Logistics Technology News

TNT Express returned to the black in the fourth quarter of 2015 as strong growth in European revenues more than offset declines in Brazil and China and its restructuring program gained momentum.

Falling freight rates amid a weaker global demand pulled down net earnings during the third fiscal quarter at Allcargo Logistics Ltd., India’s leading international freight forwarder and port-based logistics provider.

UPS, one of the world’s largest transportation firms, is the first major user of North America intermodal rail services to publicly weigh in on the proposed merger of Canadian Pacific and Norfolk Southern railways, saying it opposes the potential tie-up.

Japan’s Kintetsu World Express saw its group revenue soar 26.3 percent year-over-year in the first nine months of fiscal 2015, which ends March 31, to 295.159 billion yen ($2.57 billion), but that wasn’t enough to stop the company from downgrading its full-year revenue and profit forecasts.

Damco posted a $19 million profit in 2015, reversing a 2014 loss of $293 million in what Maersk Group CEO Nils Andersen called “an early sign” that the forwarder’s two-year turnaround program is working.

Amazon’s ambitions to take more control of its container shipping have become more apparent after the e-commerce giant filed an application with the Shanghai Shipping Exchange to be forwarder on 12 major routes and a 2013 internal proposal reveals its vision for a global delivery network.

A new retail services division and steady automotive demand helped push Pilot Freight revenue higher last year despite falling fuel surcharges and a sluggish economy.

Nippon Express Co., Japan’s largest international freight forwarder, saw its net profit rise at a double-digit pace in the first nine months of the fiscal year ending in March despite paltry revenue growth.

Gateway Distriparks Ltd., India’s leading port-based logistics provider, recorded a 43 percent fall in its net earnings during the third fiscal quarter, hit by slowing container volumes resulting from sluggish demand and supply chain disruptions caused by foul weather in Chennai in early December.

Tight cost controls coupled with low fuel prices helped trucking giant Transport Corporation of India post healthy results in the third fiscal quarter, according to a company filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Singapore Post’s steady expansion into e-commerce and logistics lifted the company’s nine-month net profit by almost 18 percent to $101.9 million from April through October, with 40 percent of the revenue coming from overseas.

Echo Global Logistics revenue and net revenue in fourth quarter rose on the the company’s recent acquisition of Command Transportation, but related integration costs dragged down profit by double digits.

Lower fuel prices and a softening used truck market constrained fourth-quarter revenue growth at Ryder System, but demand for Ryder’s fleet and supply chain services remained strong.

Shippers using C.H. Robinson Worldwide to move truckload freight saw pricing drop 3 percent on average in the fourth quarter. The logistics operator's volume, net revenue and profit, on the other hand, all rose.

UPS surmounted peak-season challenges to deliver 692 million packages in its busiest season — a 7 percent increase from the previous year. Big Brown said it expects higher revenue, profits and volumes in 2016, as e-commerce keeps growing.

Global integrator DHL and JD.com, China's largest online direct sales company, have signed an agreement to cooperate on a range of cross-border supply chain initiatives driven by the mainland’s fast growing e-commerce market.

Container Corporation of India, a state-owned intermodal rail operator, is set to jump into the shipping game as a non-vessel operating common carrier as part of a wider effort to diversify its business.

Logistics companies are investing heavily to keep pace with global e-commerce demand.

Shippers moving goods between the EU and Russia are poised to see their trucking costs rise because of the expiration of an agreement that allowed Polish freight operators to haul cargo to Russia.

Yusen Logistics Co.’s net profit more than doubled in the first nine months of the fiscal year ending in March on a year-over-year basis thanks to solid revenue growth, particularly overseas, and a negligible extraordinary charge.

Gati Ltd.’s net profit tumbled by a third in the three months through the end of December as India’s leading express distribution and supply chain solutions provider booked lower revenue amid tight market conditions.

Global logistics companies continue to pile into the Asia e-commerce market, with Damco launching a China solution and DHL expanding its growing presence in the region deeper into Thailand.

Kerry Logistics in less than two months will complete the acquisition of an as-yet-unnamed U.S. forwarder, the latest part of the company’s expansion via acquisitions and joint ventures.

Adding the 300 vehicles, seven UK depots and training capabilities of Circle Express will bolster Rico's same-day delivery capabilities. The acquisition points to growing global interest in same-day service.

Russian intermodal container operator Ruscon posted a traffic increase in the third-quarter of 2015 because of new services, more shipments of refrigerated cargo and new customers.

Thanks partly to its acquisition of non-asset truckload specialist Coyote Logistics, UPS is opening new routes into shippers' cross-border supply chains.

Deutsche Bahn is said to be facing growing opposition from the German government to its plan to partially privatize its DB Schenker Logistics unit as part of a broad restructuring to finance growth and cut debt.

Kerry Logistics Network’s Singapore subsidiary has been awarded the concession to operate inland ports in Yangon and Mandalay, two major commercial cities in Myanmar.

EU antitrust regulators today unconditionally approved FedEx’s 4.4 billion euros ($4.75 billion) acquisition of TNT Express.

JDA Software and Inttra have agreed to make Inttra’s transaction platform for ocean shipping software, data and services available to JDA’s 4,000-plus customers.

Transportation and logistics companies of all sizes felt the urge to merge in 2015, as the number of deals large and small sent acquisition activity to nearly frenzied levels by year-end. Hardly a week went by last year without breaking news of a buyout, or new majority shareholder, or a fold-in acquisition in non-asset and asset-based sectors of logistics and transportation.

China Airlines, Yang Ming Line and Chungwa Post, Taiwan’s national postal service will cooperate on sea and air freight services to better compete in the booming e-commerce market in Asia.

PostNL, the Netherlands postal and parcel delivery company, has dismissed reports that it in discussions with Royal Mail over a takeover by its U.K. rival.

UPS is expanding its fleet of vehicles running on sustainable fuels in the South by using renewable natural gas to fuel more than 140 trucks in Memphis, Tennessee, and Jackson, Mississippi.

NFI Industries has expanded its natural gas fueled truck fleet with the addition of 12 compressed natural gas trucks to its Central Florida fleet.

Nippon Express Co., Japan’s largest international freight forwarder, has set up its second subsidiary in Myanmar, further strengthening its footprint in the increasingly promising Southeast Asia market.

A steady influx of e-commerce shipments on the ground gave FedEx lift in the quarter that ended Nov. 30, despite weakness in global trade and faltering U.S. industrial production.

France’s competition regulator has fined 20 parcel delivery companies, including FedEx and DHL Express, a total of 672 million euros ($739 million) for colluding over fuel surcharges.

There is growing recognition by markets and consumers that traditional channel-based approaches are now out-of-sync with the “anytime, anywhere” shopping behavior and delivery expectations of modern consumers, according to DHL.

Mergers and acquisitions dominated transportation industry headlines throughout 2015, and the trend is likely to continue into 2016.