Logistics Technology News

The change in leadership is likely to accelerate strategic changes in planning and capital spending at C.H. Robinson that have been under way since last March at the urging of investors.

Partnerships between small forwarders and early-stage software vendors offer a symbiotic opportunity to shape product direction that is not possible with more established technology providers.

US less-than-truckload carrier Roadrunner is arming drivers in its network with a booking application that feeds into its new internal operational systems.

The need for forwarders to tether quoting and tracking in international freight modes to US surface modes has been highlighted by new offerings from ECU Worldwide and Freightos.

The test was meant to demonstrate that different electronic bills of lading products can be used by various parties involved in the movement of a container, alleviating a nagging concern in the nascent evolution of eBLs.

The head of the Global Shipping Business Network, long seen as a rival to the now-defunct TradeLens, said the demise of the Maersk-led technology platform could eventually boost use of blockchain-backed tools in shipping.

J.B. Hunt, Uber Freight, and Convoy are partnering to develop and drive broad industry adoption of a standard process for truckload appointment scheduling.

The unprecedented infusion of cash into supply chain technology development over the past two years was akin to putting the sector on a diet of steroids, writes JOC analyst Lars Jensen.

OneRail has channeled the need for shippers to access final-mile capacity and service level consistency into a large venture capital funding round.

TradeLens’ failure to gain traction after four years was due to several factors, not least of which was trying to convince ocean carriers and their customers to provide sensitive data to a technology platform partly owned by Maersk.

Retailers that have seen final-mile costs more than double during the pandemic are increasingly making investments in their last-leg delivery networks.

Data from visibility provider Portcast shows US exporters struggle to manage changes to early return dates as well as variances in ERD data formats from different terminals.

PayCargo has extended its reach into the forwarding industry via an integration with software vendor Raft that minimizes PayCargo’s need to directly connect with CargoWise.

Greenscreens.ai has seen its roster of truckload broker customers grow to 70 this year, with previous investor Tiger Global putting another $5 million in the Florida-based software vendor.

Audit and payment vendors are moving beyond their traditional core business of ensuring accurate freight invoices and into business analytics and consultative services as shippers seek to turn invoice data into strategic supply chain intelligence.

CEO Jeffrey Musser said shippers are still sitting on high inventories and so are pulling back on orders after front-loading their shipments from overseas earlier this year.

The investment by Maersk and CMA CGM into visibility provider project44 is notable as they continue to develop their end-to-end integrator strategies and prepare for more stringent environmental regulations.

The acquisition of Fastmore Logistics will give Echo Global Logistics more access to international freight forwarders, linking domestic and international cargo networks.

WiseTech Global has resumed its acquisitive ways with the purchase of Shipamax, a UK-based logistics data extraction software vendor.

Shippers affected by the closure of a free less-than-truckload transportation management system in October have been given a pathway to migrate to another system connected to 15 LTL carriers.

The truckload market is still searching for a single platform that aggregates shipper loads and carrier capacity, a role that investors are backing Chicago-based Newtrul to eventually fill.

The severe space constraints that drove container shipping rates to record levels over the past two years are over, easing shippers' reliance on long-term fixed rates.

A Geodis initiative around automating service requests from shippers is an example of growing consumption of robotic process automation in the third-party logistics industry.

A funding round into Shippeo shows that demand for visibility and fragmentation of the market continue to grow despite a slowing venture capital environment.

Volume and rates fell through the third quarter, but not enough to slow the highly elevated earnings reported by two of the world’s largest forwarders.

More than two years in development, a standard electronic bill of lading for less-than-truckload shipments promises to streamline the flow of data, providing greater visibility to shippers.

Buyers of ocean capacity have long used freight rate indexes to gauge the direction of the market, but disruption and sky-high costs during the COVID-19 pandemic have elevated their prominence, often leading to difficult discussions with their executive leadership.

Embattled software provider Slync.io has turned to GT Nexus co-founder John Urban in a bid to resurrect its fortunes following the ousting of former CEO Chris Kirchner.

A weakening freight market and growing investor unease with holding companies designed to take early stage companies public have led Transfix to put a public listing on ice.

project44 and the Global Shipping Business Network are working together to tie cargo tracking and bill of lading data to unearth trade finance opportunities in Asia.

Software vendor Portchain will help a DP World-operated terminal in the Port of Antwerp to automate communication from shipping lines to better coordinate berth plans, the companies said Wednesday.

Shippers need to rethink the entire truckload procurement process, not just use technology that marginally decreases costs by relying too much on predictive pricing, according to a trio of procurement technology experts.

Supplier risk is becoming a bigger hurdle for shippers, notably around forced labor regulations, prompting venture capital firms to plunge $100 million into technology provider Altana.

Overhaul has joined a growing group of visibility providers aiming to connect real-time shipment data to cargo insurance solutions.

The less-than-truckload industry is reaching its technology inflection point, which it will need to capture rising demand from shippers seeking operators that are easy to do business with.

A trio of technology providers want to give shippers the ability to tie sensor-based container data to in-transit cargo insurance decisions.

A consortium of liner carriers and terminals aiming to speed the sharing of shipment data with banks believes it can overcome a chronic consent hurdle in the process.

Tive has been piloting its new pharma product, which meets a variety of requirements around data security and storage, with 34 companies over the past two months.

Shippers are seeking unified data across the modes they use, something that has prompted project44 to integrate data into a single platform it released Tuesday.

A shift from a focus on freight procurement to international transportation management has yielded growth in several regions for transportation management software vendor Cargobase.