PowerFleet

How regional fleets can thrive in a post-pandemic world

One bottle of water on an empty retail shelf

Think back to March when most retailers’ toilet paper and bleach shelves were empty — a direct result of the pandemic’s pushing of available tractors, trailers, containers and drivers to the limit — and beyond.

Consumers expect quick and predictable deliveries. Whether or not they know it, they need smaller, regional trucking companies to satisfy those last-mile needs and keep essential goods moving. While big fleets form the backbone of the economy, those smaller fleets need to remain solvent...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/how-regional-fleets-can-thrive-in-a-post-pandemic-world

Telematics keeps smaller carriers competitive for peak season

Trucks passing om the highway

Peak season is upon us. Amazon moved its annual Prime Day to Oct. 13 and 14 and is actively hiring 100,000 logistics and fulfillment workers. FedEx ramped up its seasonal hiring of 70,000 workers, 27% more than last year, while UPS is cushioning its workforce with the usual 100,000 seasonal employees. 

But in September, the Logistics Managers’ Index (LMI) revealed new lows for transportation capacity, especially for “downstream firms,” representing the consumer-facing businesses that are...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/telematics-keeps-smaller-carriers-competitive-for-peak-season

Ryder System partners with PowerFleet for bolstering safety telematics

Ryder System partners with PowerFleet for bolstering safety telematics (Photo: Shutterstock)

Transportation company Ryder System has partnered with logistics visibility major PowerFleet to embed telematics into its forklifts and other material-handling equipment in its warehouses. With over 50,000 customers, Ryder is a logistics behemoth that manages critical fleet, transportation and other supply chain functions. 

Over the next 12 to 18 months, Ryder will deploy the PowerFleet Enterprise solution on more than 1,000 pieces of material-handling equipment at over 30 sites across North...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ryder-system-partners-with-powerfleet-for-bolstering-safety-telematics

Hurricane relief pressure-tests the ‘new normal’ supply chain

Historically, hurricane season presents abundant and often lucrative freight-hauling opportunities. For weeks or months after a storm passes, affected cities need rebuilding materials, temporary housing units, nonperishable foods, water and generators. Trucking companies and owner-operators can bid on Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) contracts as early as a week or two before a hurricane makes landfall. 

But COVID-19’s supply chain disruptions, like restaurant and meat plant closures,...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/hurricane-relief-pressure-tests-the-new-normal-supply-chain

Handling fleet communication disruptions during hurricanes

Handling fleet communication disruptions during hurricanes (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

The 2020 hurricane season is on pace to break the record of 28 named storms set in 2005, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 

Challenges for the trucking industry during a hurricane are many, including the loss of contact with drivers due to cellular service outages or power shutdowns. This can risk the flow of goods, especially perishable items and pharmaceuticals that are sensitive to environmental conditions.

FreightWaves spoke with Chris Wolfe, the CEO of P...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/handling-fleet-communication-disruptions-during-hurricanes

Trade war, pandemic make chassis scarce

Aerial view of containers at port

COVID-19’s disruption of the global supply chain pushed intermodal equipment at ports into storage. Since China’s manufacturing and demand have come back online, available chassis at some ports around the world have been nearly impossible to find. 

“A lot of that equipment was in bad order,” said Doug Hoehn, executive vice president of chassis and containers for Milestone Equipment Holdings (Milestone), a large Missouri-based equipment lessor. “Some of it may be even in bad order to the point...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trade-war-pandemic-make-chassis-scarce

Demand for reefer monitoring spikes after COVID-19

Red reefer truck on highway under blue sky

The COVID-19 pandemic put exorbitant pressure on supply chains – only to expose their vulnerabilities. However, these vulnerabilities aren’t new, especially around food safety and refrigeration. 

The meat processing plants that shut down, the produce that spoiled waiting for a truck and the dairy farmers who dumped good milk were events spurred by the coronavirus, but they shine light on the 1.3 billion tons of food that is lost or wasted each year. 

Produce season may be slowing out West, as...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/demand-for-reefer-monitoring-spikes-after-covid-19

PowerFleet secures COVID-19 healthcare supplies across Africa

PowerFleet secures COVID-19 healthcare supplies across Africa (Photo: Green Door Logistics)

Vehicle tracking company PowerFleet has partnered with the French Red Cross, a major player in the French humanitarian response plan, to provide it with a plug and play traceability solution that would be used to protect shipment of healthcare equipment and supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The PowerFleet solution Cellocator will be responsible for securing, controlling, tracking and managing these assets across Sub-Saharan Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Aside from keeping...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/powerfleet-secures-covid-19-healthcare-supplies-across-africa

How cargo cameras help fleets forecast and meet demand

Boxes of cargo inside a tractor trailerThe evolution of PowerFleet’s LV-710 FREIGHTCAMTM system

As freight tech floods the industry, fleets need more than visibility — even from images taken by cargo cameras. The visibility gained through software and hardware applications must provide actionable insights so that customers are optimizing their return on investment. 

In 2018, Chris Wolf, CEO of PowerFleet, introduced the LV-710 freightcam system, which uses digital images to determine not only whether a trailer is empty or full, but...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/how-cargo-cameras-help-fleets-forecast-and-meet-demand

Post-July Fourth rates climb while lockdowns loom

Tractor-trailer heading down highway with dark storm cloud in background.

The post-July Fourth trough didn’t stay for long, as tender rejection rates have climbed back to 15.9%. While this is good news for carriers, consumer spending remains cushioned only temporarily by unemployment checks, which extend only until July 31. In regions where COVID-19 cases continue to grow, lockdowns may be coming. But freight volumes weren’t the main casualty of the first lockdown. 

“There are a lot of service-based industries that don’t move a ton of freight on their own,” said...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/post-july-fourth-rates-climb-while-lockdowns-loom

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