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TransportNewsCA · US · MX corridorFreight markets and cross-border tradeWednesday, November 4, 2026
Freight Markets

RXO pushes spot mix to 51% and posts its biggest jump in gross profit per load in four years

Third-quarter revenue rose to $1.87 billion as truckload volume grew 3%. Adjusted EBITDA reached $51 million ahead of the planned C.H. Robinson deal.

By Transport News Staff ·
A tractor-trailer on a divided Texas highway beneath an overhead exit sign.
Photo: Ken Lund / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0

Freight broker RXO leaned hard into the spot market in the third quarter, and it paid off on margin per load.

The company said truckload spot loads made up 51% of its truckload volume, up from 42% in the second quarter and 29% a year earlier. That 900-basis-point sequential swing produced RXO's largest sequential gain in gross profit per load in more than four years, up 31% from Q2, according to its Oct. 29 results.

The quarter

| | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | |---|---|---| | Revenue | $1,871M | $1,421M | | Gross margin | 14.6% | 16.5% | | Net income (loss) | $3M | $(14)M | | Adjusted net income | $16M | $2M | | Adjusted EBITDA | $51M | $32M | | Adjusted EBITDA margin | 2.7% | 2.3% | | Diluted EPS / adjusted EPS | $0.02 / $0.09 | |

Brokerage

  • Brokerage volume rose 2%: truckload up 3%, less-than-truckload up 2%.
  • Truckload volume improved each month of the quarter.
  • Truck brokerage revenue was $1,433 million, up from $1,039 million.
  • Brokerage gross margin was 12.6%.

Revenue grew far faster than volume, so RXO billed more per load than a year ago.

Other lines

  • Last Mile stops grew 5%.
  • Managed Transportation was awarded about $140 million of freight under management.

The deal

RXO has agreed to be acquired by C.H. Robinson. The release said the transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2027. RXO did not hold an earnings call.

"We exceeded the high end of our third-quarter profit outlook," said chairman and CEO Drew Wilkerson. He said the company continued to take share in brokerage and that its priorities remain unchanged ahead of the acquisition.

Read-through

A higher spot mix gives a broker more exposure to day-to-day pricing, in both directions. In the third quarter, that exposure lifted RXO's margin per load. Carriers hauling for RXO may see more one-off spot offers alongside contract freight.

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