Supply chain

Choosing the right path through a dizzying array of digital offerings is proving tricky for logistics providers, and taking a wrong turn could be costly.

Executive Q&A with Stephen Spoljaric, Global Manager of Logistics, Bechtel Corporation

Shippers, ocean carriers, and freight forwarders say cargo owners are already rushing shipments to get ahead of potential tariffs on $300 billion of US imports from China.

Merging FedEx’s Ground and Express networks would allow the company to cut costs while creating billions in shareholder value, SJ Consulting Group president Satish Jindel writes in JOC.com's The Industry Speaks series.

CargoX’s “smart” bill of lading allows for the digital transfer of shipping documentation, but CBO Vjeran Ortynski says government acceptance of digital originals will be the “real disruptor.”

Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney is calling for the expansion of the NAFTA free-trade zone throughout the Americas, as well as improvements in labor productivity at home.

Shippers in Canada say the first half of 2019 has brought several challenges, from tariffs to port constraints.

Hapag-Lloyd will place tracking devices on 100,000 reefer containers to increase visibility.

The Itasca, Illinois-based forwarder is up for sale, and says it is eyeing a private equity partner to fuel its own acquisitions to drive growth in e-commerce and forwarding services.

After years of undercutting each other on rates to gain market share and the resulting waves of consolidation, large container carriers seem to have come to a realization that they will sink or swim together.

The Port of Oakland has received the final installment for the funding of its seaport technology program; the go-live dates for the individual projects are more than three years away.

Walmart remained atop the list of the largest US importers by volume last year and is nearing the 1 million-TEU mark, moving more than 7.3 times the volume of online retail giant Amazon, which came in at No. 12.

At the congested US-Mexico border, the focus is shifting from expediting stranded shipments to managing capacity to optimize the flow of truck freight.

Economists and shipping industry leaders warn the US-China trade war could be a potential tipping point for a global economy that was already cooling before President Donald Trump raised tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods.

Container carriers are accelerating their push into the digital space, with three of the five largest lines now contributing to a blockchain platform led by IBM and Maersk, as well as coalescing around a specific piece of track-and-trace hardware.

Despite strong expected consumer demand, uncertainty over the outcome of the US-China trade talks could reduce growth in US electronics imports in 2019, after 5.2 percent growth in 2018.

A proposal from the City of Newark would see dozens of underused and vacant land plots near the Port of New York and New Jersey redeveloped to create port-related warehousing and logistics facilities.

The largest US logistics provider is expanding its over-the-road service in Europe through an acquisition, its second purchase in Europe this year.

The rise of populist governments is crimping the outlook for free trade, according to Boris Glass, senior economist with S&P Global Ratings.

The French container sensor company will have 100,000 boxes fitted with its devices by the end of 2020, thanks to large orders from its two shipping line investors.

Around nine in 10 investments by venture capital firms generally fail, but the risky nature of VC investment is driving increased investment and innovation in logistics. And more than that, the model is here to stay.

The San Francisco-based firm is one of a small number of venture capital groups looking to change the way VC-backed logistics software startups are viewed within the industry.

Shipper interest in a free trade zone in Zhuhai, China, is being driven by a shortage of logistics space and rocketing rental prices across the Pearl River in Hong Kong.

By adding an asset-based drop-and-hook trailer program to its digital brokerage platform, J.B. Hunt Transport Services is redrawing traditional business boundaries.

Texas lawmakers have backed legislation that limit vessels in the channel that leads to the Port of Houston to 1,100 feet, unless port pilots say that such a mega-vessel can safely and efficiently move up the channel in two way traffic.

Complacent markets that were sure cooler heads would prevail in trade discussions between the US and China have been rocked by a rapid-fire escalation in tariffs.

Shippers now expect better visibility as newer SaaS companies are redrawing the ease of consumption and functional expectations of track-and-trace technologies.

The European Commission is eyeing Cosco’s deepening reach into the European port sector, as well as the broader issue of state subsidies to Asia-based carriers and shipyards.

The European Commission’s competition regulator warned that shipper suggestions that carriers create a uniform bunker adjustment factor (BAF) surcharge would be viewed as a “hardcore violation” of antitrust rules.

Software issues that marred the initial deployment of India’s redesigned port community system have been resolved, but broader stakeholder concerns over data security remain.

Adding five new members may give the Digital Container Shipping Association the quorum needed to press forward with the development of standard data protocols.

One of the most prominent global trade management software providers sold for $425 million Monday, a culmination of a series of deals for GTM makers and also the coup de grace in a trio of deals for buyer E2open.

Facing yet another hike in tariffs on imports from China, BCOs are reviewing their options, but the reality is if they haven't changed their sourcing strategy by now, it's probably too late.

Amazon’s logistics business needs to be regulated, but it’s not because Amazon is a bad company; on the contrary, it’s because the company is so exceptional, Freightos CEO Zvi Schreiber writes in JOC.com's The Industry Speaks series.

Trade attorneys say manufacturers should take the lead in lobbying for changes in trade policy, as well as consider potential M&A opportunities resulting from tariff uncertainty.

US imports of goods that left China prior to Friday’s increase of tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent may be able to enter the country at the lower duty rate under certain circumstances.

The first Central American vessel as part of two vessel strings from Seaboard Marine to the US East coast visited Savannah this week, a growing trade lane that has generated a 70 percent increase in imports in Georgia since 2014.

While CMA CGM is the first carrier to implement the emergency bunker fuel surcharges this quarter, other carriers are likely to follow

A blockchain protocol developer and a payroll services company have combined to alleviate the need for small trucking companies to turn to factoring services.

The costs of climate change and impacts to business are typically discussed as abstract and distant, but a review of recent history shows those costs are already here, and climbing.