Supply chain

The eight-year trend of declining industrial space availability could soon be over, with a more even balance between the demand for space and the amount of new space completed, even as rents continue to go up.

Container carrier Zim is the second independent line to join Maersk and IBM’s blockchain platform, with other European carriers poised to join, JOC.com has learned.

Four of the world’s largest shipping lines received clearance this week to begin developing data standards through a new association designed to help carriers to tap more quickly into outside digital innovation.

Pervinder Johar, CEO of visibility provider Blume Global, says investment from new owner Apollo Funds is “foundational” to the next stage in the company’s growth.

Toll Global Forwarding is the latest global forwarder to offer instant quoting through a new three-year partnership with software provider Kontainers.

Proliferation of low-cost transportation management systems, enabled by the rise of SaaS, means such tools are available to a wider range of shippers, carriers, and brokers than ever before.

Each year JOC publishes a directory of nearly 200 warehousing service providers across the United States to help beneficial cargo owners and transportation providers find warehousing capacity as needed.

There will be some big winners and losers should the UK leave the EU without negotiating a deal that allows for the continuation of existing trade agreements.

Rising cargo volumes, growing manufacturing heft, and some new trade agreements are positioning Mexico as a logistics hub, raising questions about whether the country's infrastructure can handle the added stress.

The e-commerce giant was one of Flexport’s largest customers last year, but the two may eventually compete in the still-nascent “logistics-as-a-service” market.

Research by Ocean Audit estimates Flexport moved more cargo than some of the forwarder’s skeptics assume, but less than the company portrays.

Container carriers and the shipper supply chains that depend on them are in for a rude awakening if European regulators repeal the block exemption for liner carrier consortia.

Trucking operators and shippers should be keeping a close eye on the implementation of a National Drug and Alcohol Driver Database and other potential regulatory changes that will affect available capacity.

Ryder is creating new space in four warehouses and upgrading a trucking yard in Mexico to meet the country’s growing demand for industrial space, especially near the US border.

Trump’s trade policies find little favor with footwear executives, but a former USTR reminded them that trade is a long game and the complicated US-China relationship predates the current president.

Top 10 freight broker GlobalTranz continued its recent acquisition spree at the same time it was acquired by a former equity investor.

With a majority stake in Truckstop.com, ICONIQ Capital will fuel the development of the load-matching firm's technology services to help simplify capacity procurement.

While British politicians have been chasing their tails in Parliament, businesses in the UK and Europe have been planning for a no-deal Brexit.

The NYC Hackathon in late March widened the pipeline of technology talent that now understands the problems afflicting the maritime industry, although a lack of standard data formats remains a challenge.

Carrier executives are increasingly confident they will have compensatory, floating low-sulfur fuel BAFs installed with their customers by the fourth quarter.

Adoption of India’s redesigned port community system is increasing, but ocean carriers say there’s more work to be done to provide a seamless, secure user experience.

Panalpina has long underperformed compared with its forwarding peers, but DSV aims to turn that around.

With roughly one-third of an average US inbound FCL container empty, the forwarder has created a product to match compatible LCL and FCL cargo, giving FCL shippers a discount to compensate for additional transit time.

While logistics technology is exploding in India, Mumbai-based Vamaship believes there’s a gap for shippers wanting to pull together their LSPs and systems in a single place.

The social media titan is by no means the first to try to tackle cross-team collaboration and communication, but the ubiquity of its consumer platform may give the Workplace system an edge over lesser-known competitors.

For trucking companies, third-party logistics providers, and shippers alike, the lack of progress in this area after a year spent stressing the need for greater collaboration is disappointing.

The Danish shipping giant has established a start-up accelerator in India that aims to help develop technologies Maersk can one day leverage back into its own digital transformation.

Those wondering how the rapidly expanding logistics provider plans to turn a recent $1 billion funding round into profits in the short term may be asking the wrong question.

A new product from the Zurich-based cargo sensor and tracking provider will provide banks and other financiers with increased visibility into freight moves and associated risk, allowing for faster deployment of capital.

Only when carriers start actually using low-sulfur fuel later this year will the demand -- and the price -- be established.

Although the final decision lies with the college of commissioners, a European Commission working group is examining the pros and cons of modifying the liner block exemption regulation, rather than renewing or repealing it.

Modern software can be more than the sum of its parts thanks to the ease with which systems can integrate with each other via application programming interfaces (APIs).

Higher volumes of lighter weight, short-distance e-commerce packages sap revenue and yield at FedEx Express, which also expects slower growth in international trade.

The International Transport Forum is calling for more clarity in the EU liner shipper block exemption rules, just days after the World Shipping Council submitted a report in support of extending the exemption.

Experts tell JOC.com that although the development of data standards may not be a necessity for increasing deployment of technology in container shipping, it would accelerate the process.

The technology provider, best known as a pioneer smartphone maker, is doubling down on its investment in sensor-based freight transportation asset tracking using its legacy location and battery technology.

Carriers and 3PLs are using application programming interfaces (APIs) to connect with customers and software vendors to create broader ecosystems of data and functionality than can exist through EDI, email, and flat file sharing.

Mega-box warehouses of 1 million square feet and larger offer the size and efficiencies that are necessary for efficient e-commerce fulfillment, but finding sites in urban areas large enough to support the sprawling facilities can be problematic.

Blockchain technology has the potential to disrupt multiple industries, but potential use cases in shipping are still a few years away, panelists tell the TPM 2019 Conference in Long Beach.

Using connected devices to track container cargo shipments could transform the industry, but much of their value will remain unrealized if the systems they feed can't communicate with one another.