Tech & AI Oct 19, 2026 · 7 min read
$9M for an AI that checks freight bills says where the money is. Evos, a start-up building AI “operators” for freight brokers and other industrial firms, has raised $9 million, FreightWaves reports. Our view: AI in freight is earning its keep first in dull money work, such as checking invoices. At broker MyFreightWorld, Evos says its software made nearly 3,500 invoice-audit decisions in two months and flagged more than $600,000 in billing gaps in five weeks. Those are Evos figures, and flagged is not recovered. Forwarders should audit their own unbilled charges first. Our call: by end of March 2027, buyers will ask for recovered dollars, not flagged ones.
Tech & AI Oct 18, 2026 · 7 min read
Evos gets $9m to automate broker back offices. The proof so far is thin. New York startup Evos has raised $9 million in pre-seed funding for AI “operators” that do back-office work such as invoice audit, FreightWaves reports. Our view: the money follows labour budgets, not software budgets, and the claims still need checking. Evos says one operator made nearly 3,500 audit decisions in two months at 97% accuracy for broker MyFreightWorld. FreightWaves notes Evos did not explain how accuracy was measured. For forwarders, audit and status chasing are the first jobs at risk. Our call: by end of Q1 2027, buyers will demand audited, dollars-recovered numbers before they sign.
Tech & AI Oct 18, 2026 · 7 min read
Daimler Truck says its first driverless route starts within about 10 weeks. Daimler Truck expects to take the driver out of the truck on its first route by the end of 2026, with commercial scale around 2028, FreightWaves reported on 17 October. In our view the date matters less than the price model: the virtual driver will be billed per mile, as software. Aurora reported nearly 440,000 driverless miles through June. Kodiak had 35 trucks with no one in the cab. For forwarders, that points to autonomous capacity on Texas lanes, priced per mile. Our call: Daimler’s first driverless run happens no later than 31 March 2027.
Tech & AI Oct 17, 2026 · 7 min read
AI is coming for invoice audits and “where’s my freight” calls. Evos raised $9 million in pre-seed money this week, FreightWaves reports. Its showcase: auditing carrier invoices for a broker. Separately, Carrier Logistics and LSP44 put live a tool that finds less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments when the tracking number is wrong. Our view: the boring paperwork is where AI will pay first. BCG found only 13% of 30 big logistics firms see measurable financial results from AI. Evos’s 97% accuracy and $600,000 flagged are its own, unaudited claims. Our call: by end of Q1 2027, at least two more LTL carriers or vendors will announce similar lookup tools.
Tech & AI Oct 16, 2026 · 7 min read
ASIC walks away from WiseTech. Watch the CargoWise AI bill next. WiseTech shares rose 5.2% to A$35.28 on Thursday after ASIC, Australia’s corporate regulator, issued no-action letters to founder Richard White, two employees and the company, according to Investing.com. A no-action letter means no enforcement on that matter. Our view: for forwarders, the real story is now price, not governance. Citi expects WiseTech to charge for CargoWise AI agents separately from its Value Pack bundle, The Loadstar reported, with more than $30m of second-half revenue riding on agents and VerifyWise. Our call: WiseTech names a separate price for at least one AI agent by end of February 2027.
Tech & AI Oct 15, 2026 · 7 min read
Robot trucks are arriving in Texas through carriers you already use. Warrior Logistics, a Texas carrier with more than 200 trucks, now runs Waabi autonomous trucks on Dallas–Houston freight, FreightWaves reported on 14 October. Our view: autonomous capacity will reach forwarders through existing carriers, not new contracts. Waabi says routes have had 100% on-time pickup and delivery. Neither firm disclosed a truck count. On 7 October, FMCSA, the US truck safety regulator, granted a five-year exemption letting driverless trucks use cab beacons instead of roadside triangles. Ask your Texas carriers which loads run autonomously. Our prediction: at least one more Texas carrier signs a similar deal by end of Q1 2027.
Tech & AI Oct 15, 2026 · 8 min read
Delta Cargo now sells space inside CargoWise. Delta Cargo has joined WiseTech’s CargoWise Carrier Connectivity Program, WiseTech said on 13 October. CargoWise users can now see Delta’s live rates and capacity and book, confirm and change shipments without leaving the system, Air Cargo News reported. CargoWise says 23 of the 25 largest forwarders are its customers. In our view, this is Delta covering every channel at once: its own tools, the CargoAi marketplace since August, and now the forwarder’s own software. For forwarders, quotes get faster. But one supplier gains more control over how air space is sold. Our call: at least one more large airline joins by end of Q1 2027.
Tech & AI Oct 15, 2026 · 7 min read
Carriers now get a vendor fix for “AI bot fatigue”. On 14 October, Carrier Logistics, which makes software for LTL (less-than-truckload) fleets, teamed up with LSP44 on an API that finds a shipment without its tracking number. Their stated target: “AI bot fatigue”. Our view: carriers will no longer absorb automated chasing for free. LSP44 also sells forwarders agents that confirm ETAs, and claims 60%+ fewer “where is my shipment” calls (FreightWaves). Forwarders should secure API access before bots lose the email channel. Our call: a large US LTL carrier restricts bot email tracking by end of Q1 2027.
Tech & AI Oct 14, 2026 · 7 min read
Delta Cargo is now bookable inside CargoWise. Watch what it leaves out. Delta Cargo has connected directly to CargoWise, the freight software that, by CargoWise’s count, 23 of the 25 largest global forwarders use. Forwarders can now see Delta’s schedules, rates and capacity and book, change and confirm shipments without leaving the system. Our view: this is good news for desk time, but the real test is whether the price on screen matches the price on other channels. Delta’s offer on booking platform CargoAi, reported in August, includes allotment booking. This announcement does not mention allotments. Our call: at least one more major US or European passenger airline announces a direct CargoWise link within six months.
Tech & AI Oct 14, 2026 · 7 min read
Self-driving trucks on I-45 are moving into ordinary carrier networks. Waabi has signed Warrior Logistics, a Texas carrier with more than 200 trucks of its own, to move routine customer freight between Dallas and Houston on its self-driving trucks (FreightWaves, 14 October). A day earlier, Bot Auto put its autonomy hardware at about $50,000 per truck. Our view: Texas autonomy is shifting from pilot projects to everyday capacity, and it is getting a price. Waabi’s trucks are not yet driverless, so costs have not fallen yet. Our call: Waabi runs its first driver-out load on Dallas–Houston by the end of Q2 2027.
Tech & AI Oct 14, 2026 · 8 min read
A 97.3% approval rate is not a savings figure. New York startup Evos raised $9 million on 14 October for AI “operators” that audit carrier invoices and build loads. At one freight brokerage, managers accepted 97.3% of nearly 3,500 audit decisions as proposed, according to Evos. Our view: back-office AI is now doing real clerical work, but the proof is still about approval rates, not money recovered. Evos gave no savings figure. FreightWaves cites a BCG survey of logistics providers and shippers: just 13% reported measurable value from AI. Forwarders should ask for recovered dollars before signing. Our call: by mid-April 2027, buyers will want dollar results, and the vendors that publish them will win.
Tech & AI Oct 13, 2026 · 7 min read
Your next customer may book through ChatGPT, not your portal. Samsara says its latest 500,000 AI agent sessions took 16 days, against 112 days for the first 500,000 after its June launch. More than 1,000 organisations use its agents weekly. On 12 October, forwarder Freight Right Global Logistics let shippers quote, track and start bookings from inside ChatGPT, Claude and Copilot. Our view: the AI assistant is becoming a freight sales channel. Forwarders with no machine connection to it will simply not appear. Our prediction: by the end of March 2027, at least two of the ten largest global forwarders will announce a similar assistant connection.
Tech & AI Oct 13, 2026 · 7 min read
Bot Auto says driverless kit will cost $50,000 a truck. The savings are still a promise. Houston’s Bot Auto says the full hardware for its driverless trucks, computer and sensors, will cost about $50,000 per truck, FreightWaves reported on 13 October. Deployment on Lenovo’s AD1 computer starts in Q1 2027. Our view: a cheaper kit is necessary, but it does not make driverless freight cheaper on its own. Werner’s CFO said in September that “the economics are not favorable to autonomous right now.” Bot Auto moves about 350 loads a month in Texas. Our call: no driverless discount shows up on Texas truckload quotes before the second half of 2027.
Tech & AI Oct 12, 2026 · 8 min read
Driverless trucks get five clear years, and Laredo is next. US regulators have given driverless trucks a five-year exemption, running to 7 October 2031. They can use cab-mounted warning beacons instead of a person setting out roadside triangles (FMCSA, via FreightWaves). In our view the rulebook is no longer the main obstacle. Cost is. Kodiak is already hauling on a 435-mile Dallas–Laredo lane with a safety driver on board, and Aurora has a deal on the same lane. Laredo handled more than $350bn of trade in 2025. Our call: the first fully driverless loads run on Dallas–Laredo by the end of Q1 2027.
Tech & AI Oct 12, 2026 · 7 min read
UK tells ships not to count on GPS in the Gulf, Black Sea or Baltic. Britain’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency has told ships to plan for satellite navigation failing. Windward counted an average of 5,131 GPS jamming incidents a day in Q3, hitting more than 124,000 vessels, Splash247 reports. Our view: this is now a data problem for forwarders, not just a problem for the bridge. In one September week, 379 ships in the Gulf of Oman logged 1,702 impossible position jumps. Ship-tracking ETAs in those waters are a guess. Our call: by end of Q1 2027, at least one major visibility platform will start flagging ETAs built on jammed positions.
Tech & AI Oct 11, 2026 · 7 min read
Driverless trucks lose their three-month rule cliff. On 7 October, the US Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) gave driverless trucks a five-year exemption that runs to 7 October 2031. They can use beacons mounted on the cab instead of putting out warning triangles after a stop. In our view, the rules no longer cap this capacity. The supply of trucks does. The exemption covers every Level 4 carrier that notifies the agency, not just Aurora. Kodiak has just opened a 435-mile Dallas–Laredo lane. Our call: before the end of Q1 2027, Texas shippers will start getting autonomous line-haul priced into their 2027 contracts.
Tech & AI Oct 11, 2026 · 7 min read
Freightmate admits using some of 2,000 Flexport files as trade-secrets case settles. AI forwarding-software start-up Freightmate and its founders admitted using some of about 2,000 confidential Flexport shipping documents, The Loadstar reported on 9 October. The deal ends Flexport’s suit before a 19 October trial. An independent forensic examiner reports by 30 January 2027. In our view, the money matters less than the precedent: where a freight AI tool’s data came from is now a contract question. Flexport said “the ruling speaks for itself”. Forwarders buying AI document tools should ask vendors where their training and test data came from. We expect provenance warranties in vendor contracts by end of Q1 2027.
Tech & AI Oct 10, 2026 · 7 min read
WiseTech plans to bill CargoWise AI agents outside the Value Pack price. WiseTech will charge for its CargoWise AI agents separately from its Value Pack fee, according to a 1 October Citi note reported by The Loadstar. Citi reckons more than $30m of the extra second-half revenue CargoWise needs to reach the low end of its guidance has to come from those agents and VerifyWise. Our view: the single-price pitch has a gap, and forwarders should close it in writing now. CEO Zubin Appoo says six agents sit inside Value Packs today but won’t say what comes next. We expect WiseTech to name its first paid agent by its half-year results early next year.
Tech & AI Oct 10, 2026 · 8 min read
Freight Right follows Flexport in letting customers’ AI assistants book freight. On 7 October, Freight Right, a California forwarder serving more than 180 countries, opened quoting, tracking and booking to customers’ AI assistants. That came eight days after Flexport did the same on 29 September. Our view: the booking screen is moving from the forwarder’s portal into the customer’s chatbot. Freight Right still makes the customer confirm each booking. A Loadstar comment says Flexport’s terms put a wrong booking’s cost on whoever connected the agent. We expect at least one top-ten global forwarder to offer the same by end of March 2027.
Tech & AI Oct 10, 2026 · 8 min read
Driverless trucks get five years of federal cover as Texas lanes reach Laredo. On 7 October the US trucking regulator, FMCSA, gave driverless trucks a five-year exemption to use cab-mounted amber beacons instead of the warning triangles a driver sets out after a stop. It runs to October 2031, according to Automotive World. The next day Kodiak and Charger USA announced hauls on the 435-mile Dallas–Laredo lane, still with a safety driver aboard. Our view: the federal paperwork problem is largely solved. The limit now is trucks and safety sign-off. Our call: a truck with nobody in the cab will haul paying freight into Laredo on a regular schedule by mid-2027.