Supply chain

Lufthansa Cargo will offer instant air freight quotes via an application programming interface with digital forwarder Fleet, a company in which the German airline invested in 2018.

Maersk is more than doubling its warehousing and distribution assets in North America through an acquisition that serves as another signal of its commitment to transition from container line to integrator.

The developer of a Texas industrial park scheduled to open in early 2021 says it will work with Kansas City Southern of Mexico to offer a shorter, cheaper way for Mexican manufacturers to ship goods to Houston and other Texas markets.

Stakeholders on the ground say the supply chain in coronavirus-hit China is beginning to show some initial signs of recovery, albeit slowly, and normal operations aren’t expected until well into March.

The truckload freight marketplace Transfix is allowing shippers to guarantee forward spot rates up to a year out based on an machine learning model it has been using internally for more than a year.

US refrigerated (reefer) shippers reported improved service from ocean carriers in 2019, but equipment issues and other uncertainties could impact cold chains this year.

US shippers are demanding more precise delivery times for their goods, as retail charges for late deliveries and better awareness of truck driver hours of service raise the stakes in visibility.

PortMiami won a $44 million federal grant which will be used to improve the cold chain cargo facilities to handle temperature-controlled food, and perishables such as flowers.

US exporters of refrigerated (reefer) cargo are facing costly delays in China and equipment shortages in the United States due to extended factory closures and limitations on worker movement caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

A range of transport organizations have cautiously welcomed the European Commission’s Green Deal emissions strategy, but their support will depend on how the carbon-neutral plan is implemented.

The long-promised National Freight Strategic Plan should be about more than highways, groups representing US ports and shippers said this week. The question still is how to pay for freight priorities.

The New York Shipping Exchange has begun allowing shippers and freight buyers to migrate their long-term contracts with container lines onto the NYSHEX platform, essentially allowing contracts negotiated outside the exchange to be fully and mutually enforceable as if they were transacted within the exchange.

A survey of delivery drivers projects that missed deliveries and time wasted due to outdated and incorrect maps and navigation aids results in $2.5 billion in added costs.

Mexican truckers are continuing to fight the imposition of state and municipal restrictions and fees on trucks, and they now face a federal legislator’s effort to ban double-tractor trailers from the nation’s roads.

DSV Panalpina enters its “year of integration” in good financial shape, and aims to build on volume and revenue growth.

Close on the heels of setting up a direct payment mechanism for terminal handling charges that beneficial cargo owners have traditionally paid through container lines, Indian officials have now begun a review into off-dock charges.

Mexico’s large fleet of small trucking companies is able to more easily access large shippers through a digital matchmaking platform, Sendengo, say company officials.

The heavily-funded forwarder told JOC.com Tuesday the layoffs are aimed at redirecting resources away from “over-invested” existing process areas into ones that “help us serve clients efficiently.”

Automating certain components of their transportation procurement and management processes can yield more accuracy in handling freight bills, according to Chris Stauber, chief product officer of transportation management software (TMS) provider Haven.

Traditionally, shippers have been responsible for receiving freight bills and ensuring those bills are accurate, but some are flipping that script through “self-invoicing.”

The UK formally leaves the EU at 11pm Friday, Jan. 31, beginning an 11-month transition period where its future trading relationship with the EU will be determined.

Shippers, as much as carriers, are driving toward electronic or digital bills of lading, as the need for speed and more responsive, detailed customer service increases.

Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) in southern Malaysia has begun using Portchain’s software to automate and optimize berth planning operations.

The forwarding software providers say they’re integrating SimpliShip’s freight rate management product with Qwyk’s vessel schedule, visibility, and booking tools to create an “out of the box” TMS.

JDA caters to some of the world’s largest importers and exporters, but the challenge it faces, like many incumbent software providers, is staying ahead the innovation curve and making sure the market recognizes that innovation.

New York Shipping Exchange (NYSHEX) said 96.4 percent of contracts last year were fulfilled, meaning that carriers accepted the cargo for the sailing it was booked for and cargo owners and non-vessel operating common carriers delivered the containers they contracted.

Mexico’s economy will stagnate this year after experiencing a technical recession in 2019 that saw GDP decline in the first three quarters, but the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement is expected to provide a much-needed boost.

A London-based logistics process automation software provider has landed $7 million in funding to fuel growth of its platform, which is designed to help forwarders unearth data lodged in emails and disparate systems.

The group pushing process and data standards in the container shipping industry has released a new set governing the tracking and tracing of container shipments across systems and carriers.

Bolloré Logistics has picked the COO of its Asia-Pacific operation to head the company’s Americas business, which covers 45 offices in eight countries, including the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

La economía de México se estancará este año después de experimentar una recesión técnica en 2019 que resultó en una disminución del PIB en los primeros tres trimestres, pero se espera que el Tratado entre México, Estados Unidos y Canadá (T-MEC) proporcione un impulso muy necesario.

Supply chain technology providers tell JOC.com logistics practitioners are more interested in automating specific processes than pure self-service models for procuring and managing freight.

The trend of TMS vendors partnering with ancillary visibility and capacity providers continues apace, this time with BluJay Solutions creating an integration with Chicago-based visibility provider project44.

APL Logistics is providing a visibility product that mingles its ability to connect directly to carriers across modes with its “boots on the ground” to fill in gaps in data completeness and timeliness.

Opponents of the European Commission’s plan to extend Europe’s liner shipping block exemption regulation for another four years have ratcheted up their challenge to the proposal.

Maersk, tapping its reefer capabilities, has linked up with an Indian ag group on a pilot program designed to boost the carrier’s integrated strategy.

US District Court Judge Roger Benitez ruled that AB5 is preempted by existing federal statutes, delivering a win for the California Trucking Association and dealing a blow to state lawmakers attempting to restructure the worker classification process for truck drivers.

The freight broker GlobalTranz is expanding its reach in the managed transportation services market with the acquisition of Cerasis, a broker that effectively acts as provider of transportation management software and often runs the software for its less-than-truckload, parcel, and final mile customers.

Visibility solutions provider Arviem, which aims to help shippers leverage cargo data into trade finance products, is piloting a process to ease inventory financing burdens on shippers in and out of Austria.

Ag exporters are pleased by Wednesday’s signing of the US-China “Phase One” trade agreement, but the immediate impact on export volumes in the westbound trans-Pacific is unknown because the deal lacks specific details on commodity codes and tariff levels, they say.