Tractor trailers sit parked at a J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. facility in Columbus, Ohio.
Luke Sharrett | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Shares of several trucking and logistics companies declined Thursday on fears that new artificial intelligence tools could slash major freight inefficiencies, leading to less demand for the industry’s services.
A new tool from AI company Algorhythm Holdings has made trucking companies the latest victim of the market’s AI jitters, adding to the historic sell-off in software stocks and real estate companies. The notable market rotation has come as investors are increasingly scrutinizing traditional businesses that may not be able to keep up with rapid advancements in AI.
Leading trucking and logistics stocks C.H. Robinson and RXO dropped more than 20% each during Thursday’s session. J.B. Hunt Transportation Services declined about 9%, while XPO lost nearly 7.9% and logistics company Expeditors International of Washington fell nearly 16.5%.
There’s an “emerging debate around open-source automation agents such as Molt Bot that offer increased potential to automate routine back-office tasks and help equalize the technology playing field for smaller operators,” said Baird analyst Daniel Moore in a note.
He reiterated his outperform ratings on C.H. Robinson and Expeditors, saying “automation is not a new theme.”
Shares of Algorhythm, a penny stock before Thursday, popped about 31%, meanwhile.
Algorhythm announced earlier this week that its SemiCab’s platform, deployed with live customers, is allowing operators to scale freight volumes by 300% to 400% without increasing their headcount. According to its press release, the SemiCab platform reduces “empty freight miles” by more than 70% across active customer networks. The company said that trucks are driving empty nearly one out of every three miles and therefore lose more than $1 trillion in freight spending each year, citing data from Mordor Intelligence.
“What we’re proving with SemiCab is that when freight is managed as a coordinated network rather than isolated transactions, utilization improves dramatically. The substantial reduction in empty miles that we are able to achieve for our customers represents a fundamental shift in how logistics economics work,” said Ajesh Kapoor, CEO of SemiCab.
Separately, investors are watching to see how trucking companies could also be impacted by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy’s Wednesday ruling to prohibit, according to the announcement, “unqualified foreign drivers” from obtaining licenses to drive commercial trucks and buses.
Duffy said that government reforms will seek to address safety concerns by preventing “foreign drivers” who have not undergone consular and interagency screening from receiving a commercial driver’s license. Consular screening typically applies to non-U.S. citizens.
