Logistics technology

project44 executives say continued expected revenue growth and a healthy pipeline of new business cut against the notion that its move to let go of 63 employees is a sign of deteriorating fortunes.

Visibility data provider Vizion has landed its third venture funding round in 18 months, a $14 million infusion that it will use to expand its product offerings and geographic footprint.

A range of US importers are at risk of violating new regulations over the involvement of forced labor in the goods they import, leading Maersk and technology vendor Altana AI to partner in a program to help shippers identify that risk.

The Digital Container Shipping Association is ramping up efforts to drive electronic bill of lading adoption by working with four technology vendors and a major shipper to ensure their products are interoperable.

Recent funding rounds for Flexe and PayCargo are symbolic of the confusing market that logistics technology companies are navigating, with funding still available but harder to obtain than last year.

Small truckload fleets want access to online insurance quotes and coverage, which led low-cost transportation management software provider AscendTMS to partner with trucking insurance specialist CarrierHQ.

CloudTrucks is arming small carriers that struggle to get access to traditional credit lines with a product that facilitates routine operational expenses like fuel and lumper payments.

Forwarding software provider WiseTech Global has waded into the fragmented electronic bill of lading space with the purchase of Bolero, an early provider of trade finance and electronic documentation tools.

Convoy has expanded existing relationships with transportation management software provider MercuryGate and forwarder Flexport to give brokers access to more automation and shippers access to transload activity.

Two logistics-focused email automation specialists are joining forces, with London-based Sedna acquiring San Diego-based Shelly to accelerate the former’s ability to automate email data extraction for logistics teams.

Container lines flush with cash will accelerate deployment of container sensors through 2026, spurred by pandemic-induced volatility and Hapag-Lloyd's April decision to equip its entire fleet, according to Drewry.

Freight procurement specialist Transporeon has added a freight matching component to its product suite to help brokers tender spot freight to carriers already in their network.

FourKites will get access to previously internal shipment data from FedEx to train its predictive visibility system as part of a new planning and problem resolution platform called FourKites X.

Import automation provider Flowfox is working with some of the largest container lines and global forwarders to adapt its European container release product to US needs.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide says the changing trucking market is driving up demand for automated spot pricing quotes by double-digit percentages.

Recent layoffs and delayed public offerings in the logistics technology sector offer clues that economic uncertainty over the health of the freight market is mirrored in the software world.

Chain.io has landed an $11 million funding round to expand its basket of logistics-specific integrations to transportation management and operating systems used by forwarders and shippers.

The pending arrival of Amazon’s Dave Clark as CEO of Flexport may signal as much about the forwarder's potential as it does about where it has fallen short in recent years.

Freight management software provider Cargobase is expanding into Mexico to tap into cross-border, near-shoring, and Latin American market opportunities for its procurement and execution tools.

Blume Global customers will soon have more real-time data on supplier visibility and delays through a partnership with a risk-monitoring software company.

Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen will hand over the reins to Amazon logistics vet Dave Clark, a move that shows the forwarder’s lure for heavyweight talent — and possibly an acknowledgement of slower-than-expected market share gains.

Gartner’s annual examination of the real-time visibility market changed little from 2021 to 2022, with the analyst identifying standalone visibility providers as continued leaders for the in-demand market.

Cold chain market leader Lineage Logistics has continued its 2022 acquisition spree with the purchase of TMS provider Turvo, a move that furthers Lineage’s vertical integration ambitions.

Logistics software provider Freightos is being taken public on the Nasdaq, a move that will be closely scrutinized by the founders and investors of growth-stage technology providers in the logistics industry.

Customs software provider KlearNow has added a drayage service to its product in order to sync cargo availability to capacity from its network of dray providers.

Freightos is targeting the payment space for air forwarders by tying an integrated payment tool between forwarders and cargo airlines to its WebCargo booking and rating software.

Drayage technology rollup Envase has added GeoStamp, a GPS-based port and drayage visibility and analytics provider, to its roster of tools for port carriers and intermodal providers.

Nowports has landed a cash infusion from logistics technology investor SoftBank to expand its reach in the LatAm market, as investment in the so-called digital forwarding model shows no signs of slowing.

Technology provider Draying.io wants to use its experience in developing a transportation management tool for carriers to help shippers automate the sourcing and pricing of port moves.

Software provider Everstream Analytics plans to use a new $24 million investment to expand the geographic reach of its suite of supply chain risk and network planning products.

Hapag-Lloyd's sensor initiative is aimed at maximizing the use of its container fleet in an environment where global port congestion has reduced the number of turns each box makes on an annual basis.

Keelvar has landed a $24 million funding round to build its US presence around the logistics procurement automation tools it provides to large shippers like Coca-Cola, Nestle, and Samsung.

Amazon Freight has created its first direct integration with a transportation management system provider, piping its capacity of 40,000 owned trailers and third-party drivers to MercuryGate’s base of shipper users.

ShipBob and Flexport are connecting ocean freight with order fulfillment for China-origin goods sold by US merchants, as e-commerce tech providers help merchants rationalize ocean costs and transit times.

Stord, which provides technology and supply chain services to shippers, has used expansion into transportation and fulfillment to attract capital that it sees as protection in a market where investment may be harder to capture.

The Global Shipping Business Network, a consortium building a global trade data exchange, has launched products that tether bill of lading information to title transfer and proof of shipment notices.

After a “cyber incident” downed parts of Blume Global’s system last week, the company is working to fully restore service and taking additional safety measures involving customer account information and billing processes.

Hapag-Lloyd’s investment in container tracking hardware has visibility providers hoping to capitalize on better container location data to feed to their shipper customers.

The aftermath of February’s cyberattack has so far cost forwarder Expeditors International tens of millions of dollars, perhaps giving Blume Global some insight into what it faces after its own outage last week.

Hapag-Lloyd's move to equip its entire box fleet with sensors could herald a new era that unlocks new tools beyond mere visibility for carriers, even if tracking devices aren’t a cure-all for shipper supply chain woes.