Combined firm would control almost 14 percent of US transportation-management market

C.H. Robinson, based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, has been one of the leading logistics firms to employ artificial intelligence to manage cargo, using fewer workers during a prolonged freight sector downturn. The company said gaining access to RXO’s data set will improve the speed and precision of its AI models.

Dave Bozeman, C.H. Robinson’s chief executive, told the WSJ Logistics Report’s Paul Berger that the acquisition will expand his company’s expedited and last-mile delivery services. The deal is expected to close in the first half of next year.

UBS analysts noted that C.H. Robinson’s second-quarter labor expenses were 25 percent lower than in the same period of 2022, on a 36 percent reduction in headcount.

Evan Armstrong, CEO of Armstrong & Associates, said: “If Robinson achieves its savings target, it will be significantly more challenging for companies like TQL, J.B. Hunt and other mid-sized brokers to compete on price.”

RXO shares surged by more than 20 percent in Monday trading, while C.H. Robinson’s dropped by nearly 11 percent.

Additional reporting from the WSJ Logistics Report

The same newsletter carried several other items on the freight and energy markets.

Dyed diesel executive order. The U.S. will temporarily permit the highway use of dyed diesel, a tax-exempt fuel typically used for farming, according to the Journal’s Collin Eaton. President Trump’s executive order aimed at bringing surging prices of diesel down will defer a federal tax of 24.4 cents a gallon on the fuel through the end of the year.

Strait of Hormuz flows. Ships are ferrying almost as much crude oil out of the Strait of Hormuz as they were before the Iran war, but are barely moving any barrels of critical diesel fuel.

G-7 emergency stocks. The G-7 on Friday agreed to release 100 million barrels of crude oil and fuel from their emergency stocks. The group also declined to restrict exports of diesel and other products, an option Trump had said he was considering as a way to keep more fuel in the U.S.

Reshoring poll. The portion of U.S. original equipment manufacturers that have reshored some production or are engaged in doing so is up from 29 percent last year, according to a poll by the Reshoring Initiative and Regions Recruiting, as reported by SupplyChainBrain.

Persian Gulf shuttle runs. Persian Gulf oil producers are paying up to $40 million for a round trip for shuttle runs to move crude through the dangerous Strait of Hormuz, the WSJ’s Rebecca Feng reports. For the producers, it is worth it because leaving the crude stranded is economically worse than taking on the freight cost and selling at thinner margins. They have turned to hiring very large crude carriers to complete a perilous journey known as a shuttle run. Carriers enter the Gulf via Hormuz, load at ports there, exit from the strait, then transfer the oil to another vessel waiting just outside of the waterway. Shipowners are reaping some of the best returns the industry has seen in decades; and the sailors who make the dangerous crossing are being paid like never before. Those financial rewards come with substantial risks. Seven ships have been hit since Sept. 28, according to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations. A few of those tankers have been identified as shuttle tankers, according to maritime-security firms.