Newsletter

We Missed Some Brokers

Plus: record diesel squeezes small carriers, a $586K copper load recovered & more.

FreightCaviar · September 16, 2026 · 6 min read

PRESENTED BY

Happy Hump Day. A few brokers wrote in after Monday’s Inc. 5000 feature to point out companies we missed. They were right, so we went back through the full list and rebuilt the brokerage ranking below.

Plus:

$586K Copper Load Recovered in Eight Hours
AI Boom Is Becoming an Inflation Problem
Record Diesel Prices Squeeze Small Carriers
& more…

💡 QUESTION OF THE DAY:

Freight Flex was the 3rd-fastest-growing freight brokerage we found on this year’s Inc. 5000. Over the past three years, its revenue grew by ____%.

🍳 WHAT’S COOKIN’ IN FREIGHT

Police recovering the stolen copper load. Image Source: Kentucky State Police via Freightwaves.

🚨 $586K Copper Load Recovered in Eight Hours. Authorities recovered a $586,000 copper shipment after thieves allegedly impersonated a legitimate motor carrier and diverted the Illinois-to-South Carolina load to Kentucky. Investigators used Schneider trailer GPS data to locate all six pallets, then tracked the stolen equipment to Ohio. Four people were taken into custody across the two states. “Four jurisdictions coordinating inside eight hours is rare enough to be the actual story,” logistics executive Kate Loftin commented on FreightWaves’ LinkedIn post, noting that stolen loads can be several states away before authorities determine whose case it is.

🤖 AI Boom Is Becoming an Inflation Problem. The Federal Reserve is increasingly worried that the massive buildout of AI data centers is adding to inflation by driving demand for power, chips, construction materials and skilled labor. Data-center investment is estimated at roughly $800 billion and could reach $1.1 trillion by 2030. Unlike in traditional construction cycles, higher interest rates may not slow the boom much: Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Oracle have the balance sheets—and the urgency—to keep spending. For freight, that means a potentially durable source of demand tied to one of the largest infrastructure buildouts underway in America.

⛽ Record Diesel Prices Squeeze Small Carriers. Diesel has climbed to a record $6.20 a gallon, nearly double year-ago levels, putting another strain on small fleets just as the freight market was beginning to improve. Jamie Hagan, president of 12-truck Hell Bent Xpress, told NewsNation that his fleet is slowing trucks to improve fuel economy and is trying to pass higher costs on to shippers — without pricing itself out of a competitive load market. “Everybody’s nervous,” Hagan said of small carriers. “You can only go so long…not making any profit before you’re out of business.” With some economists warning diesel could top $7, another wave of small-carrier exits could further tighten capacity.

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WE MISSED SOME BROKERS

An update to Monday’s newsletter.

After we published it, a few companies reached out pointing out that they were on the Inc. 5000 but weren’t included in our roundup.

They were right.

So we went back through the full Logistics & Transportation category, did a more complete pass on the companies involved in freight brokerage, and expanded the list.

Among the additions are RS Group, Premier Global Transportation, and Fura, along with several others we didn’t catch the first time around.

Here’s the updated list.

The Fastest-Growing Freight Brokerages on the Inc. 5000

Three-year revenue growth, 2022–2025. Revenue ranges show the very different company sizes behind the percentages.

#	Company	3-year growth	Revenue	Inc. rank
1	Vektor Logistics	4,577%	$50M–$100M	59
2	Roadana	1,921%	$10M–$25M	173
3	Freight Flex*	1,642%	$50M–$100M	204
4	Zeal Logistics	983%	$10M–$25M	349
5	LandCal Logistics	629%	$10M–$25M	557
6	Cowboy's Logistics	369%	$10M–$25M	936
7	Logan Premium Logistics	272%	$25M–$50M	1,293
8	American Logistics	247%	$25M–$50M	1,427
9	RS Group	238%	$10M–$25M	1,478
10	Select Transport	237%	$25M–$50M	1,482
11	BlackBox Logistics	201%	$10M–$25M	1,734
12	Pivot Supply Chain Solutions	191%	$25M–$50M	1,812
13	Southern Reins Logistics	186%	$25M–$50M	1,863
14	FIA FREIGHT	186%	$10M–$25M	1,864
15	Valued Freight Services	175%	$1M–$5M	1,960
16	Koola Logistics	171%	$50M–$100M	1,998
17	FreightVana	121%	$100M–$250M	2,657
18	Veritas Logistics	114%	$25M–$50M	2,771
19	TransLoop	108%	$250M–$500M	2,890
20	Motus Freight	90%	$100M–$250M	3,273
21	Premier Global Transportation	72%	$25M–$50M	3,706
22	Instant Freight Solutions	68%	$5M–$10M	3,802
23	Prestige Worldwide Logistics	68%	$1M–$5M	3,810
24	Fura	64%	$25M–$50M	3,888
25	Evans Transportation	62%	$250M–$500M	3,950
26	Cowtown Logistics	59%	$25M–$50M	4,032
27	Axle Logistics	55%	$1B–$2.5B	4,154
28	Beemac Logistics	43%	$250M–$500M	4,445
29	Armstrong Transport Group	39%	$1B–$2.5B	4,528
30	Loadsmart	36%	$25M–$50M	4,595
31	Nationwide Transport Services	35%	$50M–$100M	4,601
32	Jarrett Logistics Systems	33%	$100M–$250M	4,660
33	Destination Transport	27%	$100M–$250M	4,784
34	OpenRoad Global	25%	$250M–$500M	4,813
35	BBI Logistics	24%	$100M–$250M	4,826
36	SET LOGISTICS	20%	$100M–$250M	4,884
37	Lighthouse Transportation Services	17%	$50M–$100M	4,912
38	KCH Transportation	17%	$250M–$500M	4,917
39	Source Alliance Network	13%	$25M–$50M	4,979

*Freight Flex is a FreightCaviar media partner.

Note: Inc. ranks companies by percentage growth in gross revenue, not profit, EBITDA or absolute company size. FreightCaviar filtered Inc.’s broader Logistics & Transportation category for freight brokerages and brokerage-led 3PLs.

Source: Inc. 5000 (2026) • FreightCaviar analysis

Congrats to everyone who made the list!

PRESENTED BY HIGHWAY

With more than 500 drivers across the U.S., Billor has built a carrier network designed around the needs of brokers and drivers. That includes embracing technology that helps eliminate fraud, improve visibility, streamline operations, and create better opportunities for their drivers.

Now, with Highway’s Trusted Freight Exchange (TFX) integrated directly into its TMS, Billor can connect its drivers with relevant freight from verified brokers without adding more work to the process.

See how Billor is putting it all together in our latest Carrier Spotlight.

🌎 AROUND THE FREIGHT WEB

📦 Containers Fall Into Port of Los Angeles. Three shipping containers fell from a cargo ship at the Port of Los Angeles on Monday; one was recovered while two sank. Terminal operations briefly paused before resuming, and no injuries or hazmat concerns were reported.

🛑 Sparhawk Trucking Is Shutting Down. Wisconsin-based Sparhawk Trucking plans to liquidate after failing to find a buyer following its March Chapter 11 filing, affecting 74 employees plus independent contractors.

⚖️ C.H. Robinson and Unilever Sued Over Crash. C.H. Robinson, Unilever, and U.S. Cold Storage are being sued over a catastrophic crash, with plaintiffs alleging they failed to catch an unauthorized carrier substitution before the load left a California warehouse.

📈 Radiant Logistics Gears Up for More M&A. Radiant Logistics reported fourth-quarter revenue up 18.5% and expanded its acquisition capacity to $100 million, while ending the year with no net debt.

🚢 September Could Be the Busiest Import Month of 2026. Major U.S. ports are expected to see import volumes peak in September, according to the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates, extending a peak season many expected to fade earlier.

📉 Hub Group Faces Possible Nasdaq Delisting. Hub Group expects a delisting notice after missing a financial-reporting deadline tied to its $77 million accounting error. Founder Dave Yeager has returned as CEO, while the company now expects an operating loss for the first half of 2026.

🎣 THE FREIGHT CAVIAR CORNER

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😂 FREIGHT HUMOR

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