Logistics Technology News

CMA CGM is moving beyond funding and supporting startups with a hefty investment into a non-profit lab designed to improve data models that feed into artificial intelligence products.

Ryan Petersen tells the Journal of Commerce that the first order of business after this week’s acquisition of Convoy’s tech stack is getting the Convoy app running again and reaching out to the shuttered company’s customers.

The need for shippers and brokers to speed up the auditing and payment of freight bills is bringing AI and automation-focused vendors to the fore.

The two partners will collaborate on pilot projects aimed at accurately measuring and tracking emissions reduction data across the supply chain.

The demise of truckload broker Convoy has highlighted how difficult it is to create differentiation in a market with no dominant player, with Convoy itself to blame for stoking more competition through its technology focus.

The company will sell its technology and shut operations, deciding it could not grow its business while paying the legal fees of ousted CEO Chris Kirchner.

Transfix’s investment being announced on the same day Convoy told employees it was winding down operations highlights some of the differences between members of a group broadly defined as “digital brokers.”

While sudden, the impact of Convoy shutting its business should be muted in a truckload brokerage market where shippers have access to low spot rates and plentiful capacity.

The company has long been a lightning rod in the truckload industry, one of a cohort of so-called digital brokers to emerge in the 2010s backed by venture capital investors with an ambition to make the industry more efficient through digitizing processes.

Ocean carriers are aligning with technology vendors to meet a self-imposed deadline to digitize shipping documentation, with Hapag-Lloyd's use of ODeX in the US the latest example.

Shipments are getting smaller over time, driven in part by e-commerce growth, but also by a market that is disentangling cargo previously handled through air or ocean consolidation.

Transportation sensor provider Nexxiot and Deloitte are aiming to connect cargo visibility data with the consulting firm’s “know your customer” process to fast-track container movement.

While light commercial vehicles are not typically used on a large scale by the ocean carrier, it has a significant landside presence where the electric vehicles could be used to lower emissions.

The shipping giant is running four dry-van round trips each week on the approximately 400-mile route between the two cities.

To comply with the European emissions trading system, ocean carriers will essentially need to become experts in carbon credit trading, on top of monitoring, verifying and reporting CO2 emissions.

Excess capacity in the truckload market is a chance for shippers to examine whether they or their freight brokers have the right technology tools to effectively price in the contract and spot markets.

A systems outage that has left less-than-truckload carrier Estes grappling with email, website and data exchange issues is the latest such incident to befall the logistics and transportation industry.

The Class I railroad and DrayNow will launch an app in 2024 designed to digitize, organize and streamline processes that have previously been performed via email or over the phone.

Much criticism has been leveled at the digital forwarding model, but steep declines in topline revenue during a year of weak demand are a sign that digital forwarders have had trouble differentiating themselves from the pack.

Small onboard nuclear reactors could ultimately be the lowest-cost method of decarbonization as shipping competes with other thirsty industries for sustainable net-zero fuels, according to energy and investment analysts.

The deal comes on the heels of other acquisitions and new services launched this week at several logistics and transportation providers, all aimed at expanding their ability to deliver end-to-end global fulfillment services.

Richard White said in an interview with the Journal of Commerce the logistics industry is stuck in a pattern of tackling small problems instead of viewing international trade as a large, connected system.

The bids would require carriers to quote a negotiated “green premium” that cargo owners would pay to transport the containers on ships powered by zero-carbon fuels.

As many have observed in disparaging the notion of a “digital” forwarder, of which Flexport was the prototype, forwarding at its core is a business of people solving real-world problems for which there is not — and probably never will be — a technology solution, writes Peter Tirschwell.

While the importance of drayage came to the fore during the pandemic, the current freight hangover is cramping the sector’s ability to take advantage of technology options on the market.

A difference of opinion over Flexport’s strategic shift toward fulfillment aimed at small businesses has prompted CEO Dave Clark to depart the company only a year after he came aboard.

Development of trade finance tools for small and medium-sized shippers continues to grow, evidenced by OOCL Logistics launching a trade finance platform with fintech provider Stenn.

Digitalizing the most important document in global trade is a vital step toward a more efficient and secure paperless container shipping industry.

An LTL carrier such as Yellow is an extremely complicated business, and similar to the railroads, the enterprise software it used was developed internally — often over decades — because there was no “off-the-shelf” solution, writes analyst Ted Prince.  

With a formal request for information, Federal Maritime Commissioner Carl Bentzel believes the agency is introducing a more “transparent and inclusive process” with stakeholders when it comes to policymaking.

Estes Express Lines has long used third-party software to amp up its service to customers, with an expansion of its partnership with less-than-truckload software provider Optym the latest example.

Portchain has pulled in 76 container terminals into its vessel arrival coordination platform with carriers in the past 18 months, with Port Houston the latest to join.

A study of global logistics professionals around hurdles to technology investment found that respondents were uninterested in linking financial rewards with software adoption.

Top 30 freight broker BNSF Logistics said it will use Trucker Tools software to improve visibility and freight matching for its surface transportation customers.

Shippers and forwarders recently surveyed by Freightos believe artificial intelligence will reduce headcounts in the logistics industry, even if they have yet to figure out how best to use the still-emerging technology.

Targeting industrial and retail shippers that need expensive expedited services to meet stringent on-time metrics, freight broker Convoy is offering a product that guarantees shipments will be delivered within a predetermined 30-minute window.

Forwarders have an opportunity to reduce labor costs and improve margins using artificial intelligence (AI), but managing the transition away from a human workforce could prove difficult.

The FMC commissioner wants to implement uniform empty return dates and define “container availability” as when the container is available for pick up, among other proposals.

Technology provider QuayChain will arm the Port of Oakland with milestone data in areas near its facilities to improve its visibility portal.

Research by ECU Worldwide found that about half of ocean freight bookings are made via email, highlighting the importance of connecting booking platforms to email systems.