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Running on Ice: The government meets supply chain

Your latest info on all things cold chain

The place for all things cold chain.

Hello, and welcome to the coolest community in freight! Here you’ll find the latest information on warehouse news, tech developments and all things reefer madness-related. I’m your controller of the thermostat, Mary O’Connell. Thanks for having me!

All thawed out 

(Photo: Shutterstock)

Temperature-controlled supply chains have an unusual ally in the form of the U.S. House of Representatives. Didn’t have that on my 2023 bingo card. A bipartisan bill focused on the supply chain was unanimously passed through the House Committee on Energy and Commerce as the Promoting Resilient Supply Chains Act. The bill was introduced by Reps. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., and Larry Bucshon, R-Ind.

The main objective of this act is to establish a supply chain resiliency program within the Department of Commerce to map, monitor and promote U.S. supply chains in critical industries and emerging technologies, as well as encourage the development and competitiveness of U.S. productive capacities and manufacturing.

As the nation saw during the pandemic and even after it, there are some glaring holes in some of our most critical industries that need to be filled. From drug shortages and toilet paper shortages all the way to infant formula shortages, the House of Representatives and the White House Council on Supply Chain Resilience are seemingly determined to make these shortages a thing of the past. 


Temperature checks

(Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

An all too familiar story is playing out at Americold: the aftermath of a ransomware attack. The attack happened in April and affected nearly 130,000 people. Now that the investigation has been concluded, it showed the personal information of many people was leaked online. 

The attack has been credited to a group called Cactus. This group is exploiting vulnerabilities in Virtual Private Networks to gain access to large companies. According to a The Record article, “The gang was responsible for 16 attacks on industrial entities tracked by Dragos [an incident response firm] in the third quarter of 2023 — representing about 7% of all attacks.” 

The rise of cyberattacks across the entire logistics industry is only going to continue in the new year. It’s more crucial than ever to ensure that any and all security measures are up to date. 

Food and drugs

(Photo: Blue Apron)

Coming in chilly to a refrigerator near you is a new twist on premade meals. Blue Apron is taking its meal kits and removing the work to offer premade meals that stay fresh and are never frozen. Blue Apron is aiming to be a one-stop shop for customers from meal kits to heat-and-eat meals as 62% of customers were interested in subscribing to a service with more than one meal solution, according to a news release.


According to the news release, “Blue Apron’s Prepared & Ready meals will be available to order now as part of a subscription through the website and mobile app, or without a subscription starting on January 8, 2024 through Blue Apron’s Market. Prepared & Ready will also be available to purchase at Wonder stores in New York and New Jersey at the end of January.”

These meals are coming at the perfect time as they will be available the second week of January and there are carb-conscious, high-protein and 600 calories or less meal options to help those with resolutions stay on track. 

Cold chain lanes

SONAR Tickers: ROTVI.ONT, ROTRI.ONT

This week’s reefer market is one of the top freight markets in the country, Ontario, California, near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Having spent some time out of the spotlight, Ontario is looking to reclaim some of the freight volumes lost as a result of long wait times and uncertain labor markets. 

This week reefer capacity in Ontario is loosening as both the Reefer Outbound Tender Reject Index and the Reefer Outbound Volume Index are falling. The ROTRI has dropped to 8.9% rejections but is still up 121 basis points week over week as last week was a catch-up and rebalancing week following the Thanksgiving holiday. The national average ROTRI is at 7.39%, which indicates that spot rates coming out of Ontario will continue to be higher than most other markets.

Is SONAR for you? Check it out with a demo!

Shelf life

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One-Plate frozen meals become popular in Japan with new recipes, reasonable prices


Emergent Cold LatAm raises US$ 500 million for next phase of investment in refrigerated logistics

Mediport gets behind active cold chain network

‘We need everyone on this journey’: How PepsiCo is reducing water use in its supply chain

Future-proofing the pharma cold chain

Wanna chat in the cooler? Shoot me an email with comments, questions or story ideas at moconnell@freightwaves.com.

See you on the internet.

Mary

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Mary O'Connell

Former pricing analyst, supply chain planner, and broker/dispatcher turned creator of the newsletter and podcast Check Call. Which gives insights into the world around 3PLs and Freight brokers. She will talk your ear off about anything and everything if you let her. Expertise in operations, LTL pricing and procurement, flatbed operations, dry van, tracking and tracing, reality tv shows and how to turn a stranger into your new best friend.