United Parcel Service is in talks to buy Coyote Logistics LLC, a provider of transportation and shipping services, according to several news organizations. The purchase price being floated is in the $1.8 billion range.

The Chicago-based Coyote would give UPS a stake in the fast-growing freight brokerage business as shippers switch to slower and cheaper delivery methods. U.S. domestic freight brokers grew by 20 percent in 2014, according to research firm Armstrong & Associates.

A UPS-Coyote deal would follow a series of transactions in the logistics sector including FedEx’s $1.4 billion acquisition of 3PL GENCO Distribution System Inc. this year and its $5 billion proposed acquisition of TNT Express of the Netherlands.

Coyote is a non-asset-based truckload, les-than-truckload, and intermodal service provider arranging transportation of freight for more than 12,000 shippers across North America, according to its website. As a nonasset-based company, it contracts with outside truckers. Coca-Cola Co., Heineken USA and International Paper Co. are among its clients.

The privately-held company reportedly has around $2 billion in annual revenue. It has been named as one of the largest private companies headquartered in Chicago.

If the UPS deal goes through, Coyote could be abandoning an intial public offering that has reportedly been in the works for several months.