Supply Chain · Profile from Supply Chain Research Companion
C.H. Robinson
C.H. Robinson Worldwide, the Eden Prairie, Minnesota–based freight intermediary that began as a produce-trading business in Grand Forks, North Dakota, in 1905 and became the largest freight broker in North America and one of the larger global forwarders, without owning trucks, ships or planes. It books gross revenue that is mostly the carriers' money (~$16.2bn in 2025; ~$5.36bn in Q3 2026 alone) and earns adjusted gross profit (AGP, its term for net revenue) of ~$2.7bn a year (2025) (company 10-K and 8-K). Its story turns on productivity per person as the durable lever in brokerage: for most of its history it grew by adding branch salespeople paid on branch profit; after the 2021–22 boom and the 2023 reset — a CEO dismissed, an activist on the board, revenue down ~29% in a year — Dave Bozeman (CEO from Jun 2023) rebuilt it as a "lean" operating system run with more than 30 AI agents, cutting average headcount ~11.5% in 2025 and ~10.4% y/y in Q3 2026 while AGP rose (company). In Oct 2026 it agreed to buy RXO for ~$5.3bn (equity value, cash and stock), a bet that its lower cost per load can be applied to the third-largest broker's book. Its failures and retreats include the 2019 and 2023 margin squeezes, the boom-era cost base that the 2023 reset had to unwind, and the European road-brokerage business it sold to sennder in Feb 2025.
At a glance
- Founded
- 1905, Grand Forks, North Dakota, by Charles Henry Robinson, as a produce brokerage linked to the Nash brothers' wholesale grocery business (company history; ownership links to Nash Finch, verify details); employee-owned from the 1970s (verify date) until the IPO
- Headquarters
- Eden Prairie, Minnesota (Minneapolis area)
- Ownership / structure
- Public since Oct 1997 (Nasdaq: CHRW; verify exact date); widely held; activist Ancora Holdings (~2% stake, reported) won two board seats in Feb 2023 (Henry Maier, Jay Winship; reported)
- Leadership (2026)
- Dave Bozeman (president and CEO since Jun 2023; previously Ford and Amazon Transportation Services, reported); CFO and segment presidents — verify current names (Damon Lee CFO and Michael Castagnetto NAST president reported in 2024–25, verify)
- Segments
- North American Surface Transportation (NAST) — truckload, LTL, intermodal brokerage; Global Forwarding — ocean, air, customs brokerage (built on Phoenix International, 2012); All Other and Corporate — Robinson Fresh (produce sourcing), Managed Solutions (managed transportation and the Navisphere TMS), and until Feb 2025 European Surface Transportation (company)
- Scale
- Average headcount ~11,253 in Q3 2026 (−10.4% y/y); FY2025 average headcount −11.5% (company). Network claims (customers, ~hundreds of thousands of contract carriers, tens of millions of shipments a year) are company figures; verify the latest 10-K wording before citing a number
- Financials (2025)
- Total revenues ~$16.2bn (−8.4%) — lower mainly because of the European Surface Transportation sale, lower ocean pricing and volume and lower fuel surcharges; AGP ~$2.7bn (−1.3%); net income ~$587.1m; diluted EPS $4.83 (+25.1%), adjusted $5.09; adjusted operating margin (operating income ÷ AGP) 29.1% (+490 bp) (company 10-K and Q4 release, Jan 2026)
- Financials (Q3 2026)
- Revenue ~$5.36bn (+29.5%); AGP ~$808.4m (+14.5%); income from operations ~$271.8m (+23.1%); adjusted operating margin 33.6%; NAST revenue ~$3.83bn, AGP ~$517.9m; truckload AGP per shipment +17.0%; TL+LTL volume +3.5% vs Cass Freight Shipment Index −0.3%; Global Forwarding revenue ~$1.15bn, AGP ~$221.2m (company 8-K, 28 Oct 2026)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Produce-brokerage origins (1905); employee ownership to IPO and the non-asset model (1997); Phoenix International (2012, $635m); Freightquote (2015, $365m); Navisphere and the technology pledge (2019); the 2021–22 boom and the 2023 reset (failure); Bozeman's lean operating model and AI agents (2023–26); European Surface Transportation sold to sennder (Feb 2025, retreat); agreement to acquire RXO (Oct 2026)
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1905
Produce Brokerage Origins
Founding
1997
Employee Ownership to IPO and the Non Asset Model
IPO (end of employee ownership); strategy confirmation (the non-asset brokerage model)
2012
Phoenix International Acquisition
Acquisition
2015
Freightquote Acquisition
Acquisition
2019
Navisphere and the Technology Pledge
Technology bet
2022
Freight Boom Peak and 2023 Reset
Restructuring; leadership change; activist settlement — failure (a boom-sized cost base meeting the trough)
2023
Bozeman Lean Operating Model and AI Agents
Strategy pivot; technology and automation bet
2025
European Surface Transportation Sale to sennder
Divestment — retreat from European road brokerage
2026
RXO Acquisition Agreement
Acquisition (cash and stock; pending)