Business

A change in political direction – and ongoing concerns – greet 10 Biden picks who will deal with freight issues.

A $250 million e-commerce- and transportation-focused SPAC was filed Friday. Logistics industry veteran Dick Metzler is behind the deal.

While the opinion letters don’t have the force of law, they do suggest which way the new administration will go in classification of compensation issues

Winter storm Uri was brutal for a lot of people, specifically in the Southeast and Southwest. With that being said, the auto industry experienced some repercussions from the storm worth noting.

Uber recently sent out a white paper on its views of compensation and other benefits for its drivers in Europe.

“Constantly shifting consumer demand and supply shocks that are felt worldwide regularly throw supply chains out of balance.”

A former accounting employee of a New Mexico-based trucking company pleaded guilty in federal court to embezzling more than $1.1 million from her employer over a seven-year period.

Ryder CEO Robert Sanchez gets two opportunities to talk about the company’s outlook, in an earnings call and at a Citi conference.

A former Jet.com co-founder is rethinking the way e-commerce orders are delivered — specifically, when orders are delivered and in what vessel they arrive at their destination. Nate Faust believes after 25 years of e-commerce, it’s time for a new way of imagining delivery.

On-demand driver platform Haul has attracted a diverse group of investors as it looks to disrupt the CDL staffing industry.

Despite a last-minute pardon by former President Donald Trump in his criminal case, tech pioneer Anthony Levandowski’s legal woes continue after he was forced to file for bankruptcy protection on […]

Cold storage operator Americold saw occupancy dip year-over-year during the fourth quarter as food manufacturers struggled to keep proteins in stock.

Prospective North American and international customers are inquiring about Wabtec’s battery electric, heavy-haul locomotive, which is undergoing advanced tests with BNSF. The company reported its fourth-quarter results on Thursday.

The California DMV alerted customers to a possible data breach involving one of its vendors. Jason Feldman of AFTS confirmed the ransomware attack but couldn’t comment on the group behind it, how much money the hackers requested and whether his company paid.

Star Bulk and Golden Ocean have recently acquired almost $1 billion in ships between them as they seek more exposure to the dry bulk market.

Cass freight data released Thursday shows a huge surge in freight spending with solid growth in shipments. The report indicated that 2021 is unlikely to produce the “rate relief” to shippers that 2019 provided.

Also on the podcast this week: The soaring price of diesel and the impact from the Texas cold snap

Using domestic reloads and street turns are among Blume Global’s strategies to reduce empty miles and emissions.

Walmart shares drop hard as investors focus on lower-than-expected fiscal year 2021 fourth-quarter results and uninspiring FY 22 guidance.

The Container Store’s (NYSE: TCS) most recent earnings call details the reality of shifting to a greater mix of e-commerce sales at a time when transportation capacity is extremely tight.

Combining Hunt’s data and Google’s tools will yield differentiated service offerings.

Ascend focuses on smaller carriers and shippers, which now will have greater visibility into what Uber Freight has to offer.

Peloton is riding a wave for the history books right now. It has grown revenues by triple digits year-over-year for three consecutive quarters while building one of the most recognizable brands in not just fitness, but all consumer segments. If it should continue this meteoric rise, it must sort its supply chain issues before either the vaccines or competition prematurely puts out its flame.

Cargo shippers hamstrung by the global container shortage should not expect a box building spree in China to come to their rescue.

Werner Enterprises modestly lowered earnings expectations for the first quarter of 2021 due to downtime caused by recent winter storms. The company expects no change to the tight capacity dynamic for some time.

The warehouse robot maker sees strong growth as more businesses automate their fulfillment operations.

Reliance Partners announced Wednesday it has acquired Borderless Coverage, an insurance agency focused on the U.S.-Mexico commercial transportation and logistics industries.

Several Latin America-focused freight and logistics-related startups have recently secured more funding, including Mundi, Jüsto and Valoreo.

anadian e-commerce firm Shopify continues to slowly ramp up its U.S. fulfillment network on the heels of record fourth-quarter financial results.

Amazon so often does everything seemingly right, so it’s important to talk about its shortfalls. I’m confident Amazon will right the Whole Foods ship, but it’s clear the boat has been sailing against the wind since COVID hit.

David Owen West pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering in federal court, admitting he orchestrated an elaborate scheme to defraud his former employer, Petco Petroleum Corp., out of more than $400,000.

Autonomous vehicle startup Gatik has announced it will deploy electric trucks as part of its autonomous testing in New Orleans with partner Walmart.

Torc Robotics gets millions of gigabytes of data in testing self-driving trucks for Daimler AG. Now it wants Amazon Web Services to make faster sense of it.

Appearing at an investor conference, J.B. Hunt CEO John Roberts said this year’s intermodal bid season will go a long way in determining whether the company curtails the division’s margin target.

Amazon is an e-commerce rocket ship. Making those deliveries possible is Amazon Air, which is growing so fast it could make it possible for more people to receive orders within a day.

Preeti Pande, the hydrogen solution provider’s chief marketing officer, comes with extensive fuel cell industry experience and a Ph.D.

The Open Visibility Network partnership will combine FourKites’ and Tive’s data and capabilities to give mutual customers more supply chain visibility.

FreightWaves’ interviews are sure to spark discussions among industry insiders.

TCA advocates for an increase to the federal fuel tax to make up for funding shortfalls, but also recognizes that a vehicle miles tax is inevitable. The question is how do we get there?

The activist investor group seeking changes at Forward Air said the company’s recent results and guidance are “substandard” in a letter to shareholders. The group also asserts that Forward was “disingenuous” in the way it provided updates on fourth-quarter results, suggesting it was fearful of receiving other board nominations.

Digital freight forwarder Flexport can now link consignee order data to shipments from suppliers.

More venture capital flowing to maritime tech startups – and more shipping companies giving those startups a trial run.

Most less-than-truckload carriers have implemented general rate increases for 2021. The average increase is in the mid-single digits, ahead of some increases issued in the past and likely indicative of a firm LTL market.

Truck parking reservation platform TruckPark is adding more locations to its platform through a partnership with national parking provider ParkMyFleet.

General Motors is extending temporary shutdowns at three assembly plants, including one in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.

Amid heightened scrutiny over the direction of the company, Forward Air’s management team defends its current strategy. Fourth-quarter results were negatively impacted by a December cyberattack.

On podcast, Amit Mehrotra of Deutsche Bank looks over the reports for the last quarter of last year

On Wednesday, the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled against SK Innovation Co. Ltd. for stealing battery trade secrets from LG Chem. What implications does this have for OEMs that rely on SK?

From truck parts to fuel cells, business leaders face challenges in getting critical components and meeting customer expectations for delivery.

We’ve long touted retail inventory restocking as a primary growth driver for the freight bull run, but apparel brands aren’t aligning with this thesis. Rather than reverting back to habitual overordering and year-end discounting, retailers are sticking with the conservative ordering tactics that helped them win the holiday season.

As vaccine distribution spreads globally, the hope for pre-pandemic normalcy heightens. But FreightWaves’ exclusive conversation with Bill Fallon, AIT Worldwide Logistics’ vice president of global accounts, reveals that the changes spurred by the pandemic may permanently shift how the global community works and shops.

Doctors have been identified in the lawsuit, a truck driver was fired after one “accident,” and C.R. England paid out over $4 million in a case.

Leaf Logistics CEO Anshu Prasad believes manufacturers of food and consumer packaged goods could be in jeopardy of missing earnings expectations as transportation rates remained elevated throughout the quarter.

New unit acquired by Forward Air increases its intermodal footprint.

XPO Logistics sees strong momentum coming off an excellent fourth quarter.

Smart loading dock startup Kargo announced the close of its $6 million seed round on Thursday. The company eyes further expansion and product development.

Two GlobalTranz employees whose job classification changed have filed suit for overtime, but the suit seeks much larger class certification.

Rush Enterprises sold Class 8 trucks at a level reflecting the industry’s overall COVID-impacted decline in 2020. It expects better results in 2021 and beyond.

Samsara announced Thursday it has surpassed more than $300 million in run-rate subscription revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter ended Jan. 30.

Day Three of Global Supply Chain Week will cover topics related to food and CPG supply chains. Tyson Foods Chief Sustainability Officer John Tyson is set to start the day off with global sustainability in mind.

The first reaction to earnings at Ryder from Wall Street was decidedly negative.

Thanks to COVID, there are no seasonal highs and lows for international shipping. There is so much demand for goods that the peak season never seems to end — and ports, railroads, truckers and warehouses are reaching the breaking point.

A California judge awarded $23.7 million, considered a “nuclear verdict” because it exceeds $10 million, to a motorcyclist whose lower leg was amputated after he was struck by a work truck in Los Angeles.

Trimble produced $829.7 million in revenue during the fourth quarter of 2020, with earnings per share of 71 cents.

The size of Uber Freight’s “fleet” is about 71,000 carriers.

Brokerage steals the spotlight at XPO amid a record revenue performance and strong 2021 earnings guidance.

An open letter from activist investor Ancora Advisors says “ineffective capital allocation” and diversification into “margin- and return-dilutive service offerings” have led to inferior results for Forward Air compared to other less-than-truckload carriers.

TrinityRail will permanently close a plant in Vidor, Texas, laying off 59 workers by April 30.

Old-school aerodynamics technologies such as TruckWings can contribute to economic and environmental sustainability.

SmartHop has secured a $12M Series A funding round with participation from heavy hitters Union Square Ventures and RyderVentures to scale its “business-in-a-box” solution for owner-operators and small fleets.

Self-driving truck technology startup Plus is already working on an autonomous freight matching project in China. Now it has investors there.

Maersk, the world’s largest container carrier, just reported record quarterly results. And its next quarter looks even better.

While optimism is returning to the economy, 83% of manufacturers expect their company to take up to a year to recover, according to a survey from BDO.

The embezzler will serve concurrent prison terms as well as pay restitution for unpaid taxes.

Third-party logistics provider Radiant Logistics beat expectations for its second fiscal quarter. The company’s improved results and low-debt profile are allowing it to pursue acquisitions.

The most important number, yield, is up from January 2020 for Forward Air.

The former owner of Sisic Transport admitted to altering thousands of logbook entries for his drivers, using Omnitracs’ automatic onboard recording device software.

Korean container carrier HMM expects equipment and capacity shortages to continue at least through the end of the first quarter.

Thanks to the congestion in Los Angeles, container rates and volumes in Savannah are both hitting highs. When will volumes stabilize?

TFI International CEO says it will take a hard line on UPS Freight customers who aren’t making the company money after its $800 million acquisition closes.

Yard management represents a costly blind spot for many shippers and their supply chain partners, according to a survey released by FourKites.

Less-than-truckload carrier Saia laid out expansion plans on its fourth-quarter earnings call. The carrier believes door count growth can exceed recent expansion efforts.

Old Dominion CEO Greg Gantt says nine service centers were added in 2020 and there are more to come this year — some of them soon.

Now carriers can see max bids and auction closing times on offered loads.

Less-than-truckload carrier Saia reported fourth-quarter results well ahead of expectations Monday. The company reported record operating results in a “most unique year.”

The Biden administration review of critical supply chains is aimed at reducing reliance on China for equipment.

All Nippon Airways is consolidating freighter operations at one of its Tokyo airports, and only relying on passenger planes to deliver cargo to Okinawa to save money after losing a lot of money in the first three quarters of its fiscal year.

CEO Dave Jackson says Knight-Swift “stepped up and we put a chunk of coin down to make sure all of our data stays private.”

“ZEBOX will assist innovative startups in developing new technologies in transportation, logistics, mobilities and industry 4.0,” says CMA CGM CEO Rodolphe Saadé.

Long grind ahead for crude tankers: Executives and analysts don’t see recovery until second half — if not later.

Supply chain software provider E2Open is now trading on the NYSE under a new symbol.

North American automotive and import opportunities could boost business for Universal Logistics during 2021, CEO Tim Phillips said during the Q4 earnings call.

A drop between December and January is normal, and the strong market did not reverse that.

The global chip shortage has been running rampant for more than three months now. U.S. senators urged President Biden this week to work with Congress to address this threatening problem.

Whereas at other times cheap capital might be an occasion to take bigger risks, this time, enterprises are not using their resources to expand outside their bread-and-butter business but instead to invest within it.

The number of jobs in the warehousing and storage sector also fell from December to January.

President Biden has pledged to pump funding into state and local agencies in a bid to make last-mile freight delivery smarter and safer.

Titanium Transportation Group becomes one of the largest trucking companies in Canada after acquiring International Truckload Services.

Business payments company FLEETCOR Technologies Inc. reported EPS 19 cents above estimates for the fourth quarter.

Retailers will want to pull forward inventory ahead of the 2021 peak season, the intermodal marketing company said. Fourth-quarter 2020 revenue grew by 6% although net profit slipped by 20% year-over-year.