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Freight Flex: The Broker Agency Magnet

Kaja Kusińska · June 2, 2026 · 4 min read

We sat down with Reed Rivers, President & CEO of Freight Flex, a freight agency partner, to discuss his take on why email needs to die in freight, non-competes, and how the company ended up landing on the 2025 Inc. Magazine 5000 list .

Reed Rivers on Building Freight Flex Around the Hardest Customers in Freight

From Texas A&M to Expeditors and Crane Worldwide

“I was selling to smaller businesses wanting to get into selling of larger Fortune 500 companies. And so I went to Texas A&M University, contacted those guys, and asked them, "If I was going to get into selling Fortune 500 businesses, what would be a good industry to get into?"

That led him to Expeditors, one of the world’s largest freight forwarding companies, where he started as a District Sales Executive and spent the next four years. From Expeditors, he moved to Crane Worldwide Logistics, where he continued to learn the ins and outs of the business, working as a Global Account Executive.

“It taught me a ton about the industry... Then, by happenstance, I realized that the brokerage piece in freight forwarding was kind of neglected.”

While there, he noticed that the brokers forwarding companies used were terrible at communication and service.

Building Freight Flex

Reed built Freight Flex as a brokerage — but one designed from the ground up to serve freight forwarders, shaped from his years at Expeditors and Crane Worldwide, where he developed a deep understanding of the high service standard they require.

“We're not just taking a bunch of kids off the street, just training them on the floor and then telling them to dial and just close as many customers as they can. That just doesn't give you a good feeling, a good reputation. The quality of service isn’t there.”

When asked what brokers fail to understand when working with freight forwarders, Reed said the problem isn't just service delays:

“There's no continuous communication to that freight forwarder as to where the truck is with the pickup times.”

While forwarders expect continuous visibility and proactive communication, many brokers still operate through email-centered communication and inconsistent shipment updates.

The Agency Model Shift

Reed explained that the agency model wasn’t initially part of the original roadmap when they started in November 2020.

Agents began approaching Freight Flex, wanting to represent the brand and MC. That demand shaped a new direction.

“Instantly, we were like, "Hold on, we've got something here. These guys are hungry to grow, we're hungry to grow. If we work together, we can help them grow their business’. And then we start coaching them up.”

What Makes (or Breaks) an Agency

He outlined two critical success factors:

The Right Fit- ‘First off, just the individual themselves, are they cut out for a trade agency? Do they really have what it takes to do it?’
He also stressed- The systems, software, and tools that you use to make the ecosystem work are also important

On Non-Competes & Industry Mobility

Reed also shared his thoughts on non-competes and non-solicits:

non-solicits: “a hard stop.”
non-competes: often a roadblock.

“People want to leave for various reasons. Yeah, there are bad work environments. There are mergers and acquisitions. There are a lot of reasons why people want to move around in the industry. So, it'd be nice if the industry could move a little more freely and let people go from place to place."

Building a Rocket Ship

Reed built Freight Flex with a high-growth mindset:

“I'm always looking at this thing as a rocket ship of a company. We're growing super fast, we were on the 2025 Inc. Magazine 5000 list, at number 40, of America's fastest-growing private companies. We're going to hit it again this year. We're growing so fast. I'm amazed by some of these founders that have built logistics businesses so fast because they had to be thinking five or six steps out.”

For Reed, Freight Flex isn’t just a brokerage—it’s a response to an industry he felt was overdue for change. And if his growth trajectory is any indication, that change is only just getting started.