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FreightWaves Live Chicago adds air cargo topics to agenda

The next FreightWaves Live event has added air cargo to the range of topics discussed, with a variety of expert speakers who can help attendees understand factors influencing today’s market.

The conference is November 12-13 in Chicago at the McCormick Place convention center.

The agenda is packed with content on freight brokerage, on-demand app-based freight service, pricing and capacity analytics and technology innovations. There will be a Global TradeTech Forum, as well as demonstrations of SONAR, FreightWaves’ proprietary platform for manipulating massive amounts of public and private data to quickly deliver freight market intelligence as supply and demand changes. 

FreightWaves started out tracking trucking and intermodal activity, but has quickly added a comprehensive suite of modal data to enable companies to holistically think about their supply chains. 


FreightWaves recently enhanced its air cargo data for SONAR users with data on cargo revenues produced by U.S. passenger and freighter airlines. Data is updated quarterly, covering total airline cargo revenues with breakdowns for freight, mail and cargo charters. Data is available geographically for the revenues generated on flights in the U.S. domestic, Atlantic, Pacific and Latin regions.  

Air cargo is a big facilitator of international trade and e-commerce, and is also important within domestic supply chains that need goods delivered rapidly. Air cargo may only represent 1% of tonnage moved across borders, but the industry moves more than $6 trillion worth of goods, accounting for about two-thirds of world trade by value. Airfreight’s sweet spot is high-value and/or perishable goods such as pharmaceuticals, biologic medicines, automotive parts, flowers, fresh fish, electronics and live animals.

That’s why FreightWaves’ news operation has recently beefed up its air cargo coverage and why airfreight will be part of a FreightWaves event for the first time. FreightWaves’ executives have stated they eventually want FreightWaves Live to become a premier conference for the air cargo industry.

Speakers such as Bruce Campbell, executive chairman of Forward Air, which provides truck-to-airport connections; Wally Devereaux, managing director of cargo for Southwest Airlines; Shawn Cole, vice president for cargo at Delta Air Lines; Michelle Halkerston, CEO of Hasset Express; and Brandon Fried, executive director of the Airforwarders Association, will discuss topics such as:


  • Why the airfreight market has softened this year and what it holds for 2020.
  • Truck congestion issues at key gateway airports and possible solutions.
  • Trucking and airline capacity.
  • Technology opportunities to increase booking and last-mile efficiency, along with increased shipment visibility for customers.
  • Opportunities for supply chain collaboration.

FreightWaves Live’s lead sponsor is J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. and its 360 load management app. Title sponsors are: TTN Fleet Solutions, 8VC and K-Ratio. Universal sponsors are: Daimler Trucks North America, Echo Logistics, Emerge, SkyBitz, LeanTech, Platform Science, Transflo, TriumphPay and Uber Freight. National sponsors are Schneider and Trimble.

Regional Sponsors are: DL Cartel, Freight Friend, here, McLeod Software, nlb services, Pilot. Flying J, WeWork.

Eric Kulisch

Eric is the Supply Chain and Air Cargo Editor at FreightWaves. An award-winning business journalist with extensive experience covering the logistics sector, Eric spent nearly two years as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Automotive News, where he focused on regulatory and policy issues surrounding autonomous vehicles, mobility, fuel economy and safety. He has won two regional Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for government and trade coverage, and news analysis. He was voted best for feature writing and commentary in the Trade/Newsletter category by the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He was runner up for News Journalist and Supply Chain Journalist of the Year in the Seahorse Freight Association's 2024 journalism award competition. In December 2022, Eric was voted runner up for Air Cargo Journalist. He won the group's Environmental Journalist of the Year award in 2014 and was the 2013 Supply Chain Journalist of the Year. As associate editor at American Shipper Magazine for more than a decade, he wrote about trade, freight transportation and supply chains. He has appeared on Marketplace, ABC News and National Public Radio to talk about logistics issues in the news. Eric is based in Vancouver, Washington. He can be reached for comments and tips at ekulisch@freightwaves.com