Digital freight broker in Chicago acquires similar SoCal service

A Chicago-based digital freight broker has acquired a similar service in Southern California as companies in the sector continue to struggle. 

CDL 1000 acquired Next Trucking in a deal that combines the two businesses into one, reported the Wall Street Journal. Both businesses manage short-haul loads between ports and warehouses by matching the freight with a truck that will transport it.

CDL 1000 is based out of Chicago, Illinois, but will now have a strong foothold in southern California, where Next Trucking focused on freight at Los Angeles and Long Beach ports. The acquisition comes after a November 2023 purchase of Hickory Freight Transportation Services – a freight broker based out of Jacksonville, Florida.  

The exact terms of the deal have not been publicly released. The company consolidation comes after the shutdown of digital freight broker Convoy – a company once backed by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Microsoft’s Bill Gates. Uber’s freight business also recently reported a $14 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2023.

“CDL 1000 was present in 18 major ports, but never had any major market share in L.A. Now, through the Next Trucking acquisition we are one of the top three trucking players in L.A. and Long Beach,” said Andrew Sobko, CDL 1000’s founder and chief executive. 

Next Trucking started in 2015 and was valued at $196 million in July of 2023.