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Truck Tech is a weekly newsletter focusing on autonomous, connected and electric innovations in the trucking ecosystem for fleets.

While the Port of Long Beach is still dealing with a lineup of container ships waiting to berth, it is looking ahead to providing more cargo visibility.

Volume and yield gains powered the Express and LTL units, while staffing shortages and operating inefficiencies continued to hurt the Ground unit.

New York City has released several blueprints on its freight future during the de Blasio administration.

CCO Sean Burke shares results from Echo’s recent survey on shipper sentiment for the RFP season.

“The trucking insurance industry hasn’t innovated anything for the last few decades, so we thought with our insights and the right person we could change that,” said CEO Mats Holmback.

German shipper and delivery service DHL reserves 100 TuSimple autonomous trucks six weeks after joining Embark Trucks’ partner program.

Ryder and Blume Global demo their Rydershare and ConnectGo Live freight technologies during FreightWaves’ Domestic Supply Chain Summit.

Kodiak Robotics CEO Don Burnette says asset utilization is the big promise of autonomous trucks now testing mostly in the southwest U.S.

Shipware will deepen SIB’s shipping analysis portfolio, while Shipware clients can get spending needs addressed beyond parcel delivery, Shipware’s co-CEO said.

“This is not optional. This is going to be a core part of how we think about our investments going forward,” Jon Bradford, a partner at Dynamo Ventures, said.

The Internet of Things fleet management and software company sold 35 million shares and raised $805 million in its IPO Wednesday.

Aurora Innovation acquired Uber’s advanced technology group last year. Now it is piloting autonomous integration with Uber Freight.

CarrierDirect’s Ryan Schreiber and Nolan Transportation Group’s Drew Herpich discuss optimizing capacity during FreightWaves’ Domestic Supply Chain Summit.

Autonomy will ripple strongly through multiple modes, Lee Klaskow said during FreightWaves’ Domestic Supply Chain Summit.

Money flowing from the bipartisan infrastructure bill will soon kick-start major freight projects, CAGTC’s Elaine Nessle says during FreightWaves’ Domestic Supply Chain Summit.

Analysts, industry insiders and some of Central Freight Lines’ executives and drivers liken the LTL carrier’s demise to a “five-year death spiral” after the company lost a major customer, then acquired two failing companies.

United Airlines is getting lots of attention with bold statements that it hopes to fly hydrogen jets in seven years and supersonic jets by the end of the decade.

Central Freight Lines says rival LTL carrier Estes Express, based out of Richmond, Virginia, is interested in scooping up some of the Waco, Texas-based 2,100 drivers and employees, after FreightWaves broke the news Saturday that the LTL carrier was ceasing operations.

Viaduct’s services — Smart Service and Smart Quality — can help the company begin to make recall predictions to avoid unexpected maintenance for fleets.

Dozens are confirmed dead, but the search continues for survivors of Friday’s tornado outbreak across the South.

“Technology companies are starting to come to TruckerCloud as their ELD aggregator,” says TruckerCloud’s new CEO, Spencer Mitchell.

“I think the ability for us to pivot and be nimble to what the market is asking from us has become a huge piece to our success,” says Transflo’s CEO.

Some of the larger TMS providers cost four times what EKA charges and without as many features.

The Mexico-based startup aims to provide working capital to small and midsized trucking companies across Latin America.

Making freight and logistics activities sustainable in the Asia-Pacific region is anything but simple.

As part of Daimler Truck, Torc Robotics faces less pressure than some startups to get driverless trucks to market.

Canada is threatening to impose tariffs on U.S. exports and suspend provisions of the USMCA trade agreement over a proposed tax incentive for American-made electric vehicles.

Strong selling on Friday follows the disclosure that XPO’s founder, and chair of both companies, sold 3.2 million shares in each.

Nuvocargo offers an all-in-one services platform, including freight forwarding, customs brokerage, cargo insurance and trade financing.

Daimler Truck now stands on its own, trading in Frankfurt outside the shadow of longtime parent Daimler AG.

You’re only as strong as your weakest link. Don’t let back-office issues bring down the rest of your supply chain.

The container shipping surge shows no signs of letup, but the Southern California ports say they are slowly clearing out the backlogs.

Cambridge Capital’s Ben Gordon details the roots of his “scrappy underdog” mentality, past investments and FreightTech’s recent defining and not-so-defining moments.

Less-than-truckload carrier Yellow Corp reports the weakest revenue trends out of the public carriers providing fourth-quarter updates.

A Mississippi-based trucking company filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Tuesday, more than a year after its operating authority was revoked by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Forward Air’s initiative to upgrade its freight mix to a heavier class of premium cargo was evident in November results.

Less known outside military circles, Robotic Research may pick up what’s left of platooning pioneer Peloton Technologies.

Truck broker Landstar System announced Wednesday it will use 2021’s record performance to pay shareholders a $2-per-share special dividend.

Cummins Inc. deals with multiple short-term supply chain glitches, but it could take two years to fix chip shortages, CEO Tom Linebarger says.

Federal investigators have charged a second man in connection with an ongoing probe into an alleged CDL scheme in Pennsylvania

“You’ve got to have your own technology to get your own data and control your destiny,” said Jim Best.

A manager’s comments regarding possible closure of the facility if the Teamsters won is cited by an NLRB administrator as a reason for a new vote.

BP adds to wind power-based electricity generation with a foothold in U.S. electric vehicles through the purchase of startup Amply Power.

Rob Hatchett, president of Fleet Intel, discusses the importance of having real-time driver pay data at your fingertips.

Less-than-truckload carrier Old Dominion said share-taking efforts led to revenue growth ahead of its peers during November.

Georgia port officials are engaged in what appears to be the largest current expansion of a port in North America.

Industry cooperation removing containers from the docks has convinced port officials to hold off imposing penalties for excess storage.

Radiant Logistics announced Monday that it acquired digital logistics services provider Navegate for $35 million.

“Partnering with someone like Emerge, someone whose primary focus is staying in tune with technology, we can move much faster, pivot when need be and continue to move forward and focus on operational execution for our customers,” said DHL Supply Chain North America’s president of transportation.

“Our technology is picking loads for drivers based on what is best for the driver and what will generate the most revenue on the truck, which in turn, generates the highest potential salary for our drivers” said AI Fleet co-founder and CEO Marc El Khoury.

BMO’s quarterly figures on the health of its transportation portfolio are considered a strong indicator of underlying financials.

Knight-Swift adds to its less-than-truckload offering with the acquisition of Midwest Motor Express. Investors continue to see the value in owning LTL assets.

COVID exposed underlying chinks in the supply chain, especially at the ports. The White House has lit a fire under the industry’s feet to improve the container shipping system.

AskWaves dives into the 2,500-page Build Back Better Act to uncover the top 10 funding opportunities directed at freight and supply chains.

Difficulties finding trailers is starting to rival the effects of the driver shortage at the nation’s largest fleets.

Venture capital fund EQT Ventures is a backer of electric and autonomous vehicle maker Einride, but it is also a supporter of sustainable business models.

Truck Tech is a weekly newsletter offering perspective and context on electrification and autonomous technologies for fleets and the trucking ecosystem.

During a Stephens conference presentation before investors, CEO Fuller also discussed the unique driver retention tool at Variant called the “squad.”

Officials are creating unrealistic expectations that supply chains will be unplugged within weeks or months.

Freight railroads will need to report cyber incidents and take steps to improve security under a new Transportation Security Administration directive.

Intraquarter updates from less-than-truckload carriers show record third-quarter operating conditions have continued through the first two months of the fourth quarter.

“When we overperform, we expect to reinvest that back into our business. We focus on recurring revenues and establishing relationships with customers for life,” said Descartes’ CEO.

Supply chain tech is increasingly driven by late-stage venture capital activity.

Ashley Furniture has acquired Wilson Logistics, which provides asset-based third-party logistics services with a fleet of more than 1,200 trucks.

“This is a logical next evolutionary step for EKA to realize its original vision to democratize freight management,” says CEO JJ Singh.

Eleanor Holmes-Norton will run for chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to replace the retiring Peter DeFazio.

A Louisiana trucker was recently sentenced to nearly six years in prison for drug trafficking. Rusty Ross Honore received a PPP loan two months after he was arrested by the feds in Dec. 2020.

The former CFO of Roadrunner Transportation Systems was sentenced to two years in prison for his role in a complex securities and accounting fraud scheme on Tuesday.

The largest container terminal operator in the world is buying BDP, a midsize U.S. freight forwarder.

According to Gartner, multi-robot orchestration has only penetrated 1%-5% of its total target audience and will become necessary as companies begin deploying more than one robotics technology within their operations.

General rate increases for less-than-truckload shipments not under contract are rolling in ahead of schedule and are a little higher than normal.

The regional parcel delivery carrier becomes the private equity firm’s 10th “logistics and infrastructure services” investment.

Major retailers and suppliers reassured the White House they have a handle on supply chain volatility and can meet consumer demand.

Retail inventories jump ahead of the holiday buying season but the need for restocking will extend well into 2022, which bodes well for freight demand.

The Federal Trade Commission will investigate whether large companies have taken advantage of the supply chain chaos at the expense of consumers or smaller competitors.

The commercialization of autonomous vehicles is an all-hands-on-deck affair, requiring competitors to collaborate with each other.

President of PGT Trucking said the load-matching trend doesn’t adequately respond to today’s supply chain constraints, driver shortage and polluted environment.

Daimler Truck estimates the revenue loss from a persistent shortage of microchips will cost billions in lost revenue.

Before its two-truck autonomous convoys hit the road in 2022, startup Locomation points to a scientific study validating its approach.

Parsyl extracts and transforms data into actionable insights for a particular commodity’s transportation network.

“This is the largest amount of funding that has been dedicated to building a complete business management solution for trucking entrepreneurs and we are excited to be leading the charge here,” says CloudTrucks CEO Tobenna Arodiogbu.

The owner of a small Delaware-based trucking company described his driver, who was recently arrested and charged with holding a woman captive in his truck for nearly eight months, as “religious” and “a nice guy.”

Werner Enterprises triples the size of its final-mile offering with the addition of Northeast-based Nehds Logistics.

Southern California ports and private operators are using carrots and sticks to help eliminate a massive pileup of cargo.

Third-party logistics provider Transport Investments Inc. has acquired a majority stake in specialty freight brokerages US Logistics and Nationwide Logistics.

“Beginning with the 2018 merger of Transportation Insight and Nolan Transportation Group, we have been on a mission to bring together the most innovative thinkers with the most powerful technologies and data to empower the largest network of people to create a new future of logistics,” says CEO Ken Beyer.

The sight of an armada of ships off the California coast garners much attention, but shippers should instead focus inland to digitize their driver networks.

Picking transport stocks in 2022 will not involve a blanket approach, according to Deutsche Bank. However, there are still several companies with significant upside potential.

Innovation and investment are the watchwords at the Georgia Ports Authority, where officials are rushing to deal with supply chain constraints.

TFI International expands its U.S. temperature-controlled business with the acquisition of Missouri trucking firm D&D Sexton.

“I wanted to find a way to reduce emissions that was nonregulatory and allowed shippers to select carriers based on operational efficiency [and] price,” says Eric Beckwitt, Freightera founder and CEO.

Hedge funds and retail investors led the takeoff in transportation SPACs that are barely staying aloft. Guess who gets the better end of that deal?

Double demurrage in Seattle: A terminal operator is adding a second layer of fees for extended container dwell times.

Aurora Technology pledges to be first to take the driver out of an autonomous truck in late 2023, but its freight ambitions are modest at present.

The owner of a tanker testing and repair company has been sentenced for lying to OSHA about an illegal repair to a fuel tanker that resulted in an explosion that severely injured him and another worker.

Canadian transportation and logistics firm Manitoulin Group expands in western Canada with acquisitions of Diamond Delivery and First Canadian Messenger.

Despite reports that congestion issues are easing on the water at California’s major ports, drayage truckers claim this isn’t the case for them as efficiency issues continue to plague terminal operators.

“We cut out three to four hours a day of just nonsense back and forth between carriers, accounting, operations.”

Kuehne + Nagel is one of the largest, most profitable international freight management companies in the world. Its CEO announced he will leave next year.