From relay networks to industry unicorns, FreightWaves looks at technology trends that will continue to transform supply chains into the new year.
The LTL carrier’s debt at the end of the third quarter was higher than a year earlier, but Moody’s is optimistic in making its upgrade.
Several asset-based carriers changed their course through M&A in 2021.
“We are a data company that happens to be applying our data points to solving problems in supply chain,” says Dray Alliance co-founder and CEO Steve Wen.
“We don’t partner with one asset, we partner with all box truck assets in a region and we aggregate the totality of orders to be sure that there is one full truck delivering to one ZIP code,” said Onward Delivery CEO Grafton Elliott.
RLS Logistics continues to roll up the cold storage market, adding one family operator at a time.
AskWaves looks at some of the catalysts that have heated up M&A in the transportation space.
FedEx’s Express and LTL units delivered solid performances, while the bottom may have been hit at its Ground unit.
Volume and yield gains powered the Express and LTL units, while staffing shortages and operating inefficiencies continued to hurt the Ground unit.
“The trucking insurance industry hasn’t innovated anything for the last few decades, so we thought with our insights and the right person we could change that,” said CEO Mats Holmback.
Shipware will deepen SIB’s shipping analysis portfolio, while Shipware clients can get spending needs addressed beyond parcel delivery, Shipware’s co-CEO said.
“I think the ability for us to pivot and be nimble to what the market is asking from us has become a huge piece to our success,” says Transflo’s CEO.
Strong selling on Friday follows the disclosure that XPO’s founder, and chair of both companies, sold 3.2 million shares in each.
Nuvocargo offers an all-in-one services platform, including freight forwarding, customs brokerage, cargo insurance and trade financing.
Cambridge Capital’s Ben Gordon details the roots of his “scrappy underdog” mentality, past investments and FreightTech’s recent defining and not-so-defining moments.
Less-than-truckload carrier Yellow Corp reports the weakest revenue trends out of the public carriers providing fourth-quarter updates.
Forward Air’s initiative to upgrade its freight mix to a heavier class of premium cargo was evident in November results.
Truck broker Landstar System announced Wednesday it will use 2021’s record performance to pay shareholders a $2-per-share special dividend.
Less-than-truckload carrier Old Dominion said share-taking efforts led to revenue growth ahead of its peers during November.
Radiant Logistics announced Monday that it acquired digital logistics services provider Navegate for $35 million.
“Our technology is picking loads for drivers based on what is best for the driver and what will generate the most revenue on the truck, which in turn, generates the highest potential salary for our drivers” said AI Fleet co-founder and CEO Marc El Khoury.
BMO’s quarterly figures on the health of its transportation portfolio are considered a strong indicator of underlying financials.
Knight-Swift adds to its less-than-truckload offering with the acquisition of Midwest Motor Express. Investors continue to see the value in owning LTL assets.
Difficulties finding trailers is starting to rival the effects of the driver shortage at the nation’s largest fleets.
During a Stephens conference presentation before investors, CEO Fuller also discussed the unique driver retention tool at Variant called the “squad.”
Intraquarter updates from less-than-truckload carriers show record third-quarter operating conditions have continued through the first two months of the fourth quarter.
“When we overperform, we expect to reinvest that back into our business. We focus on recurring revenues and establishing relationships with customers for life,” said Descartes’ CEO.
Supply chain tech is increasingly driven by late-stage venture capital activity.
Ashley Furniture has acquired Wilson Logistics, which provides asset-based third-party logistics services with a fleet of more than 1,200 trucks.
“This is a logical next evolutionary step for EKA to realize its original vision to democratize freight management,” says CEO JJ Singh.
According to Gartner, multi-robot orchestration has only penetrated 1%-5% of its total target audience and will become necessary as companies begin deploying more than one robotics technology within their operations.
General rate increases for less-than-truckload shipments not under contract are rolling in ahead of schedule and are a little higher than normal.
The regional parcel delivery carrier becomes the private equity firm’s 10th “logistics and infrastructure services” investment.
“This is the largest amount of funding that has been dedicated to building a complete business management solution for trucking entrepreneurs and we are excited to be leading the charge here,” says CloudTrucks CEO Tobenna Arodiogbu.
Werner Enterprises triples the size of its final-mile offering with the addition of Northeast-based Nehds Logistics.
Third-party logistics provider Transport Investments Inc. has acquired a majority stake in specialty freight brokerages US Logistics and Nationwide Logistics.
“Beginning with the 2018 merger of Transportation Insight and Nolan Transportation Group, we have been on a mission to bring together the most innovative thinkers with the most powerful technologies and data to empower the largest network of people to create a new future of logistics,” says CEO Ken Beyer.
Picking transport stocks in 2022 will not involve a blanket approach, according to Deutsche Bank. However, there are still several companies with significant upside potential.
Hedge funds and retail investors led the takeoff in transportation SPACs that are barely staying aloft. Guess who gets the better end of that deal?
“Leaders should realize that you’re not going to get a lot of benefit by trying to build volume with negative margins. The goal here is to be focused on value-adding technology and cloud adoption, not in volume building,” says Loadsmart co-founder and co-CEO Felipe Capella.
“The most effective way to address supply chain congestion is to move inventory closer to the end customer,” said Deliverr co-founder and CEO Harish Abbott.
A consultant’s figure exhibits the problem: Rail’s share of freight is where it was 12 years ago.
Air and ocean asset-light logistics provider STG has acquired International Warehouse Services.
Private ownership would allow Echo to accelerate M&A and technology investments.
FreightWaves’ new series dives into the stories behind the industry’s biggest investments. Its first stop: the 33-year-old Chicago-native Jason Duboe who leads project44’s scaling initiatives.
Zim’s profits are still going up — way up — despite more vessels getting snared in West Coast port gridlock.
Ensuring load accuracy at the shipper facility is key to on-time delivery.
Green bonds are designed to help companies fund environmentally sustainable projects that often have higher upfront costs.
Although customers may have pulled back from ordering in the third quarter, that pullback is temporary and customers will still need new railcars eventually, FreightCar America executives said during Monday’s third-quarter earnings call.
One of the three new investors, D1, already has significant investments in logistics.
Rates expected to remain strong into 2022, fallout from new ship deliveries in 2023-2024 to be muted.
Also on the podcast: Why banning oil exports would have no impact on prices.
Crude and product tankers may be totally different markets, but 2021 proved how connected they are.
Berkshire Grey’s revenue was up 750% year-over-year, but it still missed on analyst expectations, more than tripled its net loss and more than doubled its adjusted-EBITDA loss.
Embark Trucks rings the Nasdaq bell to begin public trading Thursday, but early share redemptions in its SPAC merger cut proceeds by $300 million.
Parts shortages delay winter testing of Hyliion’s Hypertruck ERX while Cummins’ competition casts doubt on the future of the startup’s current Hybrid eX.
Cross-border trucking and logistics firm Titanium is negotiating higher rates with customers as inflation puts pressure on margins. “Nobody is shocked,” COO Marilyn Daniel says.
Autonomous trucking software developer Kodiak Robotics raises $125 million in new capital after passing on going public via SPAC.
Third-party logistics provider Radiant Logistics again posted record quarterly results on Tuesday. On a call with analysts and investors, company officials called out strength in virtually every segment Radiant serves.
Domestic headwinds were balanced out by an international expansion as DoorDash stock popped 10% in post-market trading.
Less-than-truckload carriers report strong October results. But one analyst questions if the stocks have run too far ahead of results.
Truckload carriers booked record gains on the sale of revenue equipment during the third quarter but the profits shouldn’t be viewed as artificial earnings.
BNSF’s third-quarter net income rose 14%, to $1.5 billion, despite supply chain disruptions.
EBITDA at the digital brokerage remains in the red, but it is getting closer to breakeven.
“Meeting customers where they need us most has been a relentless focus of the team since inception,” says the co-founder and CEO of Bolt Logistics.
As public trading nears this week, 26-year-old Embark Trucks co-founders Alex Rodrigues and Brandon Moak focus on lean autonomous trucking.
Q3 2021 marked the first adjusted EBITDA-profitable quarter in Uber’s publicly traded history and the second in a row for Lyft.
Warehouse and third-party logistics operator Warehouse Services Inc. has acquired Total Logistics Inc.
ATSG is hitting on all cylinders with its aircraft leasing and cargo airline units, as third quarter results demonstrate.
The road ahead looks brighter than ever for the ride-hailing giant after posting an adjusted-EBITDA profit of $8 million.
Crude-tanker owners continue to pile up huge losses, but hopes are high for next year.
Square posted a 45% increase in revenue, but lower-than-expected bitcoin revenue dampened analysts’ enthusiasm for the Q3 results.
The company expects record 2021 earnings and boosts its 2023 bottom line forecast by $700 million, to $9.24 billion.
Editor’s Note: Updates with closing stock price Nikola Corp. set aside $125 million to potentially settle a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint but will seek to get indicted founder Trevor Milton to reimburse the civil penalty and other costs. The startup electric truck maker is awaiting full SEC approval of the settlement, which covers alleged […]
Wayfair stock is down in the early hours of trading on Thursday after a lackluster quarter.
Trimble Inc.’s third-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings per share topped analyst expectations in a challenging supply chain environment.
Fleetcor’s third-quarter adjusted earnings per share grew 26% year-over-year, while new sales bookings grew 52% in the same period.
Yellow Corp. rode a hot freight market and an internal overhaul to positive net income for the first time in several quarters.
The company’s first reporting quarter post-spinoff could have gone better.
“The deluge of information can lead to processing delays, false detections and erroneous alarms. All this processing noise is what leads lidar systems to behave like distracted drivers,” said Spartan Radar’s founder and CEO on competing technology.
Forward Air announced the acquisition of two Minnesota-based intermodal transportation outfits on Wednesday.
Air Canada Cargo has been a strong pandemic performer, but the passenger side of the business is finally beginning to recover.
After becoming adjusted EBITDA-profitable for the first time ever in Q2 2021, Lyft keeps it rolling with another solid quarter.
Company plans to double LTL trailer capacity and add 900 dock doors.
Engine maker Cummins reduces its outlook for the full year amid the supply-constrained inability to meet elevated demands.
Despite beating the Wall Street consensus, Expeditors’ stock declined.
ArcBest reported record quarterly results on Tuesday, and management sees the possibility of incremental improvement moving forward.
“The investments we’ve made to date are paying off. As global supply chains continue to be disrupted, this is creating opportunities for us to become even faster, more agile and more efficient,” said an American Eagle executive in a recent earnings call.
“Noregon has a lot of different opportunities available to us and we could take the company 100 different ways right now. What direction to take is something we feel like the Hearst management team can help us with,” said the founder and CEO of Noregon.
ArcBest posted record quarterly results for the third time this year on Tuesday. Each of its segments reported double-digit top-line growth.
Maersk expands air business after earning more in a single quarter than in any prior full year.
TA’s diesel sales figures are a strong indicator of demand for the fuel, and they suggest that the third quarter wasn’t that much stronger than the second.
ArcBest announced Monday that it has closed on the previously announced acquisition of Chicago-based truckload brokerage MoLo Solutions.
The company beats earnings per-share consensus, and posts revenue gains while hiking its full-year outlook.
Underneath the supply chain disruptions and the chip shortage are customers that need Wabtec’s components to improve their rail operations, executives said during the third-quarter earnings call.
Arkansas-based carrier’s trucking segment posted revenue of $113M and brokerage division posted revenue of $81M in Q3.
Universal Logistics misses third-quarter expectations and said it will look to its customers to address wage inflation and accessorial charges at the ports.
In its last quarter as part of Daimler AG, Daimler Truck reported higher unit sales but lower revenue.
TFI International plans to shut down four terminals at the former UPS Freight operation and the CEO signals more to come as the company targets costs.
Both reports see debt levels rising initially but with a steady move toward a more reasonable level of coverage.
