News

This week, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) published their 29th annual State of Logistics Report, which identified the trends that will impact the industry for the remainder of the year and well into the future.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of allowing states to collect taxes on all sales made through online channels, helping large omnichannel retailers compete online for sales.

China wants to consolidate the Asia-North America container trade and drive supply chain efficiencies by operating a container terminal in Long Beach, but national security concerns may scuttle the COSCO-OOCL merger.

Truck tonnage rose for the second consecutive month in May, as improving economic conditions and gains in hiring have helped trucking performance.

A few thoughts in Today’s Pickup from a two-day visit to Washington.

Sweden has unveiled the world’s first road that can charge electric trucks while they move over it, by letting the vehicle connect with charging tracks embedded inside the road.

Cutbacks dating back to 2015, strong economic growth and problems in a lot of producing countries have brought the oil market to this point.

Sponsored by Reliance Partners…There are a lot of reasons why it’s hard for owner-operators to get the best deal possible on their truck insurance. Owner-operators are busy.

Study says physical infrastructure of container shipping is unlikely to change.

MSC blames a “challenging operating environment for business.”

Accelerating growth in both volumes and spending a signal that “U.S. economy is ignoring all of the angst coming out of Washington” about potential trade war.

The board approved $277.6 million in capital expenditures, the largest portion of which will go toward the Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal currently under construction.

Throughput at terminals operated by the Northwest Seaport Alliance slipped another 4.4 percent.

Georgia and South Carolina ports authorities say their goal is to improve the supply and condition of chassis.

President Trump’s pick for the Consumer Product Safety Commission tells the Senate Commerce Committee that the agency still thinks in terms of “brick-and-mortar retail.”

The American Trucking Associations’ seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index ticked up 0.7 percent following a revised 2.7 percent increase the previous month.

Australia-based software company makes its eighth acquisition this year.

The American Line Pipe Producers Association is particularly pleased with Commerce’s “strong response” in its investigation of these imports from China and India.

Daugherty leading joint venture of APL and Fujitrans; Proulx heading operations for logistics provider; and Hendricks chairing board.

The song of 2018 remains the same—and tariffs or no tariffs, it projects to remain so even as infrastructure on the rails and ports expand.

Eastbound containers and westbound LNG drove record Panama Canal volumes in May. Last month was the third time the canal has broken tonnage records since the expansion was completed in 2016.

Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to potentially develop commercial vehicles as part of a strategic alliance.

Between 2008 and 2018 UPS will have invested more than $1 billion in alternative-fuel and advanced-technology vehicles and fueling stations.

Penske Logistics has reached agreement in principle to acquire Epes Transport Systems, of Greensboro, NC. The deal, expected to be finalized in the next few weeks, will add over 1,200 units to Penske Logistics.

Shrugging off any potential disruption due to trade war, FedEx Corp. executives were upbeat about the outlook for 2019 for both the general economy and FedEx’s operating units during its fiscal 2018 fourth-quarter and year-end earnings call on Tuesday.

Stifel resumed coverage of major 3PLs on Monday with a flurry of analyst notes: we report J. Bruce Chan’s key findings on XPO Logistics, CH Robinson, and Echo Global.

Eye on Safety sponsored by SmartDrive …Safe Driver Week targets behaviors that often lead to accidents and other problems between trucks and cars.

The deal is expected to close within three to six months.

International Maritime Organization called on to address safety and penalties.

The Memphis-based parcel giant reported a net income of $4.57 billion, up 52 percent year-over-year.

Carolina Dybeck Happe succeeds Jakob Stausholm, who resigned as chief financial officer of the Danish shipping conglomerate in March.

New warehouse campus will feature two buildings with more than 2.3 million square feet of space.

Japanese ocean carrier and its parent company are acquiring 50 percent stake in AKOFS Offshore AS.

The company announces plans to acquire up to nine ships and an initial public offering to raise up to $100 million.

Port authority promotes Shaun Stevenson to president and CEO.

Railway plans to invest C$210 million across the province as part of record C$3.4 billion capital program.

German-based tank container provider will bolster services to domestic Australian shippers of bulk liquid chemicals, wine, milk and liquefied gases.

Growing company promotes and hires.

The Ohio-based company was fined earlier this year.

As alternative energy continues to make headlines, companies are adding more electric vehicles their fleets. Both Ryder and UPS announced significant EV additions earlier this month.

The incumbents are still way ahead. While C.H. Robinson’s scale and reach remain unmatched, a number of competitors have realized strong growth and have achieved significant scale over the past ten years.

Digital trucking apps have a hard road to gaining traction, while the freight markets are not phased by tariff talks, yet.

Sweetbridge Alliance, the go-to-market network for a decentralized, liquid and transparent global supply chain powered by open-source blockchain protocols, recently became an industry association member of the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA).

Cashflow Corner presented by TriumphPay …For some owner-operators, Obamacare provided a path to insurance coverage. For others, the mandate was government overreach. This is starting to change, but what is not is the increasing costs of health care.

On June 18, XPO Logistics announced their partnership with Nestlé as the two plan to construct “a 638,000-square-foot distribution center at the new SEGRO East Midlands Gateway Logistics Park (SLPEMG) in Leicestershire, UK.”

Just weeks after opening an office in Singapore, the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA) has engaged with industry on the benefits and potential of blockchain technology. These discussions have led to NR Capital joining the Alliance.

The Chainalytics-Cowen Indices are indicating a slowing freight market in April, but how does that help us in mid-June?

Kangaruu creates a persistent, organized communication tool to manage logistics between shippers and brokers in the $45 billion spot market

The founder of an industry startup with lots of buzz tells an industry conference how it happened.

The port has been experiencing delays from the implementation of a new terminal operating system.

Under the strategic partnership, Google will invest $550 million in China’s second-largest e-commerce provider.

New York-based private equity firm enters agreement to acquire one of the world’s largest third-party air cargo ground handlers.

Despite losing ground for the second straight week on a sequential basis, container freight rates between Asia and the United States are on the rise compared with last year.

State of the industry report sees a “steep grade ahead” with carriers in control as transportation demand outstrips supply.

Prices of diesel fuel and regular gasoline have declined for the past three weeks but still are higher than a year ago.

The acquisition moves control of two Maryland facilities with a fleet of around 900 units.

The parcel carrier will build another five compressed natural gas fueling stations and add more than 700 new CNG vehicles to its national fleet.

Operations are expected to commence by 2020.

Port has new CCO; Cleveland company hires managers; and insurance group appoints board members.

Google invests $550 million in JD.com, the e-commerce major from China, marking its advent into the logistics world.

Turndowns and spot rates are surging out of Atlanta on strong container volumes from Savannah and Georgia onion harvests. Capacity is so tight nationwide that even small movements in demand are having outsize effects on tender rejections and prices.

Two former Roadrunner Transportation Systems executives were charged with multiple crimes related to accounting and securities fraud in a federal indictment unsealed Friday.

The free webinar will focus on how a driver and a fleet can prepare themselves for roadside inspections in a world governed by the ELD mandate.

Donald Broughton says that the oil boom and Trump tax cuts are driving a young industrial expansion cycle; shippers continue to adjust supply chains to minimize transport costs; Google invests $550M in Chinese e-commerce site JD.com; China may put a tariff on US oil imports; Brazil’s trucker strike shattered economic growth outlooks; Asia-North America container rates are softening.

Piecing together the details of what comes from seed to table has never really been done successfully before. If it could be, the implications for both public health, corporate transparency, and anti-counterfeiting efforts would be huge.

Audi CEO Rupert Stadler has been arrested in Germany today in connection to the auto major cheating the emissions test, now dubbed the “Dieselgate”.

Ex-controllers’ alleged scheme to falsify records cost more than $245 million in shareholder value.

Twenty-three railcars, five containing propane, went off the track near Princeton Sunday night.

Legislation sent to Senate to curb imports of opioids and synthetic analogues and give FDA more tools to stop illicit drug imports.

Alleging that Prime Inc. put female truck drivers in harm’s way, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed suit this week against the carrier, alleging Prime did not take adequate steps to prevent sexual harassment of a female truck driver.

U.K. port says performance has improved significantly after “minor teething issues” with its new terminal operating system.

The U.K. facility, scheduled for completion in 2020, is touted as one of the most advanced distribution management centers in the world.

Year-over-year growth in domestic truckload rates accelerated to 9 percent during the month, the largest increase ever for the Cass Truckload Linehaul Index.

North American intermodal rates climbed another 9.1 percent in May, according to the latest Cass Intermodal Price Index.

Watkins leading talent acquisition; Monson heading software provider; Mitchell overseeing human resources; and Coda is taking helm.

Drewry says emergency bunker charges won’t fully compensate carriers for rising fuel costs.

Wyoming Supreme Court decided to send a wrongful death lawsuit against CRST International to trial last week.

Delays by other railroads in implementing PTC is the basis for BNSF to request a delay in its end-year deadline.

Although Brazil’s massive truck strike has come to an end, the ramifications are still rippling through the country’s supply chain, and it looks like it could take certain industries up to a year to recover.

As of late yesterday the Canadian dollar volatility began trending poorly throughout the night and into today, and the short-lived support fell.

Railroads have raked in profits while service deteriorated, posting record operating ratios as network velocities reached 10 year lows. Pressure from regulators, though, may have finally pushed them to raise capex.

The U.S. trade tariffs on Chinese exports is due to come into force on July 6, with U.S. businesses looking for different manufacturing options in South Asia to adapt their supply chains around the new reality.

U.S. shale oil production is fast-growing, but pipeline bottlenecks at the Permian basin could mean that it can’t completely fill the gap being created by the drop in Venezuelan oil production.

Maersk Container Industries will consolidate production of refrigerated and dry containers in China.

Millennials are helping drive the current economic cycle, which is showing no sighs of slowing down.

The American Institute for International Steel reports a 12.1 percent year-over-year increase in April to 3.76 million net tons of imported steel.

Rates to the West Coast tumbled 6.8 percent since last week, while rates to the East Coast fell 5 percent.

The $982 million budget includes funding for the Gerald Desmond Bridge replacement and the Middle Harbor Terminal redevelopment.

Third-party logistics revenues grew 8.1 percent in 2017, according to the supply chain research and consulting firm Armstrong & Associates.

The leader of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America takes on everything from cargo manifest data to trade statistics.

Berkshire Hathaway-owned railway cites interoperability delays with other railroads.

Steady loaded import container volumes in May were offset by an 8.3 percent drop in loaded exports.

Projects in Alberta and Quebec are part of a C$3.4 billion capital program for 2018.

University of Maine, Rutgers and Penn State will split more than $7.7 million to support their transportation research and technology programs.

U.S. Xpress overhauled its management and its capitalization to get to the public markets.

The economy remains strong, and capacity tight, although buffeted by some headwinds.

A class-action lawsuit against J.B. Hunt will head to trial this September after the Supreme Court refused to review the transportation giant’s appeal to overturn a ruling issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

U.S. Xpress goes public; retail sales numbers explode for May; BNSF seeks positive train control delay; Brussels airport goes to blockchain for air cargo management; American LNG exports expected to benefit the entire economy.

Retail sales rose 0.8% in May, beating economist estimates of 0.4% and showing that economic growth still has some room to expand.

Shippabo is a cloud-based supply chain management startup that is helping businesses connect with freight forwarders and carriers, while consolidating their data in one place.