Logistics technology

The software arms race taking place in the global forwarding space shows no signs of relenting, with Miami-based Magaya getting growth capital to fuel its international ambitions.

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.

TradeLens’ failure to gain traction after four years was due to several factors, not least of which was trying to convince ocean carriers and their customers to provide sensitive data to a technology platform partly owned by Maersk.

Retailers that have seen final-mile costs more than double during the pandemic are increasingly making investments in their last-leg delivery networks.

Data from visibility provider Portcast shows US exporters struggle to manage changes to early return dates as well as variances in ERD data formats from different terminals.

PayCargo has extended its reach into the forwarding industry via an integration with software vendor Raft that minimizes PayCargo’s need to directly connect with CargoWise.

Greenscreens.ai has seen its roster of truckload broker customers grow to 70 this year, with previous investor Tiger Global putting another $5 million in the Florida-based software vendor.

Audit and payment vendors are moving beyond their traditional core business of ensuring accurate freight invoices and into business analytics and consultative services as shippers seek to turn invoice data into strategic supply chain intelligence.

CEO Jeffrey Musser said shippers are still sitting on high inventories and so are pulling back on orders after front-loading their shipments from overseas earlier this year.

The investment by Maersk and CMA CGM into visibility provider project44 is notable as they continue to develop their end-to-end integrator strategies and prepare for more stringent environmental regulations.

The acquisition of Fastmore Logistics will give Echo Global Logistics more access to international freight forwarders, linking domestic and international cargo networks.

WiseTech Global has resumed its acquisitive ways with the purchase of Shipamax, a UK-based logistics data extraction software vendor.

Shippers affected by the closure of a free less-than-truckload transportation management system in October have been given a pathway to migrate to another system connected to 15 LTL carriers.

The truckload market is still searching for a single platform that aggregates shipper loads and carrier capacity, a role that investors are backing Chicago-based Newtrul to eventually fill.

The severe space constraints that drove container shipping rates to record levels over the past two years are over, easing shippers' reliance on long-term fixed rates.

A Geodis initiative around automating service requests from shippers is an example of growing consumption of robotic process automation in the third-party logistics industry.

A funding round into Shippeo shows that demand for visibility and fragmentation of the market continue to grow despite a slowing venture capital environment.

Volume and rates fell through the third quarter, but not enough to slow the highly elevated earnings reported by two of the world’s largest forwarders.

More than two years in development, a standard electronic bill of lading for less-than-truckload shipments promises to streamline the flow of data, providing greater visibility to shippers.

Buyers of ocean capacity have long used freight rate indexes to gauge the direction of the market, but disruption and sky-high costs during the COVID-19 pandemic have elevated their prominence, often leading to difficult discussions with their executive leadership.

Embattled software provider Slync.io has turned to GT Nexus co-founder John Urban in a bid to resurrect its fortunes following the ousting of former CEO Chris Kirchner.