Logistics technology

Investors see drayage as an area rife for technological improvement, with software provider PortPro the latest startup to secure funding to empower port truckers.

The need for shippers to contextualize freight status data led visibility provider FourKites to build a data connectivity tool for enterprise shippers.

Freightos’ public listing on the NASDAQ will be the first test of how public investors value one of the more prominent logistics technology companies to emerge over the past decade.

WiseTech Global, owner of the most widely used forwarding software product, has acquired a prominent vendor of drayage management software, capping a year of takeovers for the company.

Pandemic-driven acceleration in the usage of its digital shipping document product is a sign that blockchain does work in niche applications in global logistics, according to CargoX.

Scrutiny over Flexport’s job cuts earlier this month points to a long-term issue for the venture-backed logistics company: a perceived lack of identity in a market that has long been skeptical of its differentiation.

Pressure on shippers to take a more active role in bringing down so-called Scope 3 emissions covering the activities of a company’s third-party vendors — including transportation — has increased in recent years.

Demand for ocean visibility surged through the pandemic, including among software providers needing real-time container milestone data, an area that software vendor Terminal49 has targeted in recent years.

A partnership between venture firm Northstar and India’s Allcargo Group is meant to formalize their joint investment plans into logistics-focused startups over the next year.

Zim has joined a growing group of companies that see potential in giving small importers and exporters access to digital finance tools through an investment in an Israel-based startup.

Falling demand for ocean and air freight services is driving headcount cuts across the logistics sector, with forwarder Flexport the latest to announce layoffs.

The change in leadership is likely to accelerate strategic changes in planning and capital spending at C.H. Robinson that have been under way since last March at the urging of investors.

Partnerships between small forwarders and early-stage software vendors offer a symbiotic opportunity to shape product direction that is not possible with more established technology providers.

US less-than-truckload carrier Roadrunner is arming drivers in its network with a booking application that feeds into its new internal operational systems.

The need for forwarders to tether quoting and tracking in international freight modes to US surface modes has been highlighted by new offerings from ECU Worldwide and Freightos.

The test was meant to demonstrate that different electronic bills of lading products can be used by various parties involved in the movement of a container, alleviating a nagging concern in the nascent evolution of eBLs.

The head of the Global Shipping Business Network, long seen as a rival to the now-defunct TradeLens, said the demise of the Maersk-led technology platform could eventually boost use of blockchain-backed tools in shipping.

J.B. Hunt, Uber Freight, and Convoy are partnering to develop and drive broad industry adoption of a standard process for truckload appointment scheduling.

The unprecedented infusion of cash into supply chain technology development over the past two years was akin to putting the sector on a diet of steroids, writes JOC analyst Lars Jensen.

OneRail has channeled the need for shippers to access final-mile capacity and service level consistency into a large venture capital funding round.