Supply chain

A lack of teeth in the offline freight contracting process has led to chronic capacity availability problems, but freight marketplaces see a path to use buyer-seller rules to redraw the terms of engagement.

Retail brands are turning to niche logistics providers to help them fulfill growing direct-to-consumer sales both in their own stores and via online channels.

In its drive to be more than a port terminal operator, DP World is spearheading a program that gives traders in “south–south” lanes between emerging markets logistics benefits for routing trade through Dubai’s airport and seaport.

PAXAFE, which focuses on reducing cargo underwriting risk through visibility hardware and software, has nabbed funding to build traction in high-risk freight verticals.

Chain.io, which provides logistics companies and shippers with a cloud-based integration platform to better connect the myriad systems they use, has raised $5 million to broaden its reach.

Gartner’s first dissection of the real-time transportation visibility market found project44 and FourKites out in front of rivals, but said the market remains small relative to broader spend on logistics solutions by shippers.

Torch Logistics will use $3.5 million in seed funding to expand its short-haul truckload brokerage to capitalize on e-commerce demand.

A New York City regulator who established a minimum wage for app-based rideshare drivers has been nominated to head the US truck safety watchdog agency.

Invoice automation provider OpenEnvoy has translated early traction in the logistics industry into a sizable seed round intended to help it scale quickly.

3PLs are partnering with specialized technology providers to address shippers’ last-mile capacity needs as well as to help lower shippers’ transportation costs.

Factoring solutions provider and lender eCapital saw an uptick in revenue in 2020 and is now merging its acquisitions under a single brand as it sees consolidation taking root in the logistics financial services space.

FreightMango, led in North America by a veteran of Cargomatic, is looking to differentiate itself in a growing field of forwarding services marketplaces by helping shippers vet and select providers.

Maersk is furthering its ambitions to get closer to its shipper customers with a new fourth-party logistics aimed at large cargo owners that struggle to tie together data around demand, inventory, and cargo flow.

Funding for cross-border technology startup Nuvocargo continues a trend of investment into companies targeting the disjointed processes associated with US-Mexico logistics and transportation.

Technology firms driving autonomous trucking forward are seeking the investment and partnerships they need to expand rapidly, anticipating growing demand.

The real-time freight visibility market continues to push into the world of ocean freight, with FourKites, fresh off a $100 million funding round, acquiring global transportation management provider Haven on Wednesday.

The growth in e-commerce is driving the need for shippers to manage all transportation modes in a single location.

Five of the largest global container lines are adopting the Digital Container Shipping Association’s track-and-trace standards, a sign that carriers are starting to recognize that shippers’ need for standardization outweighs their desire to keep systems proprietary.

Third-party logistics industry had a banner 2020, with double-digit revenue growth, according to SJ Consulting.

E-commerce is driving the demand for flexible warehousing solutions. Stord is among several startups in the warehousing tech space to recently receive funding.

Blume Global is hoping a new product emphasizing its utility as a supply chain planning tool will help it to break out of a crowded field of supply chain visibility providers.

Kerry Logistics will sign warehouse management agreements with each of the nine individual warehouse companies it is selling to current parent company Kerry Holdings; the facilities are located in some of the prime industrial areas of Hong Kong.

Shippers’ disinclination to replace too much of their logistics systems infrastructure at any one time to avoid disruption runs counter to the theoretical idea that the market requires more functionality on fewer systems.

San Francisco-based Baton, the developer of a software-based drop-zone model linking truckload with final-mile in Los Angeles, has landed a $10.5 million funding round to expand the concept into other North American cities.

FourKites has landed a $100 million funding round, led by industrial investors, to use visibility data to drive strategic supply chain insights by linking hardware and software-derived data.

With the global supply chain in knots, retailers are struggling to match inventory to customer demand, resulting in missed sales opportunities.

A veteran of freight broker GlobalTranz has landed an $8 million funding round to enhance a multi-carrier marketplace and transportation management system for less-than-truckload shippers.

SAP’s transportation management integration with Sedna, which helps companies reduce their volume of emails, is a further sign of software partnerships blossoming in logistics and addressing a need to make inter- and intra-company communication more efficient.

Maersk has significantly beefed up its container fleet in India by repositioning as many available empty containers as possible, noting it added approximately 100,000 TEU of empties in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Decarbonization goals at global shippers is pushing the industry toward more granular scrutiny of supply chain-related emissions, a task that’s being helped by emergent technology and a focus on shipper collaboration.

Vessel call and berth optimization software provider Portchain has added to its roster of carrier and port clients with the addition of the terminal operator at two container terminals in St. Petersburg.

A partnership between TMS provider SupplyStack and visibility company project44 is emblematic of a growing need for European shippers to embed visibility into their shipment management workflow.

Modal-switching technology tested by MIT and broker GlobalTranz is showing that shippers can save costs by grouping less-than-truckload linehaul freight to multi-stop truckloads.

A $31 million investment into Los Angeles-based technology provider Flowspace is the latest example of e-commerce growth whipping up investor interest in new warehousing and fulfillment models.

Agriculture shippers have an opportunity to tap the growing market for high-value US crops and produce, but equipment shortages hinder that, a USDA report said.

Traditionally seen as tactical partners engaged to help a shipper reconcile rates with invoices, freight audit and payment (FAP) vendors say they also can help increase the efficiency of payment processes and catch bill of lading errors before they reach the invoicing stage.

Shippers are increasingly able to gain visibility into in-transit freight, even for time- and/or temperature--sensitive cargo being carried in specialized refrigerated containers, courtesy of new technology.

BluJay Solutions’ new global trade management platform is designed to use automation to assist trade compliance professionals in managing ever-changing global customs regulations and an expected deluge of declarations associated with e-commerce growth.

ShipBob is adding capacity to its fulfillment network and boosting its delivery options by building out a last-mile delivery network for e-commerce customers.

The DHL group has much of its business focused on a segment of the market that has enjoyed explosive growth through the COVID-19 pandemic.