RXO Gains Ground in Freight Market
Recent market shifts and regulatory changes have made financial stability and extensive insurance coverage top priorities for shippers, according to RXO CEO Drew Wilkerson. He notes that these factors, along with continuous innovation and strong client relationships, are positioning RXO to capture a significant market share in both spot and contract freight.
RXO’s excess liability coverage exceeding $100 million has become a key sales advantage as shippers tighten carrier and broker vetting in the wake of the Montgomery ruling. Wilkerson says that financial stability and insurance coverage now open every enterprise customer conversation, a shift that accelerated sharply over the past few weeks.
Wilkerson notes that only 2 of the top 5 to 10 brokers have excess liability coverage of $100 million or more, making it a decisive factor in enterprise shipper conversations. He says that the coverage threshold is not something competitors can build overnight, and that RXO wants to ensure it has more than enough to support its customers.
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RXO reported a truckload spot mix of 42% of volume, with spot loads rising 900 basis points sequentially and roughly 1,000 basis points quarter over quarter. Wilkerson attributes the gross profit per load improvement to the spot mix shift, along with a pickup in higher-margin project and mini-bid freight and technology-driven productivity gains.
The company has rolled out a spot-quote agentic email tool that allows employees to process five times the number of orders quarter over quarter. Wilkerson says that the best-performing technology investments check all three of the company’s internal criteria: growing volume, increasing margin, and improving productivity.
An AI agent now reviews installation photos from independent contract drivers in the last-mile business, primarily addressing productivity rather than margin or volume. They keep staffing levels calibrated to absorb 15% to 20% volume growth overnight, a posture they have maintained for the past three years heading into peak season.
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Wilkerson describes the current freight recovery as early-stage, pointing to tender rejections running at 14% to 16% on SONAR, well below the 25% to 30% levels seen in a robust upcycle. Demand remains down year over year according to Cass data, and RXO is two years into integrating the Coyote acquisition and is now focused entirely on innovation rather than integration.
On the food and beverage sector, Wilkerson pushes back slightly on the notion that it is a drag, saying RXO saw year-over-year increases with those customers, though he credits market share gains rather than underlying volume growth. Two factors weigh on the category broadly: GLP-1 drug adoption reducing consumption and deportations shrinking the U.S. consumer base.
RXO’s top customers have been with the company an average of 16 years, a relationship depth Wilkerson says is central to winning outsized spot and project volume as shippers pare down their provider lists. RXO carries excess liability insurance exceeding $100 million, a threshold Wilkerson says only 2 of the top 5 to 10 brokers can match, making it a decisive factor in enterprise shipper conversations post-Montgomery.
