February 2019

Did USPS finally have enough of postage reseller abuse?

Truck technology manufacturer WABCO has confirmed that it is in negotiations with ZF Friedrichshafen AG with a view to selling the company to the Germans. Shares in WABCO increased more than 8 percent on the news.

Icy, snow, sleet won’t make the Mid-Atlantic morning commute easy on the first day of March. Slick roads from Washington, D.C. to New York likely.

The weather outside is still frightful on the last day of February, but that isn’t stopping volumes from continuing a strong trend upwards. What does this mean for our tender rejection index however? Is it disrupting freight conditions, or are we still seeing things in relative balance? All this and more from Chief Meteorologist Nick Austin and Market Expert Zach Strickland today on FreightWaves NOW.

One of the most frequent questions I get asked is, “What are the best KPIs that we/I should be tracking in my/our business?”

Alain Bédard says Canadian transport giant expects growth and acquisitions to continue on both sides of border.

Growth in the U.S. economy slowed further in the fourth quarter of 2018, but came in well above expectations to round out an impressive year of growth.

Record rainfall this week, several feet of standing water have flooded homes, businesses, roads just north of San Francisco. Rivers should begin receding today.

Market volumes have increased significantly over the past several days, bringing national levels to those similar to early March of 2018 when the market was thought to be more active. The data tells us one aggregate value cannot tell the whole story.

The Nikola Motor Company announced that Mark Russell has joined its executive management team as president. According to Nikola’s press release, Russell will manage the company’s production of new zero-emission vehicles.

Dale Chrystie of FedEx was elected as the first chair of the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA) Standards Council (BiTAS), during its February Board of Directors meeting.

DAC, a Polish software development and hardware integration company, has joined the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA), the largest commercial blockchain partnership in the world.

Shale oil rig count on decline since November last year; price of renewable hydrogen fuel decreases; Apple lays off 190 employees of its self-driving car program; Europe looking to create standard regulations for hyperloop infrastructure across the continent.

LTL shippers account for around 13.6% of America’s trucking sector, shipping almost $48B each day or about 63 tons of goods per person per year. 48% of consumers are demanding next day delivery according to retailers.

In partnership with Reliance Partners …Cargo theft is a threat for warehousing operations, and visualizing floor operations using 3D interactive maps could be a easier way out for security to pinpoint locations and movement of items in the warehouse space.

In partnership with Slync… Markdowns cost retailers $300 billion a year, and inventory mismanagement is largely to blame.

Consulting firm says requirement to use low-sulfur fuel could raise costs by $10 billion for industry.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said he’s “not foolish enough” to think one trade negotiation with China will change all allegedly unfair commercial practices.

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao Wednesday voiced support of the federal government investing in infrastructure while also streamlining the permitting and approval process to speed up the delivery of road and […]

Simplification and improvement of capital structure will support long-term business plans, says the logistics and transportation company.

The Swiss company, which has been an acquisition target of Danish firm DVS, reported a drop in ocean freight volume last year.

A healthy month-end volume uptick hasn’t tightened capacity, allowing brokers to stay in their happy place.

The Food and Drug Administration has unveiled a plan to further enhance its safety oversight of imported foods through the Food Safety Modernization Act.

Chris Henry, Program Manager, TCA Profitability Program (PHOTO: JIM ALLEN/FREIGHTWAVES) One of the most frequent questions I get asked is, “What are the best KPIs that we/I should be tracking […]

Political tensions in the Washington-Beijing bilateral relationship are making the China-based U.S. business community uneasy. Tariffs are being blamed for driving business confidence down, decreasing investment and for re-routing Asia-Pacific supply chains.

Canadian TFI saw revenues and income surge in its truckload segment, while margins improved.

Express firm adds 17 origin markets in Mexico for samples deliveries to U.S. labs.

Sentiment could be growing for lowering the driver age, but questions linger over safety and wages.

The LINK 2019 retail supply chain conference concluded this morning in Orlando. The conference, hosted by the Retail Industry Leaders Association, will reconvene in Dallas in 2020.

Today on FreightWaves NOW, Nick Austin alerts us to road conditions throughout the country, and Chief Insight Officer, Dean Croke, tells us what “Shiny Hiney” means, why it’s a good time for reefer freight, and what do strawberries have to do with it? All this and more happening right NOW.

Oregon truckers and fuel interests are lobbying against a carbon pricing bill that they contend unfairly targets the transportation sector, the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the state.

Bot has 100-lb capacity, 10 mph speed.

U.S. and Canadian officials are negotiating an end to the costly import levies, which have wreaked havoc on cross-border supply chains.

About 40,000 pounds of broccoli was scattered across a metro Atlanta freeway after a truck overturned earlier this month. The broccoli was not met with the same zeal from passersby as last month’s frozen chicken spill.

Scanlog, a Scandinavian logistics company will use ShipChain’s technology to improve visibility into its trucking operations, and plans to monitor up to a dozen Scanlog trucks by the end of the year.

The Norwegian Government is debating whether to introduce a Carbon Fund, based on its successful nitrogen oxide fund (NOx Fund), with a view to cutting carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030.

The FreightWaves Radio show will keep on coming live to you each and every week from 3:00-5:00 p.m. EST on SiriusXM’s Road Dog Channel 146. Join the discussion on all things freight and see how so much connects to transport and the movement of goods.

Firm cuts debt load nearly in half, shows single-digit top-line growth in freight management, contract logistics.

Online freight booking systems can streamline the process for booking air and ocean freight, solving several significant challenges along the way.

A senior representative of CAI International Inc. spoke on the company’s focus on refrigerated container units in the retail supply chain at the 2019 LINK supply chain conference.

The U.S. trade deficit in goods widened to a record in December 2018 as a sizeable decline in goods exports was paired with a jump in goods imports. This reversed the decline in the deficit from the previous month, and the drop in goods exports sent yearly growth into negative territory for the first time in over two years.

dexFreight introduced the Early Adopters Program, through which companies that sign up will have exclusive access to early release versions of the dexFreight platform, and have the opportunity to interact with dexFreight’s development and product teams. 

Top Five Riskiest half square-mile road stretches of 2018 in California, based on Lytx’s proprietary risk score system.

Onfleet won the first annual RTech supply chain innovation award for its online dashboard application. The application’s software assists businesses to manage in-house deliveries, as well as managing outsourced last-mile deliveries.

An overview of what’s happening in the global markets right now.

Start-up is latest seeking to automate the fraught process of securing truck capacity with its test bed at busiest port in U.S.

Lawmakers heard how costly fees and equipment shortages along the supply chain are hurting exports.

Compliance issues can result in large fines for companies, which is why some companies find outsourcing compliance programs to experts can be a financial win.

Witnesses gave the Senate Subcommittee on Transportation and Safety a variety of recommendations to improve intermodal infrastructure.

World’s largest ocean freight forwarder continues to grow volume, but impact of liner alliances also take toll on margins.

The Switzerland-based freight forwarder and logistics company reports both increased sales and profit for 2018.

The latest opposition stopped a proposal by 73 WTO members to end an impasse as the U.S. continues to voice its concerns about the functioning of the panel itself.

As the U.S. government works to ease restrictions on where drones can fly, they could become an attractive target for hackers.

The service will be paired with APL’s Eagle Express X transpacific service.

The ship Kauai will be moving cargo to and from Hawaii while Matsonia undergoes repairs.

Craft Ventures led the funding for the company, which wants to bring “Uber-like” efficiency to the drayage industry by linking freight forwarders with truckers.

World’s largest ocean freight forwarder outlines hurdles to automation in logistics even as it prepares to invest more in technology.

Ashley Coker IMAGE: WIKIPEDIA COMMONS About 40,000 pounds of broccoli was scattered across a metro Atlanta freeway after a truck overturned earlier this month. The broccoli was not met with […]

A series of company earnings from New Zealand shows that the international maritime trade to and from the Pacific archipelago is largely strong, especially for the bigger ports, but the smaller ports have experienced some downturns in trade.

DHL showcased its Resilience360 platform at the 2019 LINK Conference in Orlando

Several more feet of snow coming to the Sierra Nevada Range, adding to travel troubles. Blizzard conditions and road closures likely in some areas.

Today on FreightWaves NOW, Chad Prevost talks to Market Expert Nick Austin about the weather conditions in California and along I-90 and I-94. Then, Market Expert Dean Croke covers the demand, capacity, and orders of flatbeds as well as how hurricanes and the housing market affect the industry.

Acquisition of bulk transporter will grow Canadian TFI’s tanker presence in the United States.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis has signed a bill that will allow drivers between the ages of 18 and 21 to operate a commercial vehicle for the purpose of interstate commerce in the state if and when they are permitted to do so by federal law.

Project44 announced on February 25 that it had partnered with U.S. Bankcorp (NYSE: USB) to integrate its Advanced Visibility Platform into U.S. Bank’s freight payment solution. The announcement was made at the 2019 Link retail supply chain conference in Orlando.

Redwood Logistics spoke on the importance of technology in the retail supply chain at the 2019 LINK supply chain conference in Orlando.

Facilities to be shuttered now benefiting from increased business, perhaps NEMF diversion.

Trella is a Cairo-based startup that is looking to optimize truckers’ routes so they’re no longer driving empty by connecting them with shippers across Egypt.

Crawford’s mission is to secure large enterprise customers, grow the company aggressively, and prepare for the next stage in the venture capital cycle.

Convey showcased its self-service delivery appointment scheduling platform at the 2019 LINK supply chain conference in Orlando.

Each week, the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration publishes average regional and national retail prices for motor fuels. The national diesel average is used as the basis for most, if not all, fuel surcharges in the trucking sector.

The Motiv EPIC all-electric chassis will be installed on Ford F-59 glider chassis at a Detroit Custom Chassis plant. Also, Colorado passes bill lowering the commercial truck driving age and the Port of Long Beach sees near-record volumes.

Truck stop-travel center operator returned to core business in q4, CEO said.

Cold supply chains suffer from opacity in their operations, which could turn disastrous especially during handoffs – when products are left unattended and might slip out of the prescribed conditions it needs to be stored under. Technology like IoT sensors and blockchain could help companies to monitor their cargo movement better.

Companies say a nearly two-year-old investigation has been dropped.

Sponsored by Redwood LogisticsThe deployment of technology solutions requires many steps, but using a provider that offers an open systems architecture approach can help ease the transition, eliminating both time and cost.

If IMO 2020 boosts demand for LNG bunkering, the U.S. isn’t ready to take advantage.

Small brokerages are confident they can grow quickly in a softening freight environment and trend-line GDP growth.

The coalition will lobby Congress to approve the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Although intended to be fast cargo ships, the Victories were readily adaptable for conversion.

CBP and the industry continue to bring clarity and control to a significant import process through regulatory changes and automation.

Nordstrom has been around for nearly 120 years, but changes in the way consumers shop have forced the retailer to evolve too. Jason Trusley, Nordstrom’s vice president of strategy and […]

The seizures happened in several separate incidents at two ports of entry along the southern border in recent days.

The Treasury Department agency is taking action against the government officials for deliberating blocking humanitarian aid from entering the South American country.

The deal appears to make Lineage the world’s largest operator of temperature controlled warehouses.

The port authority completed the USDA’s Southeast InTransit Cold Treatment Pilot program, showing its ability to handle refrigerated containers of South American fruits.

The AU$92 million acquisition marked the second in February for the Australian company, which has made more than two dozen acquisitions since January 2017.

Ocean carrier reports unaudited full-year results including its acquisition of UASC, but volume gains have yet to add to profit.

Congress asked to stop any legislation allowing larger and heavier trucks on U.S. highways.

The petition cited apparent problematic fishing practices near New Zealand, which reduced the dolphin population to almost 2,000 over the past 45 years.

Home Deport is among the latest investors in the same day delivery company.

The department is looking for members to fill the 2019-2021 term of the President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa.

Ashley Coker IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK Colorado Governor Jared Polis has signed a bill that will allow drivers between the ages of 18 and 21 to operate a commercial vehicle for the […]

Worldwide customs and logistics software provider WiseTech Global has today announced the acquisition of Containerchain, a provider of a shipping container tracking and managing systems for AU$92 million (just over USD$65.8 million) in cash.

North America On-Highway and Defense softened sequentially, and management thinks the company will make much less money in 2019.

The SEC says that Elon Musk violated his settlement agreement by issuing material, forward-looking statements about Tesla without having them pre-approved by an internal process.

Global logistics player, Toll, has officially launched two new roll-on, roll-off (ro-ro) ships for the carriage of trucks and containers across the Bass Strait between mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania. The first commercial sailing begins in a few days on March 1. FreightWaves reviews the vessels in detail, describes the local wharf upgrades and analyses the Bass Strait trade.

FreightWaves has closed $20 million in Series B funding from large strategic investors including Hearst Ventures, Prologis Ventures, and Revolution Ventures