Logistics Technology News

Demand for detailed carbon emissions data is growing, evidenced by the integration of SeaRoutes’ data into the platforms of third-party logistics providers and global transportation and rate management systems.

Fulfillment providers are offering warehouse space and technology to help retailers focus more on e-commerce and better position inventory for faster last-mile delivery.

Trucking software provider Baton is building drop-and-hook relay networks in large cities to allow long-haul truckers to avoid first- and last-mile congestion and dwell time.

Freight broker Transfix will integrate predictive visibility data from project44 to augment its existing app-based GPS location data as part of a long-term agreement with the multimodal visibility provider.

Flock Freight, which uses software to aggregate less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments into multi-stop truckloads, has received more than $100 million to expand its alternative to the hub-and-spoke model.

E-commerce growth has driven appetite for on-demand warehousing space, which propelled software provider Flexe toward a $70 million funding round Tuesday.

Automation, self-invoicing bolster traditional third-party payment audit model

Yang Ming has joined the growing list of container lines to offering a digital quoting and booking channel, with its use of software from BlueX Trade also a sign that this trend is taking root in Asia.

Toronto-based freight marketplace Shipz has partnered with a trio of software firms to enable users to access to adjacent tools, part of a continuing trend of forwarder-focused technology providers partnering to augment their value.

New York–based new trade compliance automation startup Altana AI has designs on creating a new version of much-maligned trusted trade cargo facilitations programs.

Loadsmart more than tripled the amount of capital raised through a $90 million round announced Friday as it seeks to automate the brokerage and optimization of US domestic transport modes.

Convoy has seen considerable volume growth for a program under which loads are pre-staged for drivers, prompting the freight broker to develop more predictive capability to route empty equipment to shippers’ facilities.

Shippers will need to look not just at multiple transportation modes, but across modes, to secure capacity in 2021, digital broker Loadsmart said.

Digital forwarder Forto has snared its second large funding round of 2020 based on a three-fold growth in its ocean freight this year.

DCSA and BIC have built a database of 11,000 depots, container yards, maintenance and repair vendors, and other supply chain container facilities in 160 countries.

The growth of e-commerce, higher shipping costs, and limited capacity available from traditional last-mile operators have prompted third-party logistics (3PL) providers to expand into last-mile services.

Cyber attacks on companies in the global logistics industry are an ever-present threat, but container lines and software providers say hosting systems in the cloud helps combat the threat and aid in recovery.

Cloud computing is ubiquitous in the world of commerce, and that’s spread in recent years to container lines, which are using a migration to platforms like Microsoft Azure to develop products quickly and then scale them back without committing resources to a server infrastructure.

Twill started as Maersk’s play in the neutral digital forwarding space, but it has shifted its focus to funnel small shipper volumes into Maersk’s logistics and vessel operations network.

The widely-used supply chain modeling software provider LLamasoft was acquired Monday by a procurement solutions maker in one of the biggest deals of late for a pure supply chain technology provider.

Maersk’s integrator strategy is not affecting the carrier’s forwarder customers in a universal way, since the various elements of the transformation impact different sized intermediaries in varying ways.

A network of major banks in Singapore has signed an agreement with CargoX, which provides electronic bills of lading to the shipping industry, to underpin the network’s trade finance capability.

A new self-service automated freight invoice auditing software provider launched Tuesday, helmed by Matt Tillman, an entrepreneur who most recently founded the transportation management system provider Haven.

Freight brokerage software provider Parade has set up direct integration with two companies that focus on digitally enabling small carriers, which gives brokers using Parade access to that capacity.

TradeLens will use the integration specialist Youredi to offer data providers and consumers on its platform the option to connect their systems to the container visibility and documentation product co-developed by Maersk and IBM.

Margin transparency is taking root among early-stage freight brokers, with cross-border 3PL Forager saying Wednesday it will provide clear pricing and service fees on any quote provided on its platform.

System integration provider Youredi is trying to attract logistics and maritime companies to help it build a new template-based integration platform for data and partner connectivity.

A new set of data definitions for terminals and container lines to coordinate port calls was released Tuesday by the Digital Container Shipping Association, the non-profit group’s latest attempt to drive standardization in the maritime industry.

Shippers contend with a lack of transparency when it comes to container lines communicating changes for the earliest return date for their boxes, creating operational headaches for cargo owners already affected by tariffs and COVID-19, new research has found.

An ability to handle out-of-gauge cargo and a unique inventory management system distinguish supply chain logistics platform e2log from the competition.

As shippers and forwarders scramble for effective ways to consume visibility data, software providers are finding new angles to sell their products in a competitive market.

Container allocation capability among cargo owners is improving, but digital procurement is still not all that common, logistics technology veteran Martin Hubert told JOC Uncharted this week.

TradeLens said Thursday that Maersk’s liner competitors MSC and CMA CGM are both “fully integrated” into the platform, which could make it more appealing for cargo owners and 3PLs to use the blockchain-based solution.

Austin-based software provider E2open, which caters to large global shippers and their logistics providers, is set to be pulled into a special purpose acquisition company, a new financial vehicle to expedite the process of taking companies public.

Volatility in the air freight market is translating into lower quote acceptance levels and growth in the spread between average quotes offered and those chosen by shippers, the spot procurement marketplace Cargobase said.

Technology providers in the logistics industry are gearing their solutions around shippers’ need to think of product availability above freight visibility as demand and supply variability swing beyond normal patterns.

The ongoing trend toward online shopping that accelerated due to COVID-19 lockdowns in the second quarter could be a death knell for thousands of retailers unable handle the growing e-commerce volume.

The number of freight marketplaces for international shippers and forwarders continues to expand with Canada-based Shipz now providing a platform for mid-market cargo owners and the forwarders that serve them.

A widely-used drayage management solutions provider has added the truck parking marketplace SecurSpace to help drivers find parking and equipment storage options directly in their transportation management systems.

The freight broker Transfix is providing small carriers with free standalone operational technology to align their capacity availability with needs from the company’s shipper customers.