint range.
K+N said air cargo volume growth accelerated 7% quarter over quarter and 10% year over year, significantly exceeding overall market growth of about 6% from last year. Air logistics revenue was $2.88 billion, up 38% year over year. EBIT grew 84% during the quarter and is up 35% year-to-date.
Market share capture accounted for about 60% to 70% of the volume outperformance. Demand for logistics solutions supporting cloud infrastructure and semiconductor customers was a key growth driver, with general cargo also strong. A large share of air volume growth came via dedicated freighter aircraft.
K+N’s commentary dovetails with data and anecdotal evidence from airlines and logistics providers experiencing huge demand for high-tech shipments.
Executives said they expected to see further volume gains during the peak season, especially in higher-yielding segments.
K+N’s product mix in air cargo is changing. As high-tech shipments begin to dominate, volumes from automakers in Europe have fallen in recent years. And lightweight e-commerce volume fell significantly during the quarter, CEO Stefan Paul said during a briefing for analysts. Global e-commerce traffic has been impacted by new European Union customs fees and the introduction of tariffs for low-value goods in the United States in the past 18 months.
K+N continues to invest in cold chain capabilities for pharmaceutical customers. In September, K+N opened a 37,700-square foot healthcare logistics facility at Frankfurt Airport in Germany, expanding its ability to handle temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical and healthcare products.
Earlier this year, K+N established a so-called “cool corridor” between Frankfurt and Atlanta using a dedicated Boeing 747-8 freighter operated on its behalf by Atlas Air. The corridor concept is based on providing direct flights on the logistics company’s own-controlled aircraft, with sophisticated refrigerated warehouse facilities on each end of the route to give shippers faster, more reliable transport for specialized products than available by booking through for-hire commercial airlines.
The new facility is located within a large K+N warehouse at Frankfurt airport, which offers direct tarmac access and quick transfer times to-and-from cargo handling areas to minimize exposure to temperature changes. It can hold products at cool, refrigerated and frozen conditions.
Why It Matters: K+N is the largest freight forwarder by gross revenue in the world.
Ocean freight
The ocean shipping business returned to growth during the quarter, with EBIT up 55% after falling 11% in the first half since the end of last year. Volumes increased 5% year over year and 6% sequentially.
Results were driven primarily by market share gains on Asia outbound to the United States as the company made inroads with China-based exporters and in the transatlantic, thanks to a recovery in U.S. import demand.
“We decided roughly a year ago to invest into these new multinational customers coming from China. All of them want to become global and they need support with their uplifts into the markets, whether it is Europe, whether it is Latin America, but as well to a certain degree, of course, outside of the automotive industry, to the U.S.,” Paul said.
It will take two or three years to fully implement all the new master service agreements, which means revenue from this market segment will continue to grow, he added.
K+N expects ocean yields to hold stable at elevated levels through the first quarter of 2027, an outlook that TD Cowen analyst Jason Seidl said in a note was also expressed by DHL Forwarding management in a recent meeting.
K+N contract logistics revenue and pre-tax earnings increased 9% and 7%, respectively, with growth primarily in Europe and the Middle East. The company said it struck deals for 37 new contracts during the quarter, which will result in future revenue gains. Trucking profits increased 40% on stable demand in North America and Europe.
K+N has set a goal of $1.2 billion in revenue from its new long-term logistics deal with Amazon to support construction and operation of data centers, with air, ocean, road and contract logistics divisions all contributing support, Paul said.
In September, K+N inaugurated a new Tech Center in Chennai, India, expanding its global engineering footprint and its ability to develop and scale proprietary digital logistics solutions used to optimize customer supply chains at a time when digital capabilities have become a differentiator in the logistics market. Chennai was selected because of its highly skilled engineering talent and business ecosystem. The company said it expects to hire about 250 tech workers by early 2027 to work on the core digital forwarding platform for managing air and ocean shipments and other projects.
Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.
Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.
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DSV reported a 19.5% increase in third-quarter operating profit before special items, as cost synergies from its Schenker acquisition and stronger results in air and sea, and contract logistics outweighed weakness in trucking.
The world’s biggest forwarder (DSV.CO), based in Denmark, posted pre-tax earnings before special items of 6.606 billion Danish kroner ($990.9 million), including $45 million in gains from property disposals. Revenue rose 12.1% year over year to $12.11 billion, while gross profit increased 3.8% to $3.04 billion.
Air and sea business generated $641.7 million in EBIT before special items, up 18.9%, with integration-related cost savings lifting its conversion ratio, or the share of gross profit converted into operating profit, to 45.8% from 38.6%. Contract logistics EBIT climbed 50.3% to $251 million, supported by synergies, improved productivity and capacity utilization.
Trucking remained the weak spot. Its EBIT before special items fell 35.1% to $78.9 million, including $29.3 million in property gains. DSV attributed the decline to lower volumes and productivity after service disruptions linked to the Schenker integration in Europe. Operations normalized toward the end of the quarter, the company said, with attention now shifting to productivity and commercial performance.
DSV said the Schenker integration was generally proceeding as planned, with almost all countries either completed or undergoing integration by the end of the quarter. As part of reshaping the acquired business, DSV announced plans in October 2025 to divest USA Truck, saying the carrier did not fit its mostly asset-light model. It maintained its target of $1.35 billion in annual synergies, but said remaining savings in trucking and some group functions would be delayed into 2027 because of operational issues.
The company narrowed its 2026 EBIT-before-special-items forecast to $3.6 billion to $3.75 billion, from a previous range of approximately $3.53 billion to $3.83 billion. It now expects about $825 million in integration-related special items for 2026, with some costs shifting into 2027. DSV continued to estimate total transaction and integration costs at about $1.65 billion.
DSV reported adjusted free cash flow of $965.9 million for the quarter and said its debt-to-equity fell to 2.5 times. Cash flow benefited from $478.4 million in property disposals, while working capital remained elevated amid higher freight rates and fuel prices. The company also announced a $225 million share buyback, scheduled to run from Oct. 21, 2026, to Feb. 1, 2027.
DSV said its demand outlook remained exposed to macroeconomic uncertainty, including higher energy prices, global inflation, Middle East tensions and trade tariffs.
Why it matters: DSV’s results show that Schenker integration savings are boosting profitability, but disruptions in its European trucking network point up the operational risks of combining two global logistics giants.
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Borderlands Mexico is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week in Borderlands Mexico: Avocado imports generate $641M for US trucking, warehousing; GLS US expands parcel delivery network to Texas border market and Jetco expands heavy-haul operations to serve Gulf Coast industrial boom.
Avocado imports generate $641M for US trucking, warehousing
Mexican Hass avocado imports generated an estimated $641.5 million in U.S. transportation and warehousing activity and supported more than 4,150 jobs in fiscal year 2025-26.
The findings by Texas A&M University researchers highlight the growing importance of cross-border trucking, refrigerated transportation and distribution networks connecting Mexican agricultural producers with U.S. consumers.
The report, The U.S. Economic Contributions of Hass Avocado Imports from Mexico, was prepared by Gary W. Williams, an emeritus professor in Texas A&M’s Department of Agricultural Economics, and Dan Hanselka, an extension program specialist.
Nearly 98% of Mexican avocados entering the U.S. in 2024 were transported by truck through Texas land ports, primarily through Pharr and Laredo.
The analysis, released Wednesday by the Avocado Institute of Mexico, estimated that Mexican Hass avocado imports generated $7.1 billion in total U.S. economic output and supported 37,163 jobs across multiple industries during the fiscal year ending June 2026.
Texas plays a central role in transporting Mexican avocados to U.S. markets.
According to USDA data cited in the Texas A&M report, the Pharr border crossing handled approximately 58.2% of Mexican avocado imports in 2024, while Laredo accounted for another 39.4%.
Once shipments clear the border, avocados move through an extensive network of trucking companies, refrigerated warehouses, wholesalers, distribution centers and food processors before reaching grocery stores, restaurants and other customers nationwide.
The report found that avocado shipments generate additional economic activity through purchases of fuel, equipment, transportation services, repairs and other logistics-related services.
The economic contributions extend beyond companies directly transporting the fruit, supporting businesses throughout interconnected supply chains.
In Texas alone, an estimated $245.1 million in Mexican Hass avocado imports generated $428.9 million in economic output, contributed $265.5 million to the state’s gross domestic product and supported 2,402 jobs across industries.
The study estimated that California, the nation’s largest avocado-consuming state, generated $968.2 million in economic output and supported 5,325 jobs associated with Mexican avocado imports.
Together, Texas and California accounted for only 19% to 22% of the national economic contributions measured in the study, demonstrating how the supply chain extends throughout the country.
The Texas A&M analysis also found that $3.2 billion in Mexican Hass avocado imports during fiscal year 2025/26 contributed an estimated $4.4 billion to U.S. GDP.
The imports also supported $2.4 billion in labor income and generated approximately $1 billion in federal, state and local taxes.
“This report demonstrates the value of a deeply integrated North American supply chain built over decades between Mexico and the U.S.,” said Ron Campbell, executive director of the Mexican Hass Avocado Import Association, in a statement.
“Mexican avocados don’t simply cross the border, they generate economic activity throughout the U.S. economy, supporting transportation and distribution networks, retailers, restaurants and communities across the country.”
GLS US expands parcel delivery network to Texas border market
Regional parcel delivery provider GLS US has expanded its services into El Paso, Texas, strengthening its shipping network across the Western U.S and adding another market along the U.S.–Mexico border.
The expansion, announced Oct. 20, gives businesses in West Texas access to first-, middle- and final-mile delivery services. The new location also can determine international shipping capabilities and parcel transportation for shipments weighing up to 150 pounds.
El Paso is a major U.S.–Mexico trade gateway, supported by manufacturing, distribution and cross-border commerce with neighboring Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.
GLS said its expanded network will serve manufacturers, distributors, retailers and e-commerce businesses seeking improved shipping connectivity throughout Texas and the Western U.S.
The move into El Paso follows GLS US’s expansion into Houston, Austin and San Antonio earlier this year, after entering the Dallas-Fort Worth market in 2025.
GLS US is part of GLS Group, a European parcel delivery company operating in more than 50 countries and handling more than 900 million parcels annually.
Jetco expands heavy-haul operations to serve Gulf Coast boom
Houston-based trucking and logistics provider Jetco has launched a specialized cargo division aimed at growing demand for heavy-haul transportation tied to data centers, power generation, manufacturing and infrastructure projects along the Gulf Coast.
The division combines Jetco’s existing heavy-haul operations, established in 2008, with its expanding freight brokerage business to handle oversized, overweight and over-dimensional cargo.
“Three years ago, we started positioning ourselves to capitalize on the accelerated growth of domestic power, manufacturing, and infrastructure, specifically data centers,” Jetco President Kyle Kristynik said in a statement.
The company has added four specialized trailers this year, including two Faymonville multimax trailers capable of hauling 125,000 pounds each, a Goldhofer trailer rated for 180,000 pounds and a Fontaine hydraulic removable gooseneck trailer with a 55-ton capacity in a 16-foot footprint.
Jetco said the division will combine its own trucks and trailers with prequalified third-party carriers to manage complex industrial shipments.
The company also plans to collaborate with Canadian sister companies Precision Specialized and Scott Woods Transport to support specialized, heavy-haul and out-of-gauge freight movements.
Jetco, which is part of Canadian transportation company The GTI Group, operates from its Houston headquarters and maintains facilities in Pasadena, Freeport and Dallas, Texas.
Why it matters: The report “The U.S. Economic Contributions of Hass Avocado Imports from Mexico,” highlights how Mexican agricultural imports sustain U.S. trucking jobs, refrigerated distribution networks and freight activity far beyond the border.
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Chart of the Week: Contract Rate Change Direction Index – USA SONAR: CRCD.USA
Shippers who have reset truckload contracts over the past several months are paying about 13% more than the rates they replaced. That is the reading from SONAR’s new Contract Rate Change Direction index (CRCD.USA), which stood at 13.11% on Oct. 22, up from 3.53% a year earlier.
This index measures the average percentage difference between a new contract base rate and the one it replaced within an established shipper-carrier relationship. It counts a change only when the old rate had held steady for more than 90 days, which filters out short-term noise and isolates true bid-cycle repricing. The index is a seven-day rolling average, updated daily.
The metric strips out the effects of temporary route guide waterfalling and contract-plus pricing to show more durable changes in rates. Route guide failures say a lot about market pressure, but the rates they produce can overstate what eventually becomes the sustained cost.
It is also important to note that the index measures only contracts that are changing. That makes it largely agnostic to volume, and readings can thin out when few contracts are changing. CRCD also does not account for whether a carrier moves up or down in a shipper’s routing guide after a rate change. That gap showed up in 2025: contract resets ran at roughly 3% to 4% starting in late 2024, yet the average contract rate index (VCRPM1) showed flat to slightly lower invoiced rates through most of the year.
Pairing the two indexes shows how successful carriers’ rate increases have been, or not. CRCD leads invoice data directionally, but it does not predict whether increases will stick. That carriers were pushing for increases a year before the recent cycle turned should be a cautionary tale for shippers now navigating a period of extreme rate inflation.
The current 13% reading shows that most contract changes are now landing well into the double digits, nearly a year after tender rejection rates jumped above 9%. As the chart above shows, contract rate changes lag rejection rates, which suggests it takes a sustained period of elevated rejections before contract rate increases follow. With rejection rates averaging close to 13% over the past few months, increases are still coming in above 10%. Note that CRCD is not an annualized rate. It measures the average change in contracts when they move, and a change does not register until it is implemented.
The takeaway for shippers is that carriers are still securing strong rate increases, and the contract rate index (VCRPM1) suggests those increases are sticking. The average increase should moderate as carriers move onto more financially healthy contracts. However, both FMCSA and tender data suggest capacity has not grown meaningfully over the past 12 months despite elevated rates, so it may take time for the curve to flatten.
About the Chart of the Week
The FreightWaves Chart of the Week is a chart selection from SONAR that provides an interesting data point to describe the state of the freight markets. A chart is chosen from thousands of potential charts on SONAR to help participants visualize the freight market in real time. Each week a Market Expert will post a chart, along with commentary, live on the front page. After that, the Chart of the Week will be archived on FreightWaves.com for future reference.
SONAR aggregates data from hundreds of sources, presenting the data in charts and maps and providing commentary on what freight market experts want to know about the industry in real time.
The FreightWaves data science and product teams are releasing new datasets each week and enhancing the client experience.
To request a SONAR demo, click here.
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