The Rise of the Small Brokerage

Last month, I was chatting with the founder of a logistics company that does billions of dollars of annual revenue. I asked him a simple question: what’s your most controversial opinion about the future of freight? He smiled and flipped it back on me.

So I gave him mine: I think small brokerages are the future.

With the rise of AI agents and rapid advances in automation, I told him that I believe small teams—armed with the right tools—can compete with giants. He chuckled and told me about the early days of his business, when he made calls to carriers from a broom-closet office using the Yellow Pages. “Back then,” he said, “everyone started small. Today, only the big players can afford to invest in the kind of tech you’re talking about.”

Historically, he’s been right. Advanced technology has typically been out of reach for small brokerages. The stakes are high, margins are tight, and the risk of spending on something that doesn’t work can be fatal. As a result, large brokerages get faster, smarter, and more efficient—while smaller ones fall further behind.

When AI is discussed in freight, it’s often framed around cost-cutting or reducing headcount—topics that mainly resonate with the largest players. But the reality is this: of the nearly 30,000 freight brokerages in the U.S., most generate less than $10 million in annual revenue. Many dream of making the Top 100 Freight Brokers list—but are too often left out of the AI conversation entirely.

As a startup ourselves, we believe in what small, scrappy teams can do with the right tools. We don’t see AI just as a way for 200-person companies to work like they have 100. We see it as a way for 10-person teams to work like they have 100.

We want to help the first small brokerage make the Top 100. If that sounds like you, let’s talk.