DHL, Expeditors, and Matson are all pointing to the same thing: AI infrastructure rapidly becoming one of the logistics industry’s most important new cargo verticals, reshaping freight flows across multiple regions – and modes.
What began as a surge in semiconductor and GPU shipments is now reshaping freight networks more broadly, driving demand for specialised handling, premium air freight capacity, and new routings stretching from South-east Asia to the Middle East.
DHL this year expanded its dedicated data-centre logistics operations in North America, targeting hyperscaler demand for servers, racks, cooling systems, and AI infrastructure equipment.
The logistics giant said the rapid expansion of AI data centres was creating growing demand for specialised freight handling and project logistics services, as hyperscalers raced to build computing capacity.
Expeditors said the trend was now becoming global.
“Data farms are popping up all over the globe,” the forwarder said in a recent earnings Q&A, adding that it was now shipping AI-related products “across the US, to India, South-east Asia, Europe, and the Middle East”.
DHL agreed, saying demand was strongest in the US, but infrastructure expansion was accelerating across Europe, India, Australia, Indonesia, and the Middle East.
The German behemoth said AI infrastructure projects increasingly required highly specialised “white-glove” logistics services, including secure handling, rack positioning, grounding, and installation support inside data centres.
Many deployments, it said, relied on charter aircraft for “time-critical shipments”, while operators increasingly faced demands for pricing responses within “two-to-four hours” for urgent air freight moves.
DHL explained that AI servers had become dramatically more valuable, some units now worth between $1m and $3m, increasing requirements for security, chain-of-custody protection, and specialist handling.
Expeditors added that demand from hyperscaler customers remained robust, despite growing geopolitical disruption.
“Volumes for this industry are holding strong and we currently are seeing continued increases in volume,” it said.
Freight dynamics
But the AI boom is also beginning to reshape broader freight dynamics, including the balance between air and ocean cargo.
Ocean carrier Matson, in its Q1 earnings call, said rising fuel prices, Middle East disruption, and tighter air cargo capacity were increasingly pushing freight away from air services and into expedited ocean products.
“We think we’re entering a period where we’re going to see more airfreight conversions,” said chief executive Matt Cox. “The air freight markets have been significantly dislocated,” he added.
Matson said it had benefited from “elevated freight costs and reduced air cargo capacity in select markets”, particularly as passenger airlines cut marginal routes and fuel prices climbed.
The company also pointed to strong demand for “data centre servers and racks” moving from Asia into the US market.
The comments suggest the AI infrastructure boom is now influencing not just semiconductor markets, but also aircraft capacity, fuel-sensitive routing decisions, and modal shift between air and ocean freight.
That shift is being amplified by wider geopolitical uncertainty.
Expeditors said the Middle East conflict had tightened air cargo capacity and increased jet fuel costs, forcing logistics providers to implement alternative routings and contingency plans.
“The industry is adapting just as it did during the pandemic,” the company said.
At the same time, manufacturers continue diversifying production, away from China into South-east Asia, creating new tradelanes and freight flows.
Matson said it was seeing strong growth from feeder services in Vietnam and Thailand, and expected customers to continue shifting some manufacturing capacity out of China.
The result is that AI infrastructure is no longer simply another technology segment for logistics providers.
Instead, it is becoming a structural driver of freight demand, increasingly capable of reshaping global transport networks, capacity planning, and supply chain strategy across both the air and ocean markets.