Supply chain

While logistics technology is exploding in India, Mumbai-based Vamaship believes there’s a gap for shippers wanting to pull together their LSPs and systems in a single place.

The social media titan is by no means the first to try to tackle cross-team collaboration and communication, but the ubiquity of its consumer platform may give the Workplace system an edge over lesser-known competitors.

For trucking companies, third-party logistics providers, and shippers alike, the lack of progress in this area after a year spent stressing the need for greater collaboration is disappointing.

The Danish shipping giant has established a start-up accelerator in India that aims to help develop technologies Maersk can one day leverage back into its own digital transformation.

Those wondering how the rapidly expanding logistics provider plans to turn a recent $1 billion funding round into profits in the short term may be asking the wrong question.

A new product from the Zurich-based cargo sensor and tracking provider will provide banks and other financiers with increased visibility into freight moves and associated risk, allowing for faster deployment of capital.

Only when carriers start actually using low-sulfur fuel later this year will the demand -- and the price -- be established.

Although the final decision lies with the college of commissioners, a European Commission working group is examining the pros and cons of modifying the liner block exemption regulation, rather than renewing or repealing it.

Modern software can be more than the sum of its parts thanks to the ease with which systems can integrate with each other via application programming interfaces (APIs).

Higher volumes of lighter weight, short-distance e-commerce packages sap revenue and yield at FedEx Express, which also expects slower growth in international trade.

The International Transport Forum is calling for more clarity in the EU liner shipper block exemption rules, just days after the World Shipping Council submitted a report in support of extending the exemption.

Experts tell JOC.com that although the development of data standards may not be a necessity for increasing deployment of technology in container shipping, it would accelerate the process.

The technology provider, best known as a pioneer smartphone maker, is doubling down on its investment in sensor-based freight transportation asset tracking using its legacy location and battery technology.

Carriers and 3PLs are using application programming interfaces (APIs) to connect with customers and software vendors to create broader ecosystems of data and functionality than can exist through EDI, email, and flat file sharing.

Mega-box warehouses of 1 million square feet and larger offer the size and efficiencies that are necessary for efficient e-commerce fulfillment, but finding sites in urban areas large enough to support the sprawling facilities can be problematic.

Blockchain technology has the potential to disrupt multiple industries, but potential use cases in shipping are still a few years away, panelists tell the TPM 2019 Conference in Long Beach.

Using connected devices to track container cargo shipments could transform the industry, but much of their value will remain unrealized if the systems they feed can't communicate with one another.

Software provider project44 is looking to fill gaps in supply chain visibility, which it says occur most often at ports, rather than when cargo is at sea.

Navis's purchase of cloud-based competitor Octopi will give the company access to terminals that otherwise might not have even considered a terminal operating system.

The Trump administration has designated Michael Khouri as Federal Maritime Commission chairman more than a year after the commissioner was tapped to lead the top maritime regulatory agency in an acting role.

True innovation is difficult to implement and slow to spread in the transportation industry, where picking up the phone remains the most common way people conduct business.

IHS Markit Chief Economist Nariman Behravesh tells TPM 2019 slowing global economic growth puts the odds of a recession at 3-to-1, with a likelihood of a worldwide recession in 2020 at 50-50.

President Donald Trump will want to ensure voters in northern tier states don’t see heating oil and diesel prices skyrocket before the 2020 election as a result of the new IMO low-sulfur fuel rule, IHS Markit vice chairman Daniel Yergin tells the TPM 2019 Conference.

As US airports, terminal operators, and ground handlers are taking heat for rampant truck congestion and cargo delays, two software firms are looking to bring digitization and automation to airport freight handling operations.

The DOT OIG's audit of FMCSA medical certification procedures and examiners is one example of how federal regulators are cracking down on truck and bus drivers in an effort to keep unqualified drivers off the road and reduce accidents and fatalities.

VC-funded startups are joining established players in providing previously hard-to-get data around the critical transport legs between ports and distribution centers.

The risk of severe disruption in early 2020 should be on the minds of all beneficial cargo owners and forwarders leading up to the Jan. 1 imposition of the IMO's low-sulfur fuel rules.

Matson CEO Matt Cox says additional costs associated with the IMO's 2020 low-sulfur fuel rules are quickly becoming the defining factor in annual trans-Pacific contract negotiations.

Enforcement of a revamped customs program requiring carriers to electronically submit manifest data prior to arrival or departure at Indian ports had already been pushed back twice.

Rising demand on its Asia-Europe express network is seeing UPS make some big investments in infrastructure and aircraft capacity to keep up.

JDA Software opening its supply chain platform up to outside development gives shippers more direct influence over future iterations of the firm’s TMS and WMS products.

The tie-up between US Bank Freight Payment and project44 on less-than-truckload moves is yet another a sign shippers are looking for more than just in-transit shipment data and predictive ETAs.

The e-commerce giant will need large and midsized shippers to grow its budding NVO business, but questions remain about whether such shippers will want to work with a company that is both a service provider and a competitor.

The e-commerce behemoth is already exerting greater control over its internal supply chain, but if Amazon were to build out and market logistics as a distinct service, it would forever redraw the lines between ocean freight and the rest of the global supply chain.

The higher cost of low-sulfur fuel remains one of the greatest threats to carrier profitability over the next year.

CEO Ryan Petersen tells JOC.com Flexport will use the new funding to build out its physical infrastructure and scale up its engineering team, not for mergers and acquisitions.

The European Commission is reviewing submissions regarding a five-year extension of the exemption covering liner carrier consortia in advance of a 2020 expiration of the current extension.

With less than a year to go before the IMO's global requirement for the use of low-sulfur fuel, vessel operators still lack clarity into plans by refiners and suppliers to ensure sufficient fuel and infrastructure at major US gateways.

Despite the disruption customs inspections required after a no-deal Brexit, there has been no contact between the agencies in the UK and those on the EU.

Import demand growth in the region is improving prospects for already strong exports of petrochemical, agricultural, and forest products, which had previously been limited by a shortage of empty containers.