The shortage of containers in major tradelanes is driving demand for less-than-containerload (LCL) solutions.
With boxes only available at exorbitant rates, more shippers and forwarders are more open to less-straightforward alternatives to full container offerings.
“Demand is up,” confirmed Graham Cousins, chief strategy officer of Vanguard Logistics Services. “A lot is driven by shippers’ need for flexibility to find a solution to move their cargo.”
And when container rates are high, many...
Freight tech
Logistics IT specialist Richard Litchfield appointed new MD of Forward Computers
Specialist technology provider Freight Software Group (FSG) has appointed Richard Litchfield (pictured above) as the new managing director of its Forward Computers subsidiary.
Forward Computers supplies freight forwarding software to the logistics sector and was acquired by Freight Software Group in 2019. FSG is also the parent company of BoxTop Technologies.
“The freight and logistics sector is experiencing significant changes, the customer is ever more demanding, with higher expectations...
Retailers sinking deeper as supply chain problems and cost challenges bite
Retailers are struggling to cope with the impact of the pandemic on their business – woes mirrored in their supply chains, which show serious deficiencies on multiple fronts.
But the overall pressure they are under affects their ability to overcome these challenges.
In a study published recently by LogiSource in partnership with Coresight Research, 88% of retail executives surveyed reported that the Covid-19 pandemic had at least a moderately negative impact on …
The post Retailers sinking...
https://theloadstar.com/retailers-sinking-deeper-as-supply-chain-problems-and-cost-challenges-bite/
Xeneta co-founder Thomas Sorbo leaves to start new business
Xeneta co-founder Thomas Sorbo is to leave the company, nearly a decade after he started it.
He wrote in a post: “After more than nine incredible years with Xeneta, I have decided to leave the company Patrik Berglund, Vilhelm K Vardøy and I founded.
“It has been a privilege to co-found, serve and grow Xeneta from the early days when it was just a handful of people to the global company it is today.
“I am very …
The post Xeneta co-founder Thomas Sorbo leaves to start new business appeared first...
https://theloadstar.com/xenata-co-founder-thomas-sorbo-leaves-to-start-new-business/
Who runs the FreightTech world? Girls – WHAT THE TRUCK?!?
How two female leaders are revolutionizing e-commerce
The world of transportation is heavily male-dominated, but that hasn’t stopped women from breaking into the industry and...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/who-runs-the-freight-tech-world-girls-what-the-truck
Startup veteran Steve Pho joins Forager’s C-suite
Pho: Forager has to be ‘maniacal’ about unit economics
Steve Pho has joined Forager, the Chicago-based cross-border logistics technology platform, as the company’s chief financial officer and president.
Previously, Pho served as the CFO of online coupon and deal marketplace RetailMeNot, which was acquired by Harland Clarke in 2013, and CFO, COO and then president of Favor Delivery, the Austin, Texas-based food delivery startup acquired by Texas grocery chain H-E-B in 2018.
Pho told FreightWaves...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/startup-veteran-steve-pho-joins-foragers-c-suite
Amazon isn’t going into the 3PL business; it’s already there
Fascinating op-ed from Freightwaves detailing Amazon’s push into freight forwarding and other logistics services. The author argues that the development of the e-commerce giant’s Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) is its supply chain equivalent to Amazon Web Services, which comprises over 85 different services for running applications, storing data and managing networking, computing and developing.
A similarly holistic end-to-end approach can be seen at work in FBA: “Amazon has the ability and …
The...
https://theloadstar.com/amazon-isnt-going-into-the-3pl-business-its-already-there/
On the wires: Recessionary bites – where is that M&A?
Here’s a quick and dirty recap of where we are going, if anywhere, with logistics M&A and what the lessons are from previous cycles – fasten your seatbelt as financial engineering rather than coveted operational soundness takes over.
Let’s take it from a rather interesting post – titled: “Lessons from growth outperformers in logistics” – was this month pushed out by McKinsey & Company, essentially asking which transport and logistics operators are …
The post On the wires: Recessionary bites...
https://theloadstar.com/on-the-wires-recessionary-bites-where-is-that-ma/
Chuck helps 6 River Systems land in FreightTech 25
Warehouse automation provider 6 River Systems’ first product, Chuck, is a collaborative mobile robot built to improve picking speed and accuracy. That innovation helped 6 River Systems garner the No. 23 spot in FreightWaves’ FreightTech 25.
6 River Systems has since expanded its range of products, now offering wall-to-wall fulfillment solutions for warehouses.
In the middle of the year, amid lockdowns due to the pandemic, 6 River Systems gained customers that needed its technology solutions in...
https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/chuck-helps-6-river-systems-land-in-freighttech-25
Bankers: COVID brought more buyers to market for e-commerce tech
Higher valuations driven by supply-demand imbalance
One thing that the pandemic has made clear is that large retailers — not just other third-party logistics and transportation providers — will be prolific acquirers of e-commerce fulfillment platforms.
COVID-19 has had a complex and multifaceted impact on the capital markets for transportation and logistics technology companies. Social distancing, corporate bans on travel, and choppy performance during the pandemic made it difficult for many...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/bankers-covid-brought-more-buyers-to-market-for-e-commerce-tech