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Today’s Pickup: C.H. Robinson acquires Milgram & Company

Good day,

C.H. Robinson has acquired Milgram & Company, a Canadian provider of freight forwarding, customs brokerage, and surface transportation. C.H. Robinson paid approximately $50 million in cash for the company.

“Today, we are bringing one of Canada’s most respected forwarding companies into C.H. Robinson,” said John Wiehoff, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of C.H. Robinson. “This acquisition continues our global expansion and marks our third Global Forwarding acquisition in the past five years. We are extremely proud of the progress we have made in bringing these companies into C.H. Robinson, and Milgram provides another unique opportunity to strengthen our global forwarding and customs brokerage offerings in Canada. We look forward to working with Milgram’s customers to offer our full suite of logistics services to help improve their supply chains.”

Milgram is a leading provider of customs brokerage and freight forwarding, in addition to providing surface transportation and warehousing services, to 3,500 active customers. For the fiscal year that ended May 31, 2017, Milgram generated $124 mm in revenues.

Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Milgram employs approximately 330 employees and has six offices in Canada and one office in the United States. In additional to brokerage, freight forwarding and surface transportation services, the company also offers warehousing services to about 3,500 active customers.

“We are excited to build on our success providing supply chain expertise and execution, refining processes, and being an integral part of our customers’ businesses,” said Jay Goldman, president and CEO of Milgram & Company Ltd. “We now look forward to collaborating with C.H. Robinson to grow our presence and provide our customers with the opportunity to leverage C.H. Robinson’s worldwide network and world-class service offerings.”

C.H. Robinson said it will integrate Milgram into its Global Forwarding division and single global technology platform, Navisphere.

Did you know?

Job growth in August was below expectations with only 156,000 non-farm jobs added, according to the Labor Department. Trucking saw a decline with for-hire jobs losing 1,600 positions. The transportation and warehousing segment added 1,900 overrall.

Quotable:

“The stories profiled in that [USA Today] article are deeply concerning. Any motor carrier that fails to comply with law, such as those alleged in the article, would be in violation of our contract and would therefore be subject to cancellation.”

Jay Jorgensen, executive vice president of Walmart, in a letter to USA Today on why CostCo has cancelled its contract with port trucking company Pacific 9 Transportation, one of the companies accused of unfair treatment of drivers

In other news:

FMCSA relaxes driver HOS rules in 26 states

The FMCSA has relaxed driver hour-of-service rules for those involved in delivering fuel in 26 states due to shortages from refinery delays and pipeline interruption due to Harvey. (Transport Topics)

Couriers, package delivery firms ramp up hiring

Courier, messenger and package delivery companies have increased hiring for five straight months, adding 3,900 jobs in August. (Wall Street Journal)

FMCSA to reply to OOIDA’s anti-ELD petition

FMCSA has said it will provide a reply to a petition filed by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association seeking to stop the ELD rule. (Heavy Duty Trucking)

Former inspector explains why ELD rule is good for trucking

A former roadside inspector says the ELD rule will improve safety and ultimately be a good thing for the industry. Here is his reasoning. (Fleet Owner)

Survey finds supply chain participants are not growing in-house talent

A DHL survey has found that more than one-third of supply chain companies do not actively take steps to develop future employees. (Supply Chain Brain)

Final Thoughts

Just as the freight industry is adjusting to post-Harvey life and the disruptions it has caused in the supply chain, comes another massive hurricane. Irma is barreling toward the U.S., with a close to 95% chance that storm will hit the mainland, perhaps by this weekend. With a still expected shift in direction coming, the exact location is not known yet, but interests in the Florida and Southeast U.S. should begin preparing now for a possible strike.

Hammer down everyone!

Brian Straight

Brian Straight leads FreightWaves' Modern Shipper brand as Managing Editor. A journalism graduate of the University of Rhode Island, he has covered everything from a presidential election, to professional sports and Little League baseball, and for more than 10 years has covered trucking and logistics. Before joining FreightWaves, he was previously responsible for the editorial quality and production of Fleet Owner magazine and fleetowner.com. Brian lives in Connecticut with his wife and two kids and spends his time coaching his son’s baseball team, golfing with his daughter, and pursuing his never-ending quest to become a professional bowler. You can reach him at [email protected].