Supply chain

There’s debate about how much of a knock-on effect COVID-19 vaccine distribution could have on other types of cargoes, but US shippers are cautioned to plan for some disruption.

Less-than-containerload (LCL) operators are driving the bulk of technology development in their market owing to its niche nature and inherent complexity, but that may change as more volume gravitates to LCL.

Convoy is integrating with AscendTMS, another sign of the importance of enabling small truckload carriers with software to manage driver dispatch and scheduling, which helps give shippers electronic access to more capacity.

Momentum for software that helps small carriers manage their businesses keeps growing, with CloudTrucks getting $20.5 million in venture capital to build its “virtual carrier” model and an instant pay product for drivers.

Supply chain management software provider Blue Yonder is suing its competitor Kinaxis over alleged patent infringements that Blue Yonder says have cost it $20 million in customer deals.

BlueX Trade and Catapult are partnering to pipe instant rates from BlueX’s container line customers to Catapult’s forwarder customers, a further sign that instant quoting is gaining traction as an alternative to traditional spot quoting.

A technology-based freight broker has spun out its technology as a standalone transportation management system (TMS), signaling the need to better connect small carriers to surface capacity for shippers.

Interest in drop-and-hook programs continues to grow, with the broker Transfix now offering an “asset-like” service that it says it uses technology to find the right capacity for its shipper customers.

The extraction of data from commercial invoices is a sort of holy grail in the world of logistics automation software, and solutions providers are seeing demand from logistics providers as they hone in on this area.

3Gtms caters primarily to large enterprise US domestic shippers that have complex freight transportation networks.

The Digital Container Shipping Association’s latest effort is targeting a long sought-after goal in maritime and logistics — a paperless bill of lading — by making it standardized and interoperable.

A startup enterprise communication software provider, with roots in the maritime industry and with traction among global traders, announced a $10 million funding round.

Demand for detailed carbon emissions data is growing, evidenced by the integration of SeaRoutes’ data into the platforms of third-party logistics providers and global transportation and rate management systems.

Fulfillment providers are offering warehouse space and technology to help retailers focus more on e-commerce and better position inventory for faster last-mile delivery.

Trucking software provider Baton is building drop-and-hook relay networks in large cities to allow long-haul truckers to avoid first- and last-mile congestion and dwell time.

Freight broker Transfix will integrate predictive visibility data from project44 to augment its existing app-based GPS location data as part of a long-term agreement with the multimodal visibility provider.

Flock Freight, which uses software to aggregate less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments into multi-stop truckloads, has received more than $100 million to expand its alternative to the hub-and-spoke model.

E-commerce growth has driven appetite for on-demand warehousing space, which propelled software provider Flexe toward a $70 million funding round Tuesday.

Automation, self-invoicing bolster traditional third-party payment audit model

The increase in one-way container moves means drivers spend more time waiting on line at different terminals, and running down the hours of service they can legally drive.

Yang Ming has joined the growing list of container lines to offering a digital quoting and booking channel, with its use of software from BlueX Trade also a sign that this trend is taking root in Asia.

Toronto-based freight marketplace Shipz has partnered with a trio of software firms to enable users to access to adjacent tools, part of a continuing trend of forwarder-focused technology providers partnering to augment their value.

New York–based new trade compliance automation startup Altana AI has designs on creating a new version of much-maligned trusted trade cargo facilitations programs.

Loadsmart more than tripled the amount of capital raised through a $90 million round announced Friday as it seeks to automate the brokerage and optimization of US domestic transport modes.

The US Federal Maritime Commission has rejected an argument from container lines that it lacks the authority to hear the American Trucking Associations’ complaint over so-called merchant haulage moves.

Convoy has seen considerable volume growth for a program under which loads are pre-staged for drivers, prompting the freight broker to develop more predictive capability to route empty equipment to shippers’ facilities.

Shippers will need to look not just at multiple transportation modes, but across modes, to secure capacity in 2021, digital broker Loadsmart said.

Digital forwarder Forto has snared its second large funding round of 2020 based on a three-fold growth in its ocean freight this year.

The pandemic has increased food insecurity in many countries, while some buyers ordering more inventory to hedge against potential supply chain disruptions and bottlenecks.

DCSA and BIC have built a database of 11,000 depots, container yards, maintenance and repair vendors, and other supply chain container facilities in 160 countries.

The growth of e-commerce, higher shipping costs, and limited capacity available from traditional last-mile operators have prompted third-party logistics (3PL) providers to expand into last-mile services.

UPS and FedEx networks have been put to the test this year due to COVID-19 related lockdowns and social distancing requirements.

The world greeted news of a potential vaccine with relief, but the supply chain logistics required to transport doses at extreme temperatures will be daunting.

For some DHL Global Supply Chain’s contract logistics customers, they had no choice but to create new and expand existing channels as lockdowns shuttered brick-and-mortar stores.

German integrator DHL is expecting the strong earnings momentum generated in the third quarter to continue through the end of the year.

Cyber attacks on companies in the global logistics industry are an ever-present threat, but container lines and software providers say hosting systems in the cloud helps combat the threat and aid in recovery.

Cloud computing is ubiquitous in the world of commerce, and that’s spread in recent years to container lines, which are using a migration to platforms like Microsoft Azure to develop products quickly and then scale them back without committing resources to a server infrastructure.

Carriers are concentrating efforts on increasing their share of direct business with shippers, but DB Schenker says forwarders offering a wide range of services will always be in the picture.

Twill started as Maersk’s play in the neutral digital forwarding space, but it has shifted its focus to funnel small shipper volumes into Maersk’s logistics and vessel operations network.

The widely-used supply chain modeling software provider LLamasoft was acquired Monday by a procurement solutions maker in one of the biggest deals of late for a pure supply chain technology provider.