The next big logistics trend looms as a new generation embraces its moment

To borrow from The Byrds, “To everything turn, turn, turn; there is a season turn, turn, turn.” Driven by a generational shift in freight logistics, that turn is now upon us. New skill sets, new values—they’re already driving radical change in our industry, and the pattern of logistics M&A activity is soon to follow.

Younger generations demand a people-first culture that offers meaning and transparency—and companies that embrace sustainability and tech-enabled efficiency.

But they’re not finding it in the dominant players. Just look at what’s happened in the tech space.

For decades, legacy tech businesses that carved out dominance have held sway. But instead of innovating, they’ve acquired new players with ears to the ground, bringing in their fresh tech, products, processes—and top talent. Through mergers and acquisitions, they’ve rapidly gained customers, uncovered efficiencies of scale, and boosted their bottom-line metrics. While their boards and investors have loved it, jobs have been lost and promising futures darkened by corporate malaise.

And in the freight brokerage space?

Rather than innovate, some of the largest brokerages in the U.S. have bought up medium-sized organizations to slap Band-Aids on their wounds. Still, they’re hemorrhaging. While they may look stable to people buying stock, it’s all smoke and mirrors; to stay afloat, they’ve purged people as part of logistics M&A “efficiencies.” As a result, their service and culture have cratered.

Now, those of us who grew up on Nirvana, Beyoncé, and my hometown legend, Eminem, are recognizing our Lose Yourself moment. “You only get one shot,” the rap lyric goes, and we will not miss our chance to blow.

This pattern of slow-moving freight industry behemoths buying up agile brokerage startups? It’s about to be disrupted by the little guys.

And we’re taking the T. Swift generation with us.

Teetering on the cusp of a logistics M&A paradigm shift

It’s a funny thing, money.

Early startup founders in the tech-driven 3PL space successfully innovated, and big companies came running with acquisition offers. Not used to having any real cash or being so highly valued, they sold and saw their transactions as wins. By folding into larger organizations—with efficiencies of scale, deeper pockets, and enterprise tech—they saw this path as the surest way to power their dreams.

They were wrong.

A colleague of mine worked for one of these innovative brokerage services companies. The company’s founder built something meaningful, of real value—and he was a great guy who genuinely cared about his employees. But he built and sold his business just as his father showed him how—abiding by an approach that had grown stale.

Now younger generations are starting to see a new way of doing things. They’re more interested in building something than simply taking part in the grind—and those who never lost their entrepreneurial spirit are refocusing and creating for the long term.

In short, these tech-driven brokerages are finally getting smart. They’re not only realizing what can be lost when they sell; they’re recognizing that they’re vastly underselling themselves.

Disciplined, tech-fueled startups will leapfrog the big players

The power of scale isn’t what it once was. Scrappy teams are starting to recognize that they can punch with the big boys. Adopting innovative tech, like AI, at a holistic level, they’re carving out market share…and their business valuations keep going up and up and up.

What’s driving this shift in logistics M&A activity?

You now have folks who were products of the 90s becoming business owners. Having labored in transportation and logistics for 20 years, their industry insight is deep and their leadership skills well-honed. They realize that this is the time to work for themselves; they want to create wealth, not just earn a paycheck.

Simultaneously, you have early 20-somethings who crave meaning, culture, and independence. They’re spotting opportunities to leverage cutting-edge technology to make an impact—like driving the adoption of electric vehicles to mitigate the supply chain’s carbon footprint, for example. And they’re in a unique position to demand their independence because they’re incredibly tech-savvy.

Today, these forward-thinking logistics leaders in their 40s and 50s are starting to team up with those who began coding in grade school. They’re bringing together tremendous freight industry experience and technology smarts, saying, “Why are we giving our money away to brittle-minded company owners who aren’t innovating?”

Of course, most people don’t have the guts or the backing to do this—but some will break through. VC money isn’t getting tossed around like it once was. Meaning: Founders today are building for sustained growth and profits, not vanity metrics and “network effect” promises. But at the same time, there will always be people with money who want to invest in the new.

One incredibly smart guy emerged from the brokerage world to help launch a transportation management software company before returning to his roots with a tech-driven 3PL. His embrace of this new mindset is evident. He doesn’t want to build simply to sell to someone else. He’s now the guy building something innovative so he can start acquiring others. In fact, he recently put out a call to freight brokerages, inviting those who are struggling to adapt to come under his umbrella.

If you’re keeping tabs on logistics acquisitions, you can expect this trend to continue.

This is the next wave of freight brokerages

Logistics is increasingly a democratized industry—and there’s no longer such a thing as too big to fail. Today, the established players’ entrenched dominance is not nearly so entrenched; they’re lazy and slow. Leveraging their size isn’t playing out quite as well as it once did.

New technology in logistics is a big enabler; it’s empowering younger generations to usher in the future of logistics. They’re building something for the long haul, something that impacts our industry in a meaningful way.

If I was going to bet on some futures? You bet this new tech and values-forward vision is something I’d be putting cash into.

After all, “this opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo.”