Coyote Logistics
Digital freight brokerage matching shippers and carriers, now owned by RXO after UPS sold it in 2024.
On the record
Checkpoint: RXO Q2 2026 earnings, watch brokerage volume and gross margin vs CHR's reported gains
The call
Coyote now runs inside RXO's tech stack, shrinking in headcount and volume while C.H. Robinson's automation pulls ahead in the same shrinking freight market.
Coyote Logistics, owned by UPS until September 2024, matches shippers with truck carriers and handles pricing and tracking. Its core work, finding the right load, quoting prices, checking carrier reliability, is exactly what artificial intelligence is now automating across the industry, and larger competitor C.H. Robinson is already using AI to grab more business. Coyote does have some protection from its carrier relationships and existing customer contracts, but these shields are weaker than C.H. Robinson's, and they cannot stop AI or prevent customers from switching to better technology. The one thing that could change the picture is if RXO can prove its brokerage business can grow volume or keep margins steady through 2026, but early signs suggest it is shrinking instead.
Why
01
AI pressure: C.H. Robinson's AI-driven quoting and load-matching automation. AI-run rate quoting and carrier matching lets rivals cut headcount and price lower per load, and Coyote's own headcount already fell 63% since 2023. Could AI do the core job? Yes, likely.
02
Bigger players: C.H. Robinson (CHRW). CHR is bigger, has more automation live, and is reportedly gaining brokerage market share while RXO's brokerage volume fell 4% YoY in Q4 2025. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. A UPS supply contract running through 2030 and a carrier network of 100,000 to 150,000 haulers give it guaranteed volume and scale CHR must still match lane by lane.
What would change this call
RXO Q2 2026 earnings show brokerage volume falling 4%+ YoY and gross margin below 12%. Coyote's brokerage business is a shrinking commodity operation, not a growth asset.
C.H. Robinson reports continued market-share gains in the same period RXO volumes fall. the competitive gap between C.H. Robinson and Coyote/RXO is widening.
Coyote brand is formally folded into RXO branding or restructured/divested. the standalone Coyote business is being wound down rather than scaled.
C.H. Robinson reports continued market-share gains in the same period RXO volumes fall. the competitive gap between C.H. Robinson and Coyote/RXO is widening.
Coyote brand is formally folded into RXO branding or restructured/divested. the standalone Coyote business is being wound down rather than scaled.
Key numbers
- Sold by UPS to RXO for $1.025B
- Headcount fell from 4,473 to 1,650, down 63%
- RXO brokerage volume down 4% YoY, Q4 2025
Named risks
- Brand and operations fully absorbed into RXO with no independent identity or tech edge.
- Headcount collapse of 63.1% from 2023 to Dec 2025 signals ongoing consolidation, not growth.
- Core brokerage tasks (matching, quoting, tracking calls) are industry-wide AI automation targets.
- RXO brokerage volumes and EBITDA both declining YoY as of Q4 2025, margin compression guided into 2026.
- Talent drain: co-founders left to build a directly competing AI-driven TMS.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| C.H. Robinson | losing to | CHRW ~$4.0B Q1 2026 revenue and claimed share gains while industry volume fell 7.6% in Q4 2025 |
| Total Quality Logistics | losing to | Ranked #2 US broker ahead of Coyote per 2023 Transport Topics data cited in reporting |
| Mastery Logistics Systems (MasterMind TMS) | losing to | Founded by Coyote's own co-founders in March 2025 as an AI-driven competing TMS |
| CloneOps.ai | contesting | Ex-Coyote/UPS Freight exec builds AI tracking-call automation targeting broker workflows, May 2025 |
Questions people ask
- Is Coyote Logistics still owned by UPS?
- No. UPS sold Coyote Logistics to RXO Inc. for $1.025 billion in a deal announced June 23, 2024 and completed September 16, 2024. UPS remains a customer under a brokerage contract through January 2030, but Coyote is now a brand inside RXO, not a UPS subsidiary.
- Is Coyote Logistics profitable in 2026?
- Parent RXO's Q4 2025 adjusted EBITDA fell to $17 million from $42 million a year earlier, a 60% drop, reported February 6, 2026. RXO also guided brokerage volume down 5 to 10% for Q1 2026, suggesting Coyote's contribution to group profitability is shrinking, not growing.
- Has Coyote Logistics had layoffs?
- Yes, repeatedly. Per Revelio Labs data through December 2025, Coyote Logistics headcount fell from 4,473 in 2023 to 1,650 by December 2025, a 63.1% cumulative decline, following multiple layoff rounds in 2023 and 2024 under UPS ownership and post-RXO integration.
- Could AI replace Coyote Logistics' brokerage jobs?
- Much of the core work, load matching, rate quoting, carrier vetting, and tracking calls, is already being automated industry-wide as of 2025, including by a former Coyote/UPS Freight executive now building AI tracking-call automation at CloneOps.ai, per Transport Topics, May 18, 2025.
- Who is Coyote Logistics' biggest competitor?
- C.H. Robinson (CHRW), the largest North American freight brokerage, reported roughly $4.0 billion in Q1 2026 revenue and claims market-share gains via its self-described 'Lean AI' program even as industry freight volumes fell about 7.6% in Q4 2025 per the Cass Freight Shipment Index.
- Did RXO's acquisition of Coyote Logistics work out?
- Mixed so far. RXO raised its Coyote integration synergy target to over $70 million by May 2025 and completed tech integration by Q3 2025, but Q4 2025 brokerage volume fell 4% year over year and adjusted EBITDA dropped 60% to $17 million, reported February 6, 2026.
Timeline
- 2026-02-06RXO Q4 2025 revenue $1.5B, brokerage volume down 4% YoY, EBITDA falls to $17M from $42M
- 2025-08-07RXO completes ERP consolidation, Coyote tech integration substantially finished
- 2025-05-07Coyote carrier ops fully migrated to RXO Connect; synergy target raised past $70M
- 2025-03-21Coyote co-founders launch competing AI-driven TMS, Mastery Logistics Systems
- 2025-02-05RXO says Coyote integration ahead of schedule, raises synergy target to $50M+
- 2024-09-16RXO completes $1.025B acquisition of Coyote Logistics from UPS
- 2024-06-23UPS announces sale of Coyote Logistics to RXO for $1.025 billion
- 2024-01-30UPS announces it will explore strategic alternatives including sale of Coyote
- 2015-07-01UPS acquires Coyote Logistics for $1.8 billion
- 2006Coyote Logistics founded by Jeff Silver in Chicago
Revision history
23 July 2026
First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Check Call: Long live the tale of Coyote Logistics (2024-06-25)
- UPS Announces Sale of Coyote Logistics to RXO, Inc. (2024-06-23)
- RXO details Coyote deal and 2025 business profile
- RXO acquiring Coyote Logistics from UPS (2024-06-23)
- UPS to cut 12,000 jobs, may sell Coyote brokerage unit (2024-01-30)
- Coyote Logistics restructures, lays off unspecified number (2023-09-01)
- RXO To Acquire Coyote Logistics From UPS (2024-06-23)
- RXO Reports Fourth-Quarter Results (2025-02-05)
- RXO Announces Fourth-Quarter Results (2026-02-06)
- Coyote Logistics Number of Employees 2026 (2026-06-29)
- Coyote Logistics founders launch cloud-based TMS (2025-03-21)
- RXO Reports Fourth-Quarter Results (2025-02-05)