Supply chain

Truckload carrier Werner Enterprises is expanding its Edge technology platform to brokerage partners and shippers, tightening its focus on landside logistics after offloading its ocean and air forwarding unit.

ReverseLogix’s cloud-based automation platform can help reduce the cost of merchandise returns by as much as 15 percent, according to founder and CEO Guarav Saran.

US seafood exporters are among the hardest hit by stricter COVID-19 testing requirements in China that some shippers have decried as non-tariff trade barriers.

A global scarcity of containers could push cargo owners to invest in so-called shipper-owned containers, but the majority of forwarders surveyed by container selling and leasing platform Container xChange weren’t able to supply such a service.

Financial services group ODDO has invested in shipment management software provider BuyCo as part of a broader aim to tether logistics data to new trade finance products intended to provide an alternative to letters of credit.

The head of Maersk’s venture capital arm, and his counterpart on the business side of the container line, are starting a new independent fund to invest in later stage supply chain and logistics startups.

Relay Payments is expanding its "lumper payment" platform, allowing truck carriers and brokers to automate the settlement of cargo unloading fees to receiving facilities.

The need to handle rising LCL and air freight volume within its network is behind the acquisition by Rhenus of a rival’s forwarding business in Germany.

The Federal Maritime Commission will take a deep look into the detention and demurrage practices in Southern California and New York and New Jersey, requiring ocean carriers and maritime terminal operators to answer questions about their policies related to importers and exporters.

A trade finance startup this week got $7.8 million venture capital investment to arm exporters and logistics providers in Mexico with access to working capital.

The field to supply the shipping industry with container level visibility is getting more crowded, with Bay Area-based Vizion API getting seed funding to build more complete container status data.

Cross-border carriers lack a load board analogous to the widely-used tools available to drivers on US domestic moves, something the broker and technology provider Forager is attempting to address.

A growing gap between inventory and sales in many US business sectors is projected to drive replenishment, expedited shipping, and high levels of imports for months to come.

Flexport has developed its own spin on an age-old forwarding solution, the purchase order management system, by focusing on messaging between importers and suppliers.

DSV said it is becoming a sustainability consultant for shippers as it put forth carbon reduction goals last week that govern both emissions it controls and those it doesn’t.

RIM Logistics turned to an early stage forwarding software provider to help it migrate internal data into customer dashboards so it could avoid losing business to forwarders with intuitive user interfaces

Forwarders are viewing traditional backbone operating systems not as a one-stop technology shop, but rather as a vehicle to attach complementary tools that help them serve shipper customers better.

SF Holdings’ acquisition of Hong Kong-based forwarder Kerry Logistics is a move by SF to expand its international presence.

Instant freight quoting is becoming a divided market, with one end focused on large shippers and the other on small and medium-sized businesses, according to Freightos’ annual State of Online Freight Sales survey.

Greater coverage of air and ocean markets through its acquisition of Panalpina has driven up profitability at DSV, and the forwarder is expecting an even better result this year.

Investment continues to surge into technologies that enable small truckload carriers to improve administrative and operational aspects of their businesses, with SmartHop’s $12 million funding round the latest example.

Through two pilot programs, US Customs Border and Patrol (CBP) is gathering additional information on potential high-risk shipments and also allowing for electronic document filing on international e-commerce shipments valued at $800 or less.

E2open returned to the public markets Friday after a six-year absence, a move that will allow the supply chain software provider to continue to grow organically and through acquisitions.

French and German consumers plan to either completely stop or order less goods online from the United Kingdom, according to a recent Pitney Bowes survey.

Momentum toward digital quoting and booking in ocean shipping is undeniable, but it remains to be seen whether shippers and forwarders will demand — and container lines are actually capable of delivering — truly dynamic pricing.

Container visibility provider ClearMetal said demand for its product aimed at helping shippers improve shipment delivery date accuracy ballooned in 2020 as “customer promise date” becomes a more important logistics metric.

Given the challenges around container tracking data collection and quality, forwarders could one day become the clearinghouse for all the various components of an end-to-end visibility picture, as well as the provider of quality control for that data.

A new funding round for logistics automation software provider Slync.io is meant to enable the company to expand in Europe and Asia as it seeks to solve long-running manual process issues for forwarders and shippers.

A new technology-based parcel company, founded by an ex-Amazon and Walmart executive, emerged from stealth development Tuesday with aims on serving retailers spurned or inadequately served by UPS and FedEx.

California’s request for the Federal Maritime Commission to take immediate action on export delays shows political pressure is mounting to deal with Southern California port congestion that began over the summer.

Software providers say the proliferation of integrations between transportation management systems and domestic freight brokers in 2020 hints at a future in which a TMS will no longer be merely a static system, but a living platform.

JAS Worldwide has purchased e-commerce specialist Tigers to expand beyond its traditional international freight forwarding services and better address its customers’ e-commerce needs

London- and Vilnius, Lithuania-based Cargo Stream is launching a container booking application that looks to address systemic issues around equipment availability and exchange.

Another new entrant in the small carrier TMS space, Dallas-based Axele, portends more market structure and available capacity for shippers to tap into.

A surge in demand for Shipwell’s technology-focused managed transportation approach, with freight under management tripling in 2020, is a sign of shippers’ increased reliance on an outsourced approach to logistics.

Companies such as Werner Enterprises, Schneider National, and U.S. Xpress are taking an active role in the development of autonomous trucks, but not, they say, to replace drivers.

The World Bank and International Association of Ports and Harbors are urging ports and maritime ecosystems to quickly find public and private solutions to digitize operations and build data-sharing initiatives to bolster trade growth.

Shippers sending goods across the English Channel will only have their cargo accepted by DB Schenker if all customs information is correct.

Shippers facing a challenging ocean freight environment in 2021 are being urged to develop a plan to tackle a particularly thorny operational aspect in the industry: container allocations.

Startup SILQ is aiming to provide apparel retailers with an alternative to buying houses, which act as agents that find suitable suppliers in overseas locations.