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supply chain

Supply chain

The Journal of Commerce’s supply chain news and analysis impacting the management of end-to-end supply chains reports on supply chain strategies, cargo visibility, inventory trends, sourcing, customs certification and contract logistics. Supply chain news coverage also delves into refrigerated shipping advancements and management of inventory status, regulatory updates and government funding projects. 

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The latest Supply chain News & Analysis

Zim wades into trade finance market with startup investment

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
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.
Container linesSupply chainLogistics Technology News

USDA urges FMC to hone OSRA-22 export rules for ag shippers

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
The Ocean Shipping Reform Act’s export provisions need further clarification to explain instances when US ag exports don’t get on a ship, the US Department of Agriculture said.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsContainer Shipping NewsContainer lines

Declining freight demand prompts Flexport to cut 20 percent of global staff

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Falling demand for ocean and air freight services is driving headcount cuts across the logistics sector, with forwarder Flexport the latest to announce layoffs.
ForwardingTrans-PacificLogistics Technology News

Tight supply to keep warehousing costs rising despite slower freight growth

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
The rapid expansion of US industrial real estate is expected to slow in 2023 as warehouses are completed, capital costs rise, and the US economy slows, but capacity isn’t going to suddenly flood the market.
Industrial Real Estate News

FMC nixes claim that proposed per diem rule adds to port congestion, pollution

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
The Federal Maritime Commission turned away a petition from ocean carriers and marine terminals claiming that limiting liability on per diem billing would translate into worsening port congestion and pollution.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesNorth American portsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Modest predictions for freight transportation as the winds of 2023 begin to blow

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor, and Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
Some factors, such as the sharper attention both multinationals and smaller mom-and-pop sellers are paying to their supply chains, seem to be charting a new trajectory and are poised to help shape the freight sector this year.
Supply chainContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificLongshore laborNorth American portsSurfaceTrucking NewsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

C.H. Robinson searching for new CEO — and new course for growth

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
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.
SurfaceForwardingTruckloadLogistics Technology News

Small forwarders, technology vendors link up in pursuit of new products

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
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.
Logistics Technology NewsForwarding

Developers warn that US warehousing constraints will get tighter

William Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Warehousing capacity in the US is predicted to get tighter as 2023 progresses despite the substantial number of distribution and warehousing construction projects under way and efforts to reduce inventories.
Supply chainIndustrial Real Estate News

Hapag-Lloyd hit with FMC rail demurrage complaint

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
The filing is just the latest in a barrage of complaints made against various container lines with the FMC in recent months, a flurry accelerated by major reform of US shipping law that went into effect in June.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesDrayageRail NewsIntermodal providersNorth-American rail

EU ETS will come at steep cost for industry: analyst

Lars Jensen, CEO, Vespucci Maritime; analyst, the Journal of Commerce |
Although the precise cost of inclusion of container shipping in the EU’s Emissions Trading System is not fully known, it will likely exceed $10 billion annually, according to Journal of Commerce analyst Lars Jensen.
Container linesTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Roadrunner launches new driver app as part of broader tech overhaul

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
US less-than-truckload carrier Roadrunner is arming drivers in its network with a booking application that feeds into its new internal operational systems.
LTLTrucking NewsLogistics Technology News

Stakeholders say US cargo flow would be undermined by proposed FMC billing rule

Peter Tirschwell |
At the core of the concerns expressed by carriers and terminal operators are what they say are the limits the FMC’s proposed rule on detention and demurrage would place on their ability to bill truckers and consignees.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesMarine terminalsNorth American ports

Forwarding tech providers push into US trucking market

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
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.
Trucking NewsForwardingTruckloadLTLIntermodal providersAir Cargo Forwarder NewsLogistics Technology News

US ports not prepared for next cargo surge: experts

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
While congestion at US ports and inland hubs has eased significantly amid declining import volumes, stakeholders need to act now to ready themselves for the next cargo surge, supply chain experts say.
Supply chainContainer Shipping NewsMarine terminalsNorth American ports

Congress directs USDOT to prepare national maritime plan

JOC Staff |
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 requires the US Department of Transportation to make recommendations for how Congress can invest in and increase the resilience of the US marine transportation system.
Container Shipping NewsNorth American portsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Bargain shoppers accelerate US retail inventory shift

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor, and Cathy Morrow Roberson, JOC analyst |
As inflation-battered consumers shop for bargains, US retail discounters are expanding their distribution networks.
Industrial Real Estate News

Global carbon pricing needed; shippers willing to pay: research reports

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
Shipping’s transition to zero-carbon energy sources will be costly, but shippers are showing a growing willingness to pay to decarbonize their ocean transport supply chains.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificAsia-EuropeTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

FMC checking carrier compliance with OSRA-22 anti-retaliation clause

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
The anti-retaliation provision was included in US shipping reform because some shippers have been hesitant to lodge complaints against carriers for fear of being blacklisted.
Container linesTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Pilot project shows interoperability of eBL products

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
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.
Logistics Technology NewsContainer Shipping News

Industry urges FMC to streamline free-time billing in OSRA-linked rulemaking

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
The US Federal Maritime Commission is poring over feedback about detention and demurrage billing practices from more than 100 industry stakeholders as the agency seeks to implement a key provision of OSRA-22.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesMarine terminals

Decarbonization tops IMO’s London MEPC79 agenda

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
MEPC79 delegates will also be considering a basket of measures that can integrate both technical and carbon pricing elements as the maritime industry transitions to more renewable fuels.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

GSBN executive sees promise in post-TradeLens world

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
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.
Logistics Technology News

FMC members seek anti-trust power over ocean carrier agreements

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
Two of the five Federal Maritime Commissioners want to put agreements, particularly those among ocean carriers, on a tighter leash, by allowing the agency to issue the same injunctions as can courts.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

Major US freight brokers unveil appointment scheduling standards

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
J.B. Hunt, Uber Freight, and Convoy are partnering to develop and drive broad industry adoption of a standard process for truckload appointment scheduling.
Logistics Technology NewsTrucking NewsTruck brokers

Turbo-charged logistics tech faces reckoning: analyst

Lars Jensen, CEO & Partner, Vespucci Maritime, and JOC Analyst |
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.
Logistics Technology News

Software woes force Houston to delay start date of long-dwell import fee

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
The Port of Houston, citing technology problems, is postponing the start date of a new fee that would penalize shippers who don’t retrieve import containers after the allowable free time.
North American portsLast Mile News

Heightened final-mile expectations drive investment into OneRail

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
OneRail has channeled the need for shippers to access final-mile capacity and service level consistency into a large venture capital funding round.
Logistics Technology NewsContainer lines

Maersk, IBM shutter TradeLens in surprise move

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
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.
Logistics Technology News

Retailers bank on themselves to handle final mile

Cathy Morrow Roberson, JOC Analyst, and Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Retailers that have seen final-mile costs more than double during the pandemic are increasingly making investments in their last-leg delivery networks.
Logistics Technology NewsContainer lines

Richard Lidinsky, ex-FMC chair and champion of shippers, dead at 76

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
Richard Lidinsky, a former chairman for the US Federal Maritime Commission, leaves a legacy of agency reform whose work echoes through the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

US wholesale trade data shows industrial economy still resilient: analyst

Jason Miller, associate professor of logistics, Michigan State University, and JOC analyst |
To the extent freight market participants have greater exposure to key industrial markets than consumer markets, current data is not pointing towards sharp downturns in freight demand, at least not yet, writes JOC analyst Jason Miller.
Supply chain

ERD delay variance hampers US exporters: study

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
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.
Port NewsLogistics Technology News

Raft partners with PayCargo in forwarding payment efficiency move

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
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.
Logistics Technology News

Truckload volatility prompts fresh investment in pricing startup

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
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.
Logistics Technology NewsTrucking News

Freight payment providers evolving from auditing to analytics

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
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.
Logistics Technology News

Expeditors expects air, ocean rates to continue falling into 2023

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
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.
Logistics Technology News

Maersk, CMA CGM join $80 million funding round into project44

Kevin Saville, Managing Editor |
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.
Logistics Technology News

US 3PL Echo extends global forwarding reach

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
The acquisition of Fastmore Logistics will give Echo Global Logistics more access to international freight forwarders, linking domestic and international cargo networks.
Logistics Technology NewsTrucking NewsTruck brokers

WiseTech targets digital documentation market with Shipamax buy

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
WiseTech Global has resumed its acquisitive ways with the purchase of Shipamax, a UK-based logistics data extraction software vendor.
Logistics Technology News