This year’s Future of Freight Festival takes place Nov. 19-21 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. But it’s not your average conference. Sure, there are wonderful speakers and fireside chats. But that’s only half the fun. F3 is set up with half-days of speakers and amazing content. The other half we take over downtown Chattanooga, and there are events, networking and a lot of fun to be had by all. This year, subscribers to Running on Ice get a promo code exclusive to us! You can register with this link or use the code F3ROI24 at checkout for a discount.
All thawed out
Last week the world watched as Lineage brought forth the largest IPO for the year. The company was valued at approximately $19 billion. It’s safe to say the IPO was a massive success. Lineage was able to bring home $4.4 billion in proceeds. It was originally expecting to net $3.4 billion to $3.9 billion. Lineage initially planned to offer 47 million shares priced at $70 to $82 each. That changed.
FreightWaves’ Todd Maiden writes: “Lineage Inc. said nearly 57 million shares of its common stock were priced at $78 per share ahead of its initial public offering on Thursday. A 30-day option for a 15% allotment (a little more than 8.5 million shares) has been granted to underwriters. The company said it will use proceeds to repay debt, fund cash grants to certain employees and pay transaction expenses. Any additional proceeds will be used for general corporate expenses or to repay other outstanding debt.”
What a record to set as the largest IPO listing of the year, bringing home more than $1 billion more than anticipated in the process.
Temperature checks
Motor City is just moving right along; it has found itself the home of a new cold storage facility expansion. Weeks Food Corp. has decided to expand its Detroit facility, which will add 21,515 square feet of temperature-controlled space to the facility.
Once complete, the expansion will include a 34 F-36 F cooler, 6,232-square-foot 36 F cold dock and 4,795-square-foot minus-10 F freezer. Site development includes city utility connections and decommissioning and removal of the existing sanitary field system.
This project will still allow Weeks to supply KFC and Popeye’s across Michigan and northern Ohio. There is no anticipated service interruption during this expansion.
Food and drug
Summer is the time of the ice cream man and cold treats. Well, Kraft Heinz might have gone a little overboard with its recent launch of a Fudge n’ Vanilla French Fry Pop, a product of a partnership between Ore-Ida and GoodPop. I love to dip a piping hot french fry into a chocolate shake as much as the next person, but this feels a step too far.
The fry and ice cream combo is one of America’s most popular food combinations, according to a survey. The Fudge n’ Vanilla French Fry Pop wraps a frozen vanilla oat milk base in a chocolate fudge shell rolled in real, crispy potato bits.
Daniel Goetz, CEO and founder of GoodPop, added in a news release: “At GoodPop, we love creating cleaned-up versions of classic treats. With this seasonal collaboration, we hope to rekindle that child-like joy of summer, with a decidedly modern twist. As always, GoodPop’s goal is to elevate expectations for nostalgic favorites, so these Fudge n’ Vanilla French Fry Pops are dairy- and gluten-free, fit for all families to enjoy.”
Cold chain lanes
This week’s SONAR market is the Home of the Blues: Memphis, Tennessee. Reefer outbound tender rejections took a dive after the holiday and have only slightly started to recover. The ROTRI is up a mere 93 basis points week over week to 10.99% rejections, whereas reefer outbound tender volumes have stayed elevated for most of the summer and will extend that trend as shippers continue to protect from spoilage in the hottest months. Produce season also isn’t helping capacity as carriers are moving with harvest times to stay on lucrative produce runs.
Shippers and brokers should expect somewhat better carrier compliance on routing guides compared to most of June and July. Carrier compliance for tendered loads will mimic mid-April and mid-May until the upswing in rejections levels out.
Is SONAR for you? Check it out with a demo!
Shelf life
Pharmaceutical-pitched refrigerated vans find wider market
Paris Olympics will be a true test of supply chains
California Supreme Court upholds AB5 exemption for gig workers
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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