Logistics Technology News

Spot freight rates on the Asia-Europe trade are changing daily, and the enormous pressure this places on forwarders trying to stay on top of the shifting prices is giving impetus to technology companies offering automated solutions to manage the volatility.

CargoSmart has joined global shipping platform Inttra to offer shippers an online container weight submission solution to help the industry comply with an amendment to the International Maritime Organization’s Safety of Life at Sea convention.

Walking through the exhibit hall at the Transportation Intermediaries Association conference, one might mistake it for a technology convention. Freight brokers believe technology is the key to expansion in a “modest” economy.

The world’s 50 largest logistics companies generated nearly $230 billion in revenue last year, according to Pittsburgh-based research and consulting firm SJ Consulting Group. Although that total was 5.8 percent less in dollar terms than the $244.17 billion in revenue during 2014, the decline was tied to the strengthening of the U.S. dollar vs. other currencies, and not reflective of an actual decline in company revenue.

Since the beginning of this year volumes across Russia’s shipping industry have begun to show signs of recovery after a dismal 2015 in which Western sanctions and the low price of oil devastated the country’s transportation firms.

The top Europe-based global freight forwarders were able to maintain or improve their earnings despite volatile freight rates and stagnating cargo volumes in 2015.

Amazon has already taken a first step in Germany to reduce its reliance on established logistics companies, cutting the ribbon on a parcel sorting center outside Munich late last year. In Munich, Amazon also is using more than 200 delivery vans operated by a subcontractor to offer last-mile delivery to customers.

In the past few months, Amazon has moved openly and aggressively to increase its reach, capabilities and capacity in the logistics and distribution arena. The Seattle-based company purchased thousands of trailers blazoned with Amazon logos in the U.S., registered as a non-vessel-operating common carrier to better manage the flow of goods from China to the U.S. and leased 20 U.S. domestic cargo planes from Air Transport Services Group.

Agility Logistics net profit for the fourth quarter of 2015 rose 5 percent year-over-year to 14 million Kuwaiti dinars, or $46.4 million, in spite of a weaker performance from its cornerstone logistics division, the company said in a statement Monday.

The application programming interface, long the means of connecting software and hardware, may be about to digitally rewire transportation networks.

Once dominated by paper documentation and the Excel spreadsheet, invoicing and freight payment is on a relentless march toward electronic data interchange as a new group of autonomous startups and large 3PLs enter the business.

Los Angeles-based startup Cargomatic has named two logistics veterans, one from Coyote and another from CEVA logistics, to its leadership team.

With an ever-increasing number of firms competing in the global logistics supply chain, investment in new connective logistics technologies has seen a sharp rise in recent years.

The net effect of China’s export slowdown on Kerry Logistics was being mitigated by customers shifting their manufacturing operations to Southeast Asia, said group managing director William Ma.

DHL Express said it will invest 100 million euros ($112 million) in a new totally automated sorting center at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport to keep pace with rising demand for parcel deliveries in the Paris region.

Suggestions that Amazon.com’s forays into air freight and logistics might disrupt the business of traditional package carriers or compete with them are “fantastical,” FedEx founder and Chief Executive Officer Fred Smith said Wednesday. “Let me emphasize I choose this word carefully,” Smith said.

Stronger-than-expected online shipping demand pressured various points in FedEx's transportation network in December, raising volumes on air and ground in the quarter that ended Feb. 29.

U.S. transport and supply chain firm XPO Logistics has strengthened its presence in the U.K. after signing contracts with major supermarket chains Iceland and Aldi.

UPS is looking past low diesel prices by spending $100 million on a dozen compressed natural gas stations and 380 new tractors throughout the U.S. as part of an effort to log 1 billion miles with alternative fuel vehicles by the end of 2017.

Allcargo Logistics Ltd., looking to tap into rapidly growing logistics demand in India, on Tuesday unveiled a plan to construct a new “logistics park” at Jhajjar in the northern state of Haryana.

Alibaba’s Cainiao logistics platform is believed to have raised $1.5 billion in a funding round that has attracted big name investors such as the national investment arms of Singapore and Malaysia, and an investment fund closely connected to Beijing.

The drive to automate the freight rate process took another step forward with Hellmann Worldwide Logistics announcing a global roll-out of the Freightos rate management and auto-quote system and M.E. Dey & Co. implementing the CargoSphere rate platform.

Kerry Logistics has acquired a Southern California-based freight forwarder that will significantly grow its international network, but the the Hong Kong-listed third-party logistics provider is not revealing the identity of the company until its financial results are delivered on March 24.

Start-up technology companies have introduced a number of automated platforms that connect beneficial cargo owners with providers of warehouse space, truck capacity and documentation processing, but they are barely scratching the surface of what is possible in domestic and international supply chain logistics.

Deutsche Post DHL said it doesn’t fear moves by Amazon, the U.S. online retail group, to boost its logistics operations will eat into its parcels business as it reported the biggest quarterly profit in its history.

XPO Logistics landed a major contract logistics agreement with Trinity Health to operate a distribution network for the Catholic hospital and health care system.

Asset-tracking and management technology firm Orbcomm’s adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization rocketed 139 percent year-over-year to $42.3 million in 2015 thanks to new business and acquisitions.

Gross profit at Kuenhe + Nagel slipped 0.6 percent to $6.25 billion year-over-year for 2015, as a strong Swiss franc, which is currently even with the U.S. dollar, and weak container traffic offset a rise in air cargo volume.

Why is venture capital flooding into the transportation and logistics industry faster than ever before? Because the industry needs it, former venture capitalists and now logistics industry insiders told the 2016 TPM Conference here on Tuesday.

Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL Group, gave the 16th annual TPM Conference keynote speech to more than 2,000 attendees and outlined how new sources of economic growth aside from the traditional means of population and productivity increases are needed, and how transportation and logistics firms can unleash their potential.

Transportation intermediaries are likely to play an important role in verifying container weights for international shippers and shipping lines, a UPS Supply Chain Solutions executive said at the 16th Annual TPM Conference here Tuesday.

CEVA Logistics’ decision to revamp its organizational structure has paid off, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rising 22.2 percent for all of 2015 at the world’s sixth-largest third-party logistics provider.

Orbcomm, which tracks shipper and carrier assets, is pivoting to remote asset management via a new security solution that provides visibility and control over assets anywhere in the supply chain.

The world is not headed toward recession, despite turmoil in global stock markets and falling commodities prices, the head of one of the largest global logistics companies said Sunday.

Panalpina’s operating profit crept slightly higher in 2015 even as the Swiss global forwarding and logistics group handled slightly fewer ocean containers and less air freight.

Downturn? Recession? They're not in XPO Logistics' sights this year. The $7.6 billion logistics and transportation company sees e-commerce fueling many of its asset-based and non-asset business segments in North American and Europe.

Expeditors International of Washington saw profit grow in the fourth quarter despite tough year-over-year comparisons and two global trade headwinds: weak air cargo and ocean freight.

Satellite-based asset-management company Orbcomm is expanding its cellular options, offering a cellular-only SkyWave tracking device. The company is rolling out dual-use satellite/cellular services globally.

Deutsche Post DHL has vigorously denied reports it is mulling the sale of its freight forwarding unit.

INTTRA, an ocean shipping e-marketplace, has promoted logistics technology veteran Inna Kuznetsova to president and chief operating officer.