Ethiopia Freight Forwarding Services
Air & Sea Freight Between Ethiopia and the UK

CH Robinson in hot water again, as truckers bring 'racketeering' suit

CH Robinson and Total Quality Logistics (TQL) face a racketeering lawsuit from six US trucking companies that accuse them of winning freight with allegedly non-compliant carriers at prices the plaintiffs could not match. One plaintiff, Freymiller Trucking, says it has identified $51.2m in lost sales across 63 customers. The claimants have not put a total value on the case, but seek damages to be determined at trial - including treble damages under the US Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. The complaint, filed in a Texas federal court on 23 September, alleges that the brokers promised shippers safe, compliant transport while passing loads to carriers that avoided the costs of meeting safety and labour rules. The plaintiffs claim they lost business because they could not match the resulting rates. The six plaintiffs are Stevens Trucking, Western Flyer Express, Freymiller, IWX Motor Freight, Christenson Transportation, and EOS. Their complaint names the Super Ego trucking network as an example of the capacity they allege the brokers used. Super Ego is not a defendant in this case. Among the material included in the filing is a screenshot a former driver says came from his carrier's tracking team. It appears to ask him to avoid weigh stations and offers him an extra $100 if he does. The plaintiffs also cite a former driver's account of being told to put a different company name and registration number on his truck shortly before arriving at a shipper, then remove the details after collection. Those are allegations about the carriers' practices, not evidence that either broker sent the instructions. The trucking companies' claim is that CH Robinson and TQL knew, or should have known, how the carriers they used were operating. The plaintiffs give examples of the business they say they lost. Freymiller's $51.2m represents alleged lost sales, rather than an award or an established measure of damages. Christenson says its revenue fell from $71.3m in 2023 to $49.8m in 2025, and points to bids for major shippers that it says were repeatedly judged too expensive. The carriers will have to show that the defendants' alleged conduct caused their losses, rather than ordinary competition or other pressures in the freight market. CH Robinson has reportedly rejected the allegations, saying the lawsuit misrepresents its practices and the way freight rates are set. It has reportedly said the carriers it uses are federally authorised and meet additional safety and insurance requirements. The Loadstar has contacted CH Robinson for its statement and any further comment. TQL's response to the complaint has not yet been established. The new suit follows the separate Lipe case, in which a jury returned a $604m verdict following a fatal truck crash. That case concerned responsibility for the crash. The six carriers in this lawsuit say the brokers' choice of trucking companies cost them freight business.

DHL Aviation hires two Asia sales directors

DHL Aviation has appointed two new sales directors to help steer growth for the business in fast-growing Asia markets. Julie Zhu has been hired as senior director, China air capacity sales, and Jaspall Singh has been appointed as senior director, Southeast Asia air capacity sales, said Ingrid Raj, chief cargo officer at DHL Aviation. Confirming the appointments in a LinkedIn post today, Raj said that Zhu began her new role on 15 September and Singh will begin his new role on 1 January. Raj stated: "Southeast Asia and China are two of the world's fastest-growing air cargo regions and deserve dedicated leadership. "That's why I'm delighted to welcome Julie Zhu as Senior Director, China Air Capacity Sales, and to congratulate Jaspall Singh on his appointment as Senior Director, Southeast Asia Air Capacity Sales. "Both will report directly to me, and their appointments reflect our commitment to investing where our customers are growing fastest." Zhu joined DHL from Lufthansa Cargo, where she built her career over 22 years, most recently as head of revenue management and pricing for Asia Pacific. Based in Shanghai, she brings deep insight into China's air cargo landscape. Singh has been part of DHL for 16 years, beginning in Aviation Commercial Services (ACS) Finance and most recently serving as director of revenue management for China and Central and North Asia in Hong Kong. He brings strong transformation and leadership experience to the opportunities ahead in Southeast Asia, where he will be based in Singapore.

IATA calls for earlier cargo checks, but poor data leaves forwarders blind

Airlines and forwarders cannot be expected to identify undeclared batteries in ecommerce parcels if sellers fail to pass on accurate product information, an ecommerce specialist has warned following IATA's call for dangerous goods checks to move further upstream. In a new white paper, IATA said 81% of dangerous goods occurrences reported to it in the first half of 2025 involved undeclared or hidden goods. The figure refers to reported occurrences, rather than the proportion of shipments carrying dangerous goods. IATA said airport security screening was an important safeguard, but "should not be regarded as a standalone or primary solution" for detecting dangerous goods. Screening equipment and staff are primarily geared towards security threats, while cargo size, packaging and density can make dangerous goods difficult to identify. The association wants manufacturers and marketplaces to provide accurate product information, and forwarders to use customer and shipment data to flag higher-risk cargo. For forwarders, the paper says: "The objective should be to move dangerous goods identification progressively upstream." Justus Klüver-Schlotfeldt, chief executive of ecommerce network NeX, agreed that the industry was trying to solve too many problems after parcels had entered the logistics chain. "By the time a parcel reaches a forwarder, handler or airline, it can be extremely difficult to determine from a description such as 'electronics', 'accessory' or 'toy' whether there is a lithium battery inside," he told The Loadstar. "The information needs to come much closer to the source - ideally from the manufacturer, seller or marketplace product data." Mr Klüver-Schlotfeldt said responsibility for creating accurate information had to begin with the party that knew the product. Forwarders and airlines could then validate it, identify anomalies and stop suspicious shipments, rather than reconstruct details that had never been supplied. He suggested a trusted digital identity for goods, carrying relevant information from the product through to the shipment. For battery-powered goods, that would include battery and dangerous goods attributes instead of relying on free-text descriptions. "Identify the risk at product level, transmit the data at shipment level, and validate it throughout the logistics chain," he said. IATA is also calling for stronger government oversight, better acceptance checks by airlines and handlers, and greater coordination across airport cargo communities. Its white paper makes recommendations; it does not introduce new dangerous goods rules.