UPS opens $100M Paris distribution center, Boston prepares for traffic increases, and more on Today’s Pickup.
Dale Huang, the CTO of COSCO Network e-Logistics spoke about the importance of blockchain in the logistics and shipping world and how he expects the technology to gain centerstage in the near future.
Hyperloop is just one of the technologies that is looking to change the way goods and people move over the next 30 years.
Shippo has launched a new workflow feature that help customers optimize their operations and thereby reduce time spent on deciding their shipping options.
Oil prices could go over $90 a barrel by 2020 due to IMO regulations that put a cap on the sulfur emissions in the shipping industry.
High capacity, steady rise in oil prices, a weaker U.S. dollar and a dull spot market had sunken margins of shipping majors in Q1 2018.
Trucking interests, led by LTL carriers, have been pushing legislation that would allow 33-foot double trailers on American roadways. Opponents are ramping up efforts to stop it.
The Freight Movement is in partnership with Arrive Logistics …Moving freight to its final destination starts with the ability of a shipper or broker to find available capacity. That load tendering process is rapidly changing.
Shipa Freight, a spinoff from Agility, has created a platform that makes it easier for SMEs to book air and ocean freight online.
It will literally take an act of Congress to right the sinking USPS ship. Even heavy attrition and solid growth in packages and shipping can’t stop the losses.
Get the package there and get it there on time. A simply ask, but one that has become increasingly difficult in recent years as e-commerce has exploded and retailers and e-tailers fight for those dollars.
Brokers continue to see more business and higher revenue, according to the latest data compiled by DAT.
China-U.S. ocean freight rates have been falling continuously for the record 32nd week, in the wake of the Chinese New Year and a continous surge in capacity.
Flatbed freight remains red-hot with 111 loads for every truck, but what is causing the surge in demand?
Wages continue to rise for America’s truckers as the trucking industry contends with driver shortages coupled with an increased demand for shipping services.
Flexport is modernizing global trade through a combination of software and human expertise, bringing in greater visibility and transparency to the freight forwarding industry.
Loss expects at leading fleets say more thought needs to go into package design to ensure cargo is well protected during transit.
Arrive Logistics will host a webinar on March 29 with use case examples and tips on how shippers can reduce their shipping costs.
Supply chain participants spent years taking time out of the process to offer faster, more streamlined services, but with ELDs and e-commerce, that lack of flexibility is now constraining operations.
Atlanta-based supply chain consultancy firm Chainalytics and UK-based ocean shipping consulting firm Drewry Supply Chain Advisors have officially formed a partnership through a joint venture, The Ocean Buying Group.
The Tesla Semi has finally hit the road. Tesla founder Elon Musk posted a picture of two Tesla Semi’s leaving the company’s Gigafactory in the Nevada mountains for a trip to California.
European logistics company Stena Line has confirmed its initiative to test environment-friendly shipping vessels, the Handy Shipping Guide reports.
Seeking to provide a more comprehensive solution for fleets, Omnitracs has unveiled its Unified Fleet Management platform Omnitracs One.
Limited visibility, outdated information, errors compounding on errors amounts to one thing: unhappy customers.
Shippabo is a supply chain solution that helps businesses streamline their international shipping like air and bulk cargo.
Dubai Ports World will build new inland ports in two Indian states to handle increased container traffic coming into that nation’s ports.
Wales First Minister Carwyn Jones was in Dublin, Ireland, last week due to “serious concerns” brought about by the possibility of a hard Brexit exit and its impact on trade.
The Port of Dover has been honored with one of the UK’s highest awards for its congestion mitigation efforts.
OpenPort, the digital logistics platform that uses blockchain technology to transform domestic distribution in emerging markets, today announced that it has joined the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA).
UPS is asking for inclusion of part-time drivers to make Sunday deliveries and also to allow use of personal vehicles in its latest demands in contract negotiations with the Teamsters, according to reports.
Xeneta is a freight rate benchmarking platform focusing on ocean freight. It aggregates rate data from various companies into a platform and provides market average rates, lows and highs to its customers.
With more regional and local deliveries due to e-commerce, there is more opportunity for truck drivers to find less-than-truckload freight, but knowing how it is billed is critical to winning contracts.
China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is slated to head north to the Arctic, Reuters reported. Global warming has opened up new shipping lanes that China plans to exploit.
The race to self-driving and electric vehicles has focused medium and heavy-duty vehicles lately, even though many believe local and urban is the best place for electric trucks. udelv, though, is focusing on that last-mile.
Two-year-old startup NEXT Trucking has secured $21 million in a Series B round of financing, led by Sequoia Capital, as it seeks to stand out in a crowded field of competitors looking to match available truck capacity with freight.
Geneva, Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has officially announced its roll on-roll off (RORO) service for West African routes, the Handy Shipping Guide reports.
Samsung SDS has successfully completed a pilot run of its blockchain platform Nexledger in the shipping industry of South Korea, along with different players in the market including shipping logistics companies, the Korean Customs, and major ocean liners.
Global ag giant Louis Dreyfus Company has successfully concluded its first international shipment utilizing blockchain technology.
Losing your job is a painful experience, and buyers of transportation who can’t get things picked up and delivered on time lose their jobs.
The USDA releases a statement claiming 2017 was the third best year ever for US agricultural exports which helped to spur domestic freight markets as well.
The Baltic Exchange is scheduled to end its freight futures exchange platform, Baltex, today.
Access to quicker delivery options has boomed sales of perishable commodities like frozen pizza and ice cream, and that has led to a boom in refrigerated freight options.
While the holiday rush starts in North America a few weeks before Thanksgiving, there is a holiday rush going on already in China as well, and it impacts shipping.
Go99, a digital freight-matching marketplace based out of Vancouver, Canada, has achieved a major revenue milestone and now it is setting its sights on expansion with the rest of Canada and busy lanes in the U.S. on its target.
Dry van spot rates hit a 3-year monthly high in November, according to data compiled by DAT Solutions. The November rate was $2.07 per mile, the highest monthly average since December 2014, the firm said, and 5 cents above October levels.
Losses and debts can be a deadly combo for any shipping company to handle. In a report from the Wall Street Journal looking at so-called “zombie companies” in Europe, one logistics company stood out.
The process of sending bills-of-lading with cargo has changed little in generations, but the problems have remained: BOLs arrive at different times than the cargo, causing delays and added cost. But blockchain could eliminate these expenses and streamline the process.
Turning bits into atoms in real-time? It’s as profound as the idea of instantly sharing thoughts across the world would have been to a person just a few decades ago. So how close are we to the dreams of the 21st century, and what does 3D printing have to do with it?
Natilus, a startup based out of California, is looking to provide a drone solution that allows it to transport freight multiple times faster than when it is shipped across the ocean, at half the price of regular air freight.
As the talks concluded last week on Round 5 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the 3 NAFTA ministers included among the 30 negotiating parties agreed to “step back” to give negotiators additional time to “analyze proposals and conduct internal consultations,” according to LandLine Magazine.
The story of railroads is as old as the independence of the United States. The growth of railroads ran in parallel with the economic surge and transportation expansion of the 19th century. Fast forward two centuries and the grasp of railroads on the freight transport market has all but waned.
Blockchain is digital ledger that can improve global trade security, stop illegal smuggling, and more importantly, reduce transit times currently bogged down by bureaucracy.
Consumer confidence remains high, yet retail stores continue to close their doors. Welcome to shopping in a modern America.
Taking the last-mile delivery battle seriously, Amazon may have found a hit with its Hub. According to The Motley Fool, Amazon is putting Hubs in “multi-tenant dwellings like apartment buildings, condos, and complexes.”
Unlike in the United States or Europe, shipping across Brazil is a hassle since there aren’t a lot of comprehensive cross-country providers with transparent processes for pricing, standards and tracking mechanisms. Intelipost is set to change that by providing SaaS solutions for managing logistics providers under one roof.
Heightened tensions in the South China Sea over territorial disputes threaten $5T in shipping and $1.2T in US-only imports and exports.
Thanks to the emergence of e-commerce retail platforms through increased online purchases, retail websites may be selling similar products, but the online retailer that can get items delivered to their customers the quickest with the lowest shipping cost possible usually wins, The Loadstar reports.
One of the early pioneers of aerial drone use in agriculture is now looking to grow his business in more ways than one. Steve Edgar, founder of Empire Unmanned, is investigating the Pocatello Regional Airport in Pocatello, Idaho, for future use as the first-ever unmanned air-freight hub.
Cargo and passenger vessels on the high seas face a multitude of threats and risks that affect decision-making, from delays at canals to illegal migrant traffic, major weather events, and even disease outbreaks. A new emergency notification system is hoping to reduce those dangers.
McKinsey & Company has issued a landmark report predicting sweeping changes amid steady growth in the container shipping industry over the next 50 years.
Memories of the Randall Park Mall, once the largest mall in the United States, came back to life in Ohio after Amazon announced it will build a new fulfillment center on the location in North Randall, OH. It is one of 35 fulfillment centers in Amazon’s pipeline, Business Insider reports.
Cross border delivery of items ordered online in China is now possible due to new train service available from site Kaola.com. An e-commerce company backed financially by Netease, Kaola.com ran its first train of products into Chongqing’s Lianglu Cuntan Free Trade Port Area, Yicai Global reports.
One of the primary problems plaguing the conventional freight industry today is the lack of affordable track-and-trace providers in the market that can provide real-time visibility to shipments. FreightTracer, a startup from Texas, is providing its customers real-time visibility into all their shipments – anytime and anywhere across any carrier.
The deadly wildfires raging in Northern California regained their vigor on Wednesday as winds picked up and helped spread fires, threatening historic Sonoma County wineries. The fires have left at least 17 people dead and more than 2,000 buildings destroyed. They are also impacting shipping in the region.
Until Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico, few people had ever heard of the Jones Act. Now, armed with a basic knowledge, many are wondering if the Jones Act is actually harming the U.S. and whether lifting it might benefit shipping and logistics in this country.
With the freight marketplace widening exponentially every year, the growing communication divide in the community is also significantly felt. Fr8Hub, a digital freight marketplace startup is looking to improve peer-to-peer interaction by creating transparency and injecting efficiency in freight hauling.
Businesses who trade internationally typically rely on freight forwarders to act on their behalf to transport product. The process of locating and arranging a forwarder is no easy task and extremely time-consuming, and over many decades this process has barely changed.
Warehouse space is increasingly shrinking, with vacancy rates near all-time lows. As space dwindles, those companies looking to move a single truckload to a warehouse for two weeks are forced to pay high premiums. Warehouse provider Stord is out to change that.
Few people get to experience what the journey of a global container goes through and what its like being on a ship as it makes the trip. With over 90% of global cargo moving via ship, its an important part of our world economy. See what you are missing.
Remember when you had to wait to flag down a taxi? Now we order a taxi via an app and it arrives at your door within minutes. The same innovation is now happening to cargo shipping.
Honeywell and Intel have collaborated on a new solution that is designed to identify potential damage to cargo while in transit, allowing time to possibly re-position that cargo to prevent further damage.
It seems as though all new platforms these days feature two common denominators – create transparency and streamline processes. Many of them are now being developed with blockchain.
The New York Shipping Exchange (NYSHEX) has secured a Series A round of funding for $13 million, according to a press release. The company has developed the first digital forward freight contract for global container shipping.
Seeking to build “greater lane density to improve utilization and yields through more efficient dispatch and capacity allocation,” Heartland Express Inc. announced it is acquiring Interstate Distributer Co. (IDC) of Tacoma, WA, from Saltchuk Resources.
The Indian trucking market is not unlike that of the U.S. Technological change is happening, albeit a little slower in India, Numadic is one company that is trying to quicken the speed of change.
A new market analysis by Noel Perry, truck & transportation expert for FTR Transportation Intelligence, argues the economics of 33-foot doubles – and, based solely on economic reasons, there is a valid case, Perry says.
Tony Seba is an expert on industry and market disruptions. He recently spoke at the 2017 Nor-Shipping Conference, offering his unique take on Transportation as a Service, which incorporates autonomous technologies, and how it is poised to disrupt the shipping and transportation industries in the next few years.
Citing the need to cover additional costs during peak holiday shipping periods, UPS has announced a new peak surcharge that will be added to packages shipped during certain weeks this holiday season.
The Northeast has exited a period of cloudy, rainy weather that has held down freight volumes into and out of the region. That is just one of the weather-related stories this week that have affected rates across the nation.
Any trucker knows the importance of directions. Have the right ones, and there is a good chance you can arrive on time. But incorrect directions, and not only will you be delayed, but your employer may be out money for that late arrival. A new app is hoping to change that.
Since the dawn of the shipping industry, brokers, carriers and shippers have struggled with rate price swings, sometimes due to conditions outside their control, such as weather or politics. TransFX, a Chattanooga-based company located in Freight Alley, is trying to help change that by offering “freight futures contracts.”
“There are some trucking-specific changes that will benefit the industry in 2017. The last year and a half was a classic industry recipe for disaster.” That is Bob Costello’s summary of the past year in trucking. He is predicting a turnaround in 2017.
