The freight desk SMB operators wish they had — on demand, on the clock.
Cortex is a focused team of customs brokers, freight strategists, and ops engineers based in Toronto. We audit cross-border lanes for SMB shippers in manufacturing, distribution, and retail — and stay on as a fractional freight desk for the teams that want one.
Four principles that drive every audit and every advisory hour.
Independent by design
We don't move freight. Our recommendations aren't routed through a 3PL we own, so we can call the boring (correct) answer when that's the right answer.
Built for the desk, not the deck
Every output is a thing your ops team can do on Monday — not a 60-slide strategy doc that gets read once and shelved.
Skin in the game
Audits are refundable. Advisory engagements terminate month-to-month. We earn the renewal each quarter or we lose it.
Operator-built
Our team has run customs brokerages, regional carrier networks, and inhouse ops desks. We've made the mistakes you're trying to avoid.
Two years in, 240+ audits delivered.
240+
Audits delivered
18$M
Annualized client freight under advisory
47h
Avg. Starter Audit turnaround
94%
Audits where customer renewed within 6 months