The importance of integrating rate management capability into a forwarder operating system has driven Descartes to acquire German software maker Portrix, the third such acquisition by a widely used forwarding system in recent years.

Logistics software acquisitions continue to occur amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest being Descartes’ $12 million deal to purchase UK-based online forwarding software provider Kontainers.

Descartes, which operates the Global Logistics Network, recently purchased MK Data Service for $76.3 million in cash, giving shippers who use the network one more way to protect themselves from doing business with denied parties.