Logistics Technology News

Investments in warehousing technology are being driven not just by e-commerce growth but also by larger shippers wanting to optimize inventory placement as their networks get more complex.

Although the e-commerce giant doesn't describe itself as a third-party logistics provider (3PL), Amazon has surpassed major global players such as DHL and Kuehne + Nagel in 3PL revenue.

Container carrier Zim is the second independent line to join Maersk and IBM’s blockchain platform, with other European carriers poised to join, JOC.com has learned.

Four of the world’s largest shipping lines received clearance this week to begin developing data standards through a new association designed to help carriers to tap more quickly into outside digital innovation.

Pervinder Johar, CEO of visibility provider Blume Global, says investment from new owner Apollo Funds is “foundational” to the next stage in the company’s growth.

Toll Global Forwarding is the latest global forwarder to offer instant quoting through a new three-year partnership with software provider Kontainers.

Proliferation of low-cost transportation management systems, enabled by the rise of SaaS, means such tools are available to a wider range of shippers, carriers, and brokers than ever before.

The e-commerce giant was one of Flexport’s largest customers last year, but the two may eventually compete in the still-nascent “logistics-as-a-service” market.

Research by Ocean Audit estimates Flexport moved more cargo than some of the forwarder’s skeptics assume, but less than the company portrays.

Top 10 freight broker GlobalTranz continued its recent acquisition spree at the same time it was acquired by a former equity investor.

With a majority stake in Truckstop.com, ICONIQ Capital will fuel the development of the load-matching firm's technology services to help simplify capacity procurement.

The NYC Hackathon in late March widened the pipeline of technology talent that now understands the problems afflicting the maritime industry, although a lack of standard data formats remains a challenge.

Adoption of India’s redesigned port community system is increasing, but ocean carriers say there’s more work to be done to provide a seamless, secure user experience.

With roughly one-third of an average US inbound FCL container empty, the forwarder has created a product to match compatible LCL and FCL cargo, giving FCL shippers a discount to compensate for additional transit time.

While logistics technology is exploding in India, Mumbai-based Vamaship believes there’s a gap for shippers wanting to pull together their LSPs and systems in a single place.

The social media titan is by no means the first to try to tackle cross-team collaboration and communication, but the ubiquity of its consumer platform may give the Workplace system an edge over lesser-known competitors.

The Danish shipping giant has established a start-up accelerator in India that aims to help develop technologies Maersk can one day leverage back into its own digital transformation.

Those wondering how the rapidly expanding logistics provider plans to turn a recent $1 billion funding round into profits in the short term may be asking the wrong question.

A new product from the Zurich-based cargo sensor and tracking provider will provide banks and other financiers with increased visibility into freight moves and associated risk, allowing for faster deployment of capital.

Modern software can be more than the sum of its parts thanks to the ease with which systems can integrate with each other via application programming interfaces (APIs).

Higher volumes of lighter weight, short-distance e-commerce packages sap revenue and yield at FedEx Express, which also expects slower growth in international trade.

Experts tell JOC.com that although the development of data standards may not be a necessity for increasing deployment of technology in container shipping, it would accelerate the process.

The technology provider, best known as a pioneer smartphone maker, is doubling down on its investment in sensor-based freight transportation asset tracking using its legacy location and battery technology.

Carriers and 3PLs are using application programming interfaces (APIs) to connect with customers and software vendors to create broader ecosystems of data and functionality than can exist through EDI, email, and flat file sharing.

Blockchain technology has the potential to disrupt multiple industries, but potential use cases in shipping are still a few years away, panelists tell the TPM 2019 Conference in Long Beach.

Using connected devices to track container cargo shipments could transform the industry, but much of their value will remain unrealized if the systems they feed can't communicate with one another.

Software provider project44 is looking to fill gaps in supply chain visibility, which it says occur most often at ports, rather than when cargo is at sea.

Navis's purchase of cloud-based competitor Octopi will give the company access to terminals that otherwise might not have even considered a terminal operating system.

True innovation is difficult to implement and slow to spread in the transportation industry, where picking up the phone remains the most common way people conduct business.

As US airports, terminal operators, and ground handlers are taking heat for rampant truck congestion and cargo delays, two software firms are looking to bring digitization and automation to airport freight handling operations.

VC-funded startups are joining established players in providing previously hard-to-get data around the critical transport legs between ports and distribution centers.

Rising demand on its Asia-Europe express network is seeing UPS make some big investments in infrastructure and aircraft capacity to keep up.

JDA Software opening its supply chain platform up to outside development gives shippers more direct influence over future iterations of the firm’s TMS and WMS products.

The tie-up between US Bank Freight Payment and project44 on less-than-truckload moves is yet another a sign shippers are looking for more than just in-transit shipment data and predictive ETAs.

The e-commerce giant will need large and midsized shippers to grow its budding NVO business, but questions remain about whether such shippers will want to work with a company that is both a service provider and a competitor.

The e-commerce behemoth is already exerting greater control over its internal supply chain, but if Amazon were to build out and market logistics as a distinct service, it would forever redraw the lines between ocean freight and the rest of the global supply chain.

CEO Ryan Petersen tells JOC.com Flexport will use the new funding to build out its physical infrastructure and scale up its engineering team, not for mergers and acquisitions.

All is not well among Panalpina's shareholders, and the DSV takeover bid has brought the disenchantment with the company management to a head.

COO and soon-to-be CEO Bob Biesterfeld tells JOC.com US truckload rates are likely to continue to rise in 2019 despite a rebalancing of capacity.

Consolidation in the GTM software space and Maersk's purchase of customs broker Vandergrift are signs shippers want to more closely link logistics and compliance activities.