Business

Big numbers tied to electric infrastructure released this week reinforce the chicken-and-egg cliche about electric trucks.

Experts say Mexico has increasingly become a go-to production option as shippers seek to reduce supply chain risks with China.

Asset-light less-than-truckload provider Forward Air sees tonnage fall off sharply in November.

Descartes said demand for supply chain visibility tools remains strong amid uncertainty in the broader economy.

The breakup with Navistar is a big deal for autonomous truck developer TuSimple, but its balance sheet could limit reputational damage.

“Whether a company is big or small, they all need to provide visibility to their customers. … If a company can’t provide delivery dates, process inventory efficiency and delivery on-time then the customers will go somewhere else,” said project44 founder and CEO Jett McCandless.

RXO, spun off Nov. 1, released its third-quarter earnings to the SEC for its first stand-alone numbers.

ContainerPort Group’s parent World Group announced the acquisition of distribution and trucking company Pacific Cascade.

“Now, stone yards across the country can get on our site, find a load of stone, get the shipping cost and book a truck in a matter of minutes,” said StoneLoads CEO Patrick Wells.

Einride has raised $500 million through a combination of equity and debt financing, giving it more funding to accelerate deployment of its autonomous and electric vehicles.

The American Transportation Research Institute finds that power needs for all-electric cars and trucks would be enormous.

The industry’s first autonomous trucking marriage between TuSimple and Navistar is the first to end in divorce.

A Teamsters local chapter in San Jose, California, that represents drivers at a Home Depot subsidiary has voted to decertify being represented by the union.

It is not exactly a fundraising round, but Kodiak Robotics is generating $49.9 million in autonomous work for the U.S. Army

Less-than-truckload tonnage declined at an accelerated pace through November.

“Scheduling appointments at facilities is one of the most common activities in trucking, but it is also one of the most fragmented and offline,” said Dan Lewis, co-founder and CEO of Convoy.

This week: J.B. Hunt donates money and supplies to over 55 classrooms across the U.S. Drivers for Mack Trucks take to social media with animal selfies for a good cause and Love’s donates to a child advocacy group that helps foster care children.

As digital freight technology becomes more mainstream, carriers aren’t quite ready to lose the human element entirely.

After months of quiet, the U.S. Attorney for Eastern Louisiana extracted two more guilty pleas in the Louisiana staged accident scam.

The approach of Cummins Inc. to hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines is very different from how and when it talks about most of its products.

The deceleration in less-than-truckload tonnage during the fourth quarter is worse than analysts expected.

The BMO transportation group’s quarterly results represent a key indicator of trucking industry economic health, but there has been no significant downturn yet.

Rail and truck TMS plans to add ocean and barge.

The owner of a pair of trucking companies got 10 years in federal prison for lots of things, including a welding explosion that killed a worker.

Cummins Inc. closed the $197 million purchase of Siemens’ Commercial Vehicles business, a deal originally struck by Meritor.

OneRail plans to scale sales, marketing and data science.

Atlas Air, a large cargo airline and lessor, is one step closer to becoming a private company after a shareholder vote.

AWS Supply Chain has launched an application to unify supply chain data from multiple systems and vendors.

3PL company Neovia has a new capital structure, but S&P Global Ratings still views it as having a large hill to climb.

With Ditat, carriers do not need to have their own experts on staff or hire a third-party developer to set up an EDI connection. They just need to reach out to customer support, which will take it from there.

The blockchain-enabled global platform TradeLens will go offline by the end of the first quarter of 2023.

Bluejay Capital Partners has acquired Atlanta-based 3PL Best Warehousing and Transportation for an undisclosed amount.

OmnisTMS enhances its truckload pricing engine with high-frequency spot rates.

A North Carolina trucking company owner said he wanted to buy a used truck but is now in a long legal battle to get back cash confiscated by police who thought it was part of a drug deal.

Family-owned Mid Continent Trucking of Denison, Iowa, notified drivers and employees recently that after 24 years, the refrigerated carrier was ceasing operations two days after Thanksgiving because of worsening economic conditions and tumbling freight rates.

Netradyne’s Kristin Tedesco outlines the many ways fleets can engage with their drivers and show thanks this holiday season.

Upgrading your TMS will only be more difficult the longer you wait.

A former United Furniture Industries employee claims the furniture manufacturer, headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi, violated federal law by failing to give 60 days’ notice of its abrupt shutdown to nearly 2,700 employees and truck drivers, who found themselves without jobs two days before Thanksgiving.

“The procurement of industrial products and spare parts is at a critical crossroads as the global supply chain is faced with unprecedented headwinds,” said Chris Lawrence, managing partner at Labyrinth Capital Partners.

Expeditors’ stock is too high priced, Wells Fargo says, as it cuts its rating to a level tantamount to “sell.”

Whirlpool was chosen as a Shipper of Choice — an award that recognizes retailers and distributors that value their carrier relationships.

Sapphire Ventures executive Demi Obayomi explains what trends the venture capital firm is seeing in the supply chain — and where technology can help.

Gmail accounts allegedly connected to FourKites made accusations of accounting fraud and organized crime to project44 board members and executives.

Former employees of United Furniture Industries say they were caught unaware overnight after receiving word they were not to report to work Tuesday because their jobs were being immediately terminated “due to unforeseen business circumstances.”

Surge Transportation’s Omar Singh explains why partnerships are still key in the platform’s digital model.

Hydrogen fuel cell truck maker Hyzon Motors faces Nasdaq deadlines after missing a financial filing for the second consecutive quarter.

Several high-profile commercial electric vehicle makers have faced recent struggles, but BrightDrop says it is on pace for $1 billion in revenue next year.

A theme emerges as you look around the electrification and autonomous trucking space. Practically no one does it alone.

IFS democratizes 3PL software for companies large and small.

Boardroom drama at TuSimple takes a new turn with the executive chairman holding 59% voting control of the company.

A GAO report recommends DOT better explain its grant-funding procedures so that applicants won’t overestimate how much money they must contribute to qualify for funding.

CEO Michael Colin details MVMNT’s delivery of enterprise-level technology downstream to smaller brokerages.

Don’t miss out on what Mexico has to offer. Go with the leading cross-border 3PL.

Management from one of the nation’s largest truck brokerages is ready to take on the industry alone.

Freon Logistics, a California-based trucking company, has filed for bankruptcy, and some employees protested recently to demand unpaid wages.

Less-than-truckload demand has taken another step lower, according to carriers attending the Stephens investor conference.

Earnings for Zim, the world’s 10th largest ocean carrier, peaked in the first quarter and continue to slide as rates fall.

Arrive is building more intelligent technology, reaching new markets and getting creative to win freight.

Pilot Co. and Volvo Group move to keep public charging on pace with electric vehicle adoption as Prologis adds charging installations.

“We will continue our ecosystem expansion, powering even more flexibility in quoting and securing capacity as well as some tactical expansion into additional modes and methods of transportation,” said Greenscreens.ai CEO Dawn Salvucci-Favier.

A recent FreightWaves Research survey found strong consensus among carriers and brokers/3PLs that spot rates are still a few months from hitting bottom, but that they’ll start to climb again in the second half of 2023.

The latest round of funding for Attabotics supports the 3D robotics firm’s goal to revolutionize legacy fulfillment centers across the supply chain industry.

Flatbed trucking company Daseke announced Monday it is repurchasing the nearly 30% stake in the company held by its founder.

The Department of Labor is seeking comments on its proposed independent contractor rule, and the trucking world is stepping up.

“We strategically positioned our carriers six months ago for the freight they are hauling today,” said the company’s senior director of capacity, Ivan Momchilov.

How does nearly three years as a nuclear machinist’s mate in the U.S. Navy prepare someone to be CEO of Wabash?

If you’re not investing smartly in people and tech, you’re asking to be left behind. 

PS Logistics said Thursday its fifth acquisition of the year will expand coverage in the Southeast.

Cheng Lu, ousted as CEO in an unannounced succession plan in March, is returning to autonomous truck developer TuSimple in his former role.

Container shipping fundamentals are not as bad as spot rates imply, says the head of the world’s fifth-largest ocean carrier.

“Container demand is expected to be under downward pressure due to considerable uncertainties,” HMM said in its third-quarter earnings release.

Radiant Logistics said Wednesday it needed more time to complete a restatement of financials and submit results to the SEC.

The U.S. Postal Service posted declines in package-delivery revenue and volume.

RoadSync and Fullbay have a deal that should assist in more rapid payments at repair shops.

A Michigan jury has awarded $7.7 million to a man who was seriously injured in 2018 when the wheel came loose from a box truck heading in the opposite direction, jumped the median and crashed into the front of his vehicle.

In a stunning announcement, an analyst and his company that could be seen as skeptical of XPO’s prospects won’t be tracking the company moving forward.

Contract logistics giant GXO posts a better-than-expected earnings per share and affirms its full-year targets.

Flatbed hauler Daseke said its trucks remain “booked solid” and that it will look to use cost and efficiency initiatives to improve results again in 2023.

Freight brokerages see more frequent bid events as opportunities to take market share.

Guided by Emtec Digital, companies can expedite their digital transformation by implementing robotic process automation and intelligent automation, allowing for enhanced operational efficiency and productivity.

High utilization rates show a demand for rail cars, executives for FreightCar America said during a third-quarter 2022 earnings call Tuesday.

Mark Russell has been selling converted options in Nikola daily since mid-September, which is not a good look for a company CEO.

Jake Medwell of Austin, Texas-based 8VC and Loren Smith of Skyline Policy Risk Group discuss fuel prices, infrastructure and the possibility of a rail strike.

German shipping and logistics giant Deutsche Post DHL has raised its full-year profit guidance to a record of $8.38 billion.

Revenues and expenses were little changed from last year at Expeditors but profitability rose.

Forward Air said Monday it has entered into an agreement to acquire an intermodal drayage provider with locations in Mobile, Alabama, and Memphis, Tennessee.

Higher revenues in Q3 weren’t enough to offset a 30% increase in operational expenses for western U.S. rail carrier BNSF.

Ouster and Velodyne have seen their stock prices tumble this year, but can a merger between the two lead to a turnaround?

Werner Enterprises announced the acquisition of freight broker ReedTMS Logistics for $112.4 million. The deal also included a small dedicated carrier.

Cargo continued to dominate the passenger side at Korean Air during the third quarter.

As the new CEO at TrandeLens, Kim Spalding joins the ranks of the 19% of women in C-Suite positions in the supply chain industry.

Railcar manufacturers expressed five themes in recent earnings calls. Their consensus: There is still much to be upbeat about.

Echo Global Logistics said it has acquired Fastmore Logistics, a brokerage with a specialized carrier network and expertise selling to international freight forwarders.

Fleet growth will be held steady as the truckload carrier pivots back to a more traditional model.

The $3.3 billion acquisition of Meritor Inc. took a bite out of Cummins’ Q3 earnings as did underperforming joint ventures in China.

project44 has secured $80 million in funding to create a system to measure supply chain emissions globally.

Europe must replace all seaborne crude imports from Russia within the next few weeks. Crude tanker owners stand to gain.

The 2023 list saw a mix of award mainstays and brand-new names. Nos. 1 through 7 all claimed their fifth straight award — meaning they’ve found their way on the FreightTech 25 each year since 2018, when the series was founded.

Nikola Corp. is laying off 7% of its workforce and slowing electric production because making more increases the loss.

Logistics real estate operator Link Logistics said “broad-based demand” further narrowed vacancy rates and produced record lease spreads in the third quarter.