Logistic & Supply Chain

Supply Chain/Logistics Disruption

National Home Infusion Association reports shortage of prefilled sodium chloride 0.9% injection syringes due to increased demand, supply chain disruptions; syringes used to flush venous access devices, with shortage affecting home infusion patients
Targeted News Service (Press Releases) (04/21)

West Virginia hospitals continue to deal with supply chain shortages due to COVID-19, including low supplies of blood collection tubes, epidural administration sets, urinary Foley catheter trays; hospitals stockpile critical supplies, avoid hoarding
The State Journal (04/19)

Suzano sees 'tight' global pulp market, expects pulp prices will continue to rise amid worsening supply, demand imbalance; supply-side fundamentals 'still quite solid,' while global supply chains continue to face logistics disruptions, other challenges
Valor International (04/19)

Sinclar Group to temporarily reduce lumber output at its sawmills in Vanderhoof, Fort St. James and Prince George, British Columbia, citing fiber supply and logistics issues; the mills will move to a four-day work week from a five-day week from April 25
Sinclar Group Forest Products Ltd. (04/19)

Data Management/Analytics/Privacy

BlueBox Systems joins the Open Visibility Network to integrate data and insights beyond shipment location and condition for clients with its air cargo tracking platform BlueBoxAir; Tive, project44, FourKites and WeatherOptics also provide data to the OVN
PR Newswire (04/21)

Cloud Computing

Wabtec announces acquisition of industrial tech company Trimble’s cloud-based IoT rail solution business Beena Vision for an undisclosed amount; move to help clients lower costs, improve safety, fleet availability with wayside train condition monitoring
Business Wire (04/20)

Cloud-based mail forwarder Ship to US extends agreements with international carriers, including DHL, UPS, FedEx and USPS, to provide more options to clients; company offers same-day delivery, storage for up to 45 days and integration with major US brands
M2 PressWIRE (04/19)

Supply Chain/Logistics Software

Last-mile delivery network Gophr and delivery management software company Metapack integrate to offer e-commerce retailers in the UK more same-day delivery options; Gophr ships for clients such as HelloFresh and Metapack boasts over 400 partner-carriers
Ecommerce News Europe (04/21)

Gasa Logistics to integrate W Energy Software's TMS to optimize fleet logistics to accelerate transport of fuel to storage sites for clients across California; with automated dispatch through mobile app, drivers are guided through most efficient routes
PR Web (04/21)

Convoy raises US$260M in Series E round, which brings its valuation to US$3.8B; funds to help advance development of its efficiency-focused tech, which bundles and matches shipments with trucks, reducing empty miles to 19% from industry standard of 35%
Business Wire (04/21)

Trucking/Van Delivery

J.B. Hunt's Q1 net earnings up 66% year-over-year to US$243.3M from US$146.6M; total operating revenue up 33.2% to US$3.49B from US$2.62B with all segments seeing revenue growth, including Truckload rising 77% and Integrated Capacity Solutions up 29%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (04/21)

Nevada-based 3PL company ITS Logistics ranks 23rd on Transport Topics' 2021 Top Freight Brokerage Firms in North America, out of over 20,000 freight brokers; ITS has nearly 300 employees and offers truckload, LTL, drayage and intermodal solutions
PR Newswire (04/20)

Transport sector is the second least eco-friendly sector, after the energy sector, and releases around 8 billion tonnes of annual carbon emissions; road transport on its own releases just under 6 billion tonnes of emissions: IG Prime
ValueWalk (04/19)

ATA's For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index rises 2.4% in March after 0.7% increase in February; association says contract freight was solid and gained the largest sequential increase since May 2020, as well as had the eighth consecutive month-to-month improvement
PR Newswire (04/19)

DSV opens LEED Silver-certified distribution site in Lancaster, Texas, with 1,000,000-sq-ft of warehouse, office space, 130 dock doors and a 13,000-sq-ft temperature-controlled space; site combines Solutions, Air & Sea, and Road activity into one location
DSV Panalpina AS (04/19)

Rail Cargo/Shipping

Fitch expects US rail freight tonnage to contract 0.2% year-over-year in 2022 before seeing slow positive growth of 0.6% on average over 2022-2026; greater investment will be necessary to resolve congestion issues, which increasingly challenge the network
Fitch Solutions Sector Intelligence (04/21)

CSX invests US$100M to upgrade infrastructure across newly acquired Pan Am's nearly 1,200-mi. network over next three years, starting with US$50M in first year; nearly 30% of freight rail passing through New England passes through central Massachusetts
Telegram & Gazette (04/21)

Union Pacific's Q1 net income is up 22% year-over-year to US$1.63B from US$1.34B; total operating revenue is up 17% to US$5.86B from US$5B, which is driven by higher fuel surcharge revenue, volume growth, core pricing gains and a positive business mix
Union Pacific Corp. (04/21)

CSX's Q1 net earnings up 22% year-over-year to US$859M from US$706M; revenue up 21% to US$3.41B from US$2.81B, due to acquisition of Quality Carriers, higher fuel recovery and an overall revenue/unit increase of 24% to offset a 2% decline in volume
CSX Corp. (04/21)

CSX agrees to provide SMART-TD trainmen, yardmasters with monthly advance payments of up to US$600 through end of year, or until negotiated wage settlement is reached; payments to be deducted from retroactive or future pay increases that may be negotiated
GlobeNewswire (04/20)

Ocean Cargo/Shipping

Commentary: CMA CGM is latest shipping line to refuse exporting West's plastic waste, which makes sense after China, others limited plastic imports; such bans help incentivize nations to invest in waste management system rather than export scrap overseas
Quartz (04/21)

United Arab Emirates-based ADNOC Logistics & Services signs vessel building contract for two 175,000 cubic meter LNG ships to join its fleet in 2025; ships feature partial re-liquefication systems to cut emissions and will reduce fuel use by at least 10%
TendersInfo - News (04/21)

Fitch: China's ocean shipping sector poised for steady growth as trade levels remain robust; port of Shanghai set to grow 4.8% year-over-year over 2022-2026 period in terms of box throughput, and port of Ningbo-Zushan poised to grow at average of 6.5%
Fitch Solutions Sector Intelligence (04/20)

Port Manatee in Florida sees record volume of container cargo, up 32.2% in first half of fiscal year over 2021, and TEUs, up 26%; increases driven by volume growth from port's primary container cargo carriers World Direct Shipping, Fresh Del Monte Produce
Bradenton Herald (04/20)

International Longshoremen's Assn. seeks US$2M from Ports America, Ceres and SSA Marine for allegedly price-fixing at ports of Charleston in South Carolina and Savannah in Georgia; union asks Federal Maritime Commission to withdraw collaboration agreement
Post & Courier (04/20)

Airports

Nippon Express obtains IATA CEIV pharmaceutical transport quality certification for its temperature-controlled facility at Kansai International Airport in Japan; carrier received same certification for its Narita temperature-controlled hub in March 2021
PR Newswire (04/21)

Air Canada Cargo operates first dedicated freighter into Halifax Stanfield International Airport, using its second Boeing 767-300ER to enter service; direct freighter capacity from Halifax to global network, including Istanbul and Madrid, to start in May
Canada Newswire (04/20)

Cold Chain Logistics

Smithfield Foods and Lineage Logistics announce opening of an automated, next-generation distribution center in Olathe, Kansas; Lineage designed and built the new facility to enhance Smithfield's complex distribution network
Business Wire (04/19)

March Truckload Volume Index for dry van freight rises 23% over February, refrigerated up 13%, while flatbed up 24%; increase in truckload volumes, record-high prices for loads moving under contract offset by weaker spot market rates, high fuel costs: DAT
Business Wire (04/19)

Lineage Logistics agrees to acquire Canada-based VersaCold Logistics for an undisclosed amount to bolster presence in North America; VersaCold runs 24 temperature-controlled facilities with 114 million cu-ft of storage in its network across nine provinces
Lineage Logistics Holdings LLC (04/19)

Third-Party Logistics (3PL)

New York City expands protections for third-party food delivery workers, including; allowing workers to choose routes; granting upfront disclosure about route, pay, gratuities; pay at least once a week; providing free insulated bag after six deliveries
Nation's Restaurant News (04/21)

Logistics/Transportation Management

USPS implements new First-Class Package Service service standards, which will upgrade 4% of FCPS to two days from three days, while 64% will be unaffected and 32% will add one or two days; agency also removes extra day for ground transport Priority Mail
Targeted News Service (Press Releases) (04/20)

Warehousing

Amazon's LDJ5 warehouse in Staten Island, New York, to vote on unionization via Amazon Labor Union from April 25-29, with votes to be counted starting May 2; LDJ5 is across the street from JFK8 facility, which recently voted to unionize via ALU
Business Insider (04/19)

Distribution

Coca-Cola Embonor to invest a combined US$109M in its operations in Chile and Bolivia; investment will be used in part to strengthen logistics and distribution capacity, with emphasis on automated and digitalized processes
CE Noticias Financieras (04/20)

Order Fulfillment & Delivery

Kroger to hire over 200 workers ahead of Kroger Delivery launch in South Florida this summer; company will also build two smaller facilities in South Florida in October, including one Zoom micro-fulfillment center to enable delivery in under 30 minutes
Supermarket News (04/20)

Reusable Transport Packaging

Tosca, which specializes in reusable packaging solutions and pooling, launches an automated washing center in Dublin; the 86,000-sq.-ft. facility can process 5,000 RPCs/hour, more than twice as many as the standard line can process
PR Newswire (04/21)

Mail/Parcel/Courier Services

UPS delivers an average of 25.2 million packages/day in 2021, totaling 6.4 billion packages during the year; Europe accounted for nearly half of the company's international package segment revenue and is its largest region outside the US
CE NAFTA 2.0 Newswire (04/21)

UK-based delivery service Ryde launches Hourly+, which is a shift-based model for on-demand delivery to increase driver productivity, lower cost/order for grocery, retail businesses; survey of drivers showed a 70% growth in adoption of shift-based work
M2 PressWIRE (04/21)

Vermont-based electric aviation startup Beta Technologies raises US$375M in Series B round; funds to support honing of aircraft prototype, which carries up to 1,400 lbs. of cargo and is already on order from UPS for 10 aircraft with option for 140 more
Axios (04/20)

Latest: Apr, 22 2022