Logistics Technology News

Explore today’s cutting-edge global logistics technology news and analysis by the Journal of Commerce. Coverage includes logistics technology startups, logistics technology solutions, venture capital, management and impact, freight forwarder technology and the latest supply chain and logistics technology. 

The latest Logistics Technology News News & Analysis

Forwarders eager to transition to digital ocean freight booking: study

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
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.
Logistics Technology NewsForwarding

Email technology provider Sedna snares funding targeting maritime, forwarding sectors

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Sedna’s approach of allowing companies to retain their email systems while extending their value has won new forwarding and bulk customers and a fresh capital infusion.
Logistics Technology NewsMaritimeContainer Shipping NewsForwardingSupply chain

Technology providers partner to improve breakbulk rail tracking

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
The desire to improve rail and intermodal visibility for bulk and breakbulk customers has led transportation management software provider IntelliTrans to partner with hardware vendor Nexxiot.
Logistics Technology NewsRail NewsNorth-American railSupply chain

DAT, Convoy settle dueling lawsuits once seen as marker for load board industry

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
DAT and freight broker Convoy had challenged each other in federal court over business practices related to Convoy attempting to set up a rival load board.
TruckloadTrucking NewsTruck brokersLogistics Technology News

Truckstop acquires freight matching platform to target ‘high-quality’ carriers

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Truckstop is building on its 2022 purchase of carrier monitoring provider RMIS with the acquisition of freight-matching technology provider FrieightFriend.
TruckloadTrucking NewsTruck brokersLogistics Technology News

Logistics technology market grappling with pandemic period overhiring

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
A return to normal freight demand is part of the reason for layoffs across the logistics technology sector, but just as important is investor focus on cost controls and a path to profitability.
Logistics Technology NewsMaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesForwardingSupply chain

Kontainers founder starts new shipper-focused rate management tech provider

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Most of the landscape for container rate management vendors has focused on tools for forwarders, leaving a gap in software targeting shippers.
Logistics Technology NewsContainer Shipping News

Visibility product launches show cargo market open to new options

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Three new visibility products — from a hardware provider, a forwarder and a data provider — are evidence of a diverse cargo visibility market that is expanding options for shippers.
Logistics Technology NewsContainer Shipping NewsSurfaceAir CargoSupply chain

Raft's focus on AI yields fruit as investors re-up in logistics software provider

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
A variety of technology providers are aiming to arm forwarders with AI-backed tools that help with areas like customer service and rate quoting, while others are focused on technology enabling internal operational efficiency.
Logistics Technology NewsForwardingSupply chain

Logistics integration partnerships defy freight demand downturn

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Growing partnerships between software vendors and integrators with expertise in their solutions and their customers systems highlight the importance of the technological plumbing that underpins logistics networks.
Logistics Technology NewsForwardingSupply chain

Generative AI likely to be impactful in logistics, just not in a public-facing way

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
ChatGPT made so-called generative AI more accessible to the general public, including logistics professionals, and some software vendors believe it will change how humans interact with core transportation systems.
Logistics Technology NewsForwardingSupply chain

Zim forwarding arm Ship4wd targets small shippers with new finance tools

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Zim said the financial products are particularly needed amid a slowdown in freight demand as small and mid-sized businesses continue to battle significant financial friction.
Logistics Technology NewsForwardingSupply chain

Nuvocargo rides Mexico-US freight surge to land fresh investment

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Nuvocargo will use the new funding to expand its service footprint to all major over-the-road border crossings between the US and Mexico.
ForwardingTruck brokersLogistics Technology News

Chain.io invites out-of-network providers to build connectivity to its integration customers

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Chain.io CEO Brian Glick’s initial vision for the company centered around the idea of making logistics system connectivity open to all vendors to allow shippers and logistics companies to better utilize their software.
Logistics Technology NewsForwardingSupply chain

Ocean carriers guarding their digital gates as visibility requests increase

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
A proliferation of visibility vendors amid increased demand for container status events is putting pressure on the websites of carriers to support multiple requests for the same data.
Logistics Technology NewsContainer Shipping NewsContainer lines

Shippers bemoan lack of progress in ocean visibility despite heavy investment

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
End-to-end supply chain visibility remains an elusive goal for providers in a market where shippers are expecting better data quality than they have seen.
Logistics Technology NewsContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesPort NewsNorth American portsSupply chain

Pandemic-induced trailer dislocation still hampering US truckload carriers

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Trailer marketplace technology provider vHub estimates a quarter of truckload trailers are out of network for the nation’s carriers, with an abrupt shift in demand exacerbating that dislocation.
TruckloadTrucking NewsLogistics Technology News

Uber Freight’s Driegert jumps to Flexport to lead new brokerage unit

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Flexport has lured a key figure in the development of Uber Freight and Coyote Logistics in a move likely to shake up the domestic third-party logistics market.
Truck brokersForwardingLogistics Technology News

FLOW gains momentum with ‘give-to-get' data-sharing model

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
The growth in participation in FLOW is a signal that the private sector views the voluntary nature of the project as more amenable than governmental data-sharing mandates or legislation.
Logistics Technology NewsContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesForwardingPort NewsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Forwarders’ digital journey not complete yet: Magaya survey

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
More than half of forwarders have migrated completely to cloud-based software, a study of 70 global logistics services providers has found.
Logistics Technology NewsForwardingSupply chain

Renewed focus on purchase order management leads to tech vs. service dilemma

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Tethering purchase order technology to operations can help expedite drastic decisions, but pure software vendors offer a level of neutrality that logistics providers can’t.
Logistics Technology NewsForwardingSupply chain

Ex-Slync CEO indicted over alleged misappropriation of company cash

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
The indictment also alleges Chris Kirchner attempted to cover up his financial activities and fired employees who raised questions about them.
Logistics Technology News

project44 inks new partnership with container tracking vendor

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
A container tracking hardware vendor behind Hapag-Lloyd's deployment of dry box sensors is linking with supply chain visibility provider project44.
Logistics Technology NewsContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesSupply chain

Flexport moves into fulfillment realm with Shopify Logistics acquisition

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Flexport expects both enterprise customers and small merchants to tap into the last-mile and fulfillment network it acquired with Shopify Logistics.
Logistics Technology NewsForwardingLast Mile News

Court hands freight broker Convoy procedural win in legal battle with DAT

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Transportation observers believe the dueling complaints could have implications for the US spot truckload market because DAT is a primary source of available loads that brokers and carriers use to fill their pools of owned or third-party capacity.
Truck brokersTrucking NewsTruckloadLogistics Technology News

Truckload appointment standards group adds heavyweights to drive adoption

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Echo Global Logistics, Coyote Logistics and prominent transportation management system vendors Oracle and e2open are among new members adding momentum to a truckload appointment scheduling initiative.
TruckloadTrucking NewsTruck brokersLogistics Technology News

Breakbulk23: AI will infiltrate day-to-day breakbulk shipping: experts

Autumn Cafiero Giusti, Special Correspondent |
Human intervention is necessary to ensure that AI is adapted into shipping in a measured way, as quality decisions are dependent on quality data, attendees at the Journal of Commerce’s Breakbulk and Project Cargo Conference were told.
Breakbulk NewsMaritimeLogistics Technology News

PSA leveraging forwarder acquisition to serve shippers directly

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
The scale of PSA International’s ambitions to expand its reach beyond its 60 container port terminals by leveraging the acquisition of a non-asset-based global logistics provider parallels Maersk’s own integrator ambitions.
Marine terminalsContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesForwardingLogistics Technology NewsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Forwarding software vendors key on visibility connectivity channels

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Integration specialist Prompt Global has connected CargoWise with key visibility provider FourKites to save forwarders money and time aligning cargo milestones with transportation management.
Logistics Technology NewsForwarding

ZEBOX broadens startup reach with new hubs in UK, Singapore

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
The addition of a new location in Singapore is meant to help supply chain technology accelerator ZEBOX reach a “strategic gateway to the Asian market,” it said.
Logistics Technology NewsContainer lines

Terminal operators, Cosco join Saudi chemical shipper in eBL deal

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Data from eBLs issued via GSBN’s infrastructure will also be used to electronically release SABIC cargo at Hutchison and PSA terminals in Asia.
Logistics Technology NewsContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesMarine terminalsInternational portsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Forwarders grapple with new freight rate math on tech investments

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Forwarders that experimented with new software during the days of robust freight demand now face a dilemma over what technology produces actual returns on investment as volumes and margin shrink.
Logistics Technology NewsForwardingAir Cargo Forwarder News

WiseTech Global weighing US domestic tech acquisition options: CEO

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Widely used forwarding software provider WiseTech Global will pursue further US landside logistics technology targets in 2023, its CEO says.
Logistics Technology NewsContainer Shipping NewsForwarding

Shipwell arms ‘underserved’ smaller shippers with automated bidding tool

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Shippers that often use spreadsheets and small transportation teams to bid and execute freight shipments are the target of a new software tool from technology provider Shipwell.
Logistics Technology NewsTrucking NewsTruckloadLTLTruck brokers

Freightos’ 2022 financials reveal losses amid improving operating margins

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Freight rate booking marketplace Freightos said its unprofitable business is seeing improving margins and that scale will help it past the breakeven point.
Logistics Technology NewsContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesForwardingAir CargoAir Cargo Carriers NewsAir Cargo Forwarder News

Drayage tech provider PortPro targeting shippers with new tracking tools

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Drayage software vendor PortPro is attempting to narrow the gap between the tools that port truckers and their shipper customers use with a new container milestone tracking product it has launched.
Logistics Technology NewsNorth American portsDrayageTrucking News

Shippers committed to digital investments in logistics: S&P Global

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Shippers are showing “healthy adoption” of a wide variety of digital transformation projects, according to new research from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Logistics Technology NewsContainer Shipping NewsPort NewsTrucking NewsSupply chain

Visibility providers target challenges of container terminal milestone data

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Shippers struggling to manage demurrage fees and container availability information have two new options to track the status of containers at ports.
Logistics Technology NewsMaritimePort NewsMarine terminalsNorth American ports

Investors back Overhaul’s hybrid risk management–visibility strategy

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Supply chain risk-focused technology provider Overhaul has channeled demand for reducing exposure to cargo theft into a $38 million funding round just a few weeks after acquiring competitor SensiGuard.
Logistics Technology NewsContainer Shipping NewsTrucking NewsRail News

US startup eyes street turn tech expansion throughout North America

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Technology startup Qualle is trying to overcome drayage industry inertia around matching empty import boxes with export loads outside of ports by using early-stage funding to serve every North American port market.
Logistics Technology NewsPort NewsMarine terminalsNorth American portsDrayageTrucking News