Belgium-based Dronamics, maker of a long-range cargo drone that can carry up to 770 lbs. of payload, is expanding its network by adding two new “droneport” locations at airports in Germany and Denmark, creating a total of 42 locations in 14 European cities. A partnership with DHL in APAC calls for deployment of 4,000 drones.
A disgruntled group of FedEx Ground contractors are blaming the company for losses this past peak season due to investments in leased vehicles and temporary staff for a massive holiday deluge that never materialized, the Wall Street Journal is reporting. More than 800 of FedEx Ground’s 5,000+ contractor firms signed onto the letter.
Shippo, a provider of shipping software, has created an API integration with major ecommerce platform company Shopify, making its tools natively available to millions of Shopify merchants, a process that is being accelerated by a major investment from Shopify. Much of the initial focus is on expanding in European markets.
Peel-off stacks, dedicated piles of 50 containers or more, are a great port congestion solution if you’re a mega shipper like Walmart, but less so if you’re an SMB. But now smaller players can have freight consolidated to create peel-off stacks. Bryn Heimbeck of Trade Tech talks about a pilot project at the port of Los Angeles/Long Beach.
Warp, providers of a software platform connecting smaller middle mile carriers and cross-dock facilities with SMB shippers, has exited stealth mode with a $2.4M seed round as it expands to more markets, working toward its vision of a coast-to-coast LTL network. One of the co-founders also started hot last mile startup AxleHire.
It may be cold outside this Valentine’s Day, but things are starting to heat up for Ecommerce Operations Technology Summit 2022, to be held April 12-13 at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista, Disney Springs Area as we celebrate our 10th anniversary. Photo credit: Mick Haupt on Unsplash
Abe Eshkenazi, CEO of the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM), said organizations need to take more of a long-term, systemic view vs. short-term fixes in response to a crisis. In this MCM podcast, Eshkenazi stresses the need for better visibility to read demand signals, and consideration of upstream/downstream effects. of efforts in any one node.
UPS saw package volume increase by a below-projection 0.2% in Q4, higher in the beginning and lighter at the end, as the Omicron surge, the pull-forward of shopper activity and retail inventory challenges weighed on the key metric, the company said in its fourth quarter call. Amazon represented 11.7% of its business in 2021.
Due to the complexity of freight shipping operations, many businesses that move large quantities of goods may have preconceived notions about LTL or believe common myths about why LTL isn’t right for them. By and large, these myths may be exactly the opposite of the how a well-organized and prepared 3PL handles LTL shipments.
Freight forwarders who excelled as partners during crisis points will be well positioned to turn recent first dates with shippers into long, beautiful relationships. They have been using tech to create efficiencies that allow them to devote time and attention to stellar customer service over the past two years when business was tough.