Logistics companies in Chicago: brokers in Cook and DuPage, warehouses in Will County

This report is for shippers choosing a Chicago freight broker, forwarder or warehouse, job seekers sizing up the region's logistics employers, and B2B sellers whose customers are logistics firms: software vendors, insurers, staffing agencies and equipment dealers.

Two businesses in one Census count

US Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023 counts two NAICS codes for this report in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area (CBSA 16980): 4885, Freight Transportation Arrangement, and 493, Warehousing and Storage.

Employees per site and average pay are our calculations. The metro holds 4.36% of the country's 43,394 logistics establishments. Freight arrangement (brokers, forwarders, customs brokers and logistics managers who buy transport from carriers) is 62% of the locations but only 26% of the jobs. In warehousing, general warehouses have 589 sites and 60,867 employees; refrigerated warehouses have 38 sites and 2,664.

How big the sites are

In broad bands, 1,334 establishments have fewer than 20 employees, 372 have 20 to 99 and 186 have 100 or more. All 16 sites with 1,000 or more employees are warehouses: the Census Bureau doesn't publish that cell for freight arrangement, and deriving it as the total less the published cells gives zero.

Where they are

The Census Bureau published the two Indiana employee counts but flagged them as high-noise (the noise it adds for confidentiality changed them by 5% or more), so we leave them out. Cook (551 offices) and DuPage (375) hold about 80% of the freight arrangement offices, and DuPage's pay close to the metro average. Will County has only 89 offices but 203 warehouses averaging 134 employees, including 7 of the 16 with 1,000 or more staff; Cook has 6. A shipper choosing a fulfillment site and a seller hunting brokers are looking at different counties.

CBP counts establishments with paid employees, not companies, so a 3PL with five buildings counts five times and a one-person broker with no payroll isn't counted. Trucking, couriers, railroads and a manufacturer's own distribution center are counted in other industries; for carriers, see trucking companies in Chicago.

Brokers on the federal register

FMCSA registers every broker that arranges interstate truck freight. We combined its two public authority files on 30 October 2026, the legacy file (frozen at 14 May 2026) and the newer Motus file, counting each USDOT number once (Motus status where it's in both) and placing it in a county by business ZIP code.

The register runs higher than the Census office count (1,515 against 1,165) because it includes brokers with no employees, carriers that also hold broker authority, and firms registered at a home address. Only 220 give Chicago itself as their business city.

Listed logistics companies based here

EDGAR lists five companies in the transport and logistics codes with metro addresses. We checked each filing:

Hub Group's numbers are in flux. On 12 May 2026 it said its audited 2023 and 2024 statements were materially misstated and shouldn't be relied on. It hasn't filed its 2025 10-K, Nasdaq issued a delisting determination on 16 September 2026 (the company said it would appeal), and lenders extended its deadline for audited 2025 statements to 30 November 2026. Two other EDGAR matches don't belong: Quanome Technologies (formerly Lakeside Holding) now gives a New York office in its 10-K, and Globavend Holdings files a 20-F from Perth, Australia.

How to vet a Chicago logistics provider

1. Decide between truck and rail. The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning counts 18 rail-truck intermodal terminals in the region. For long-haul freight, ask whether the provider offers intermodal and who handles the drayage.
2. Check the broker, then the carrier. Look up the broker's MC or USDOT number in FMCSA's Licensing and Insurance system: its authority should be active, with a $75,000 surety bond (Form BMC-84) or trust fund (BMC-85) on file, which 49 CFR 387.307 requires. A broker owns no trucks, so look up the carrier that will haul the load too.
3. For air freight, ask for the TSA program. The Chicago Department of Aviation says O'Hare handles over two million metric tonnes of cargo a year, worth over $200 billion. A forwarder handing cargo to airlines there needs an approved indirect air carrier security program under 49 CFR 1548.5.
4. For imports, ask about foreign-trade zones. The Illinois International Port District lists Foreign-Trade Zone No. 22 among its port services.
5. See the operation, then trial it. Walk the warehouse at shift change, ask for on-time and inventory accuracy figures, call two customers your size, and award one lane first.

Selling to Chicago logistics companies

Brokerage offices buy tools that protect margin on each load, so lead with a specific failure your product prevents. Warehouses buy labor, equipment and uptime, and big ones often buy through a regional office, so find the site manager and the signer. For list method, see how to build a prospect list.

Illustrative example. The seller, price and win rate are invented; the counts are from Census data.

Lakefront Carrier Check (lakefrontcheck.example) sells carrier-vetting software. Its targets are the 215 Chicago freight arrangement offices with 20 or more employees. At $1,200 a month and an 8% win rate (17 offices), that's $244,800 a year. It starts with offices hiring carrier sales reps, because new reps book loads with unfamiliar carriers. Bebop can find brokerages matching that description and draft the first email.

Subject: New carrier reps at [company]

Hi [first name],

I saw [company] is hiring [number] carrier sales reps in [city]. New reps book with carriers they've never used, which is where bad loads start.

We check each carrier's authority, insurance and identity before the rate confirmation goes out.

Would it help to run last month's new carriers through it and see what comes back?

[Your name]

Local sources

Next step: for how 3PLs buy and who decides across the US, read the guide to third-party logistics companies.