Mike O'Brien
Mike O’Brien has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for … well, quite a while. At Multichannel Merchant he focuses on the world of direct-to-customer operations and fulfillment, editing MCM’s weekly O+F Advisor newsletter, and programs the annual Ecommerce Operations Summit conference. Previously Mike was a senior account executive for Marx Communications, a boutique public relations firm working with marketing and advertising technology companies. Other past work includes stints as a media relations consultant for a concert promoter, a marketing communications specialist for a pharma software firm, a research analyst covering corporate e-learning and a daily newspaper reporter on every beat imaginable – except sports.
The effects of California’s AB5 law are widespread, requiring thousands of gig workers and independent contractors to be reclassified as employees. This means delivery firms doing business in California are updating their operating models to adhere to the law. One such firm is OnTrac, going to a master contractor model.
UPS and self-driving technology company Waymo are running a pilot program for autonomous vehicle package pickup in the Phoenix area, using Waymo’s minivans to shuttle packages from UPS stores to a UPS sorting facility. Last year, UPS took a minority stake in TuSimple, an autonomous trucking company.
Third-party logistics (3PL) provider AMS has acquired EchoData Group, a provider of omnichannel fulfillment services. The acquisition gives AMS greater ability to serve customers with same-day delivery in major population centers on both coasts, and adds two-day delivery coverage to 90% of the U.S. population.
The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Walmart.com doesn’t have to pay ecommerce sales tax to a local parish, but the decision doesn’t impact so-called marketplace facilitator laws created in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 Wayfair decision, Bloomberg Law reported.
The Office of Inspector General at the USPS found the USPS isn’t threatened by the rise of same-day delivery, determining it is a niche, costly model appealing mostly to urban millennials and only represented 2% of all parcel deliveries in 2018. The IG report also recommended the USPS continue to focus on next-day delivery services.
Fueled by continued growth in e-grocery and the sector overall, food and beverage saw more growth in terms of major warehouse leases in 2019 than did ecommerce, which slipped a bit, according to a report from CBRE on the 100 largest deals. The number of 3PL deals stayed the same, while the square footage dropped from 2018.
3PL GlobalTranz Enterprises has acquired Cerasis, a provider of managed transportation and third-party multimodal logistics services, marking its 11th acquisition since January 2017. Cerasis has a managed transportation client base that uses its 3PL/4PL service offerings and technology solutions, including TMS.
Consumers have gotten more comfortable ordering bigger, bulkier items online and having them shipped to their homes, covering categories like furniture, home improvement products and housewares. This is now coming at a cost for shippers, especially as the rule has changed for additional handling charges from FedEx and UPS.
Saying the market hasn’t been rewarding the company as it should, the board of XPO Logistics said the company was exploring strategic options including the sale or spinoff of up to four business units, which would not include its less-than-truckload shipping business. It has retained Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan as financial advisors.
A month after prohibiting third-party sellers from using FedEx Ground and FedEx Home for Prime orders due to alleged on-time performance issues, Amazon is now saying they’re back on the nice list. Amazon said the performance issues have been resolved to its satisfaction, allowing 3P sellers to use the services again.